Penguins' Mark Friedman on agitating opponents: 'I kind of love doing it'

Mark Friedman doesn’t mask it.

Shoot, he might as well launch a sophisticated marketing campaign for it.

His penchant for agitating the opposition?

It’s not an accident.

“Yeah, I kind of love doing it,” Friedman said to media in Tampa, Fla., on Thursday. “I like getting underneath guys’ skin and if I can draw a penalty out of it, why not?”

Well, one reason why not is he is rarely the bigger party in any confrontation he engages in.

Listed at an alleged 5-foot-11 and 186 pounds, Friedman is a small man, even in the modern (i.e. compact) NHL.

That was evident Thursday during a 5-1 road win against the Tampa Bay Lightning when, late in the second period, Friedman started a scrum by throwing something of a clothesline on forward Corey Perry (6-foot-3, 206 pounds) — himself, a world-class agitator — after Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry froze a puck.

After everything was sorted out, the Penguins wound up with a power-play opportunity.

“I tend to go after the biggest guys on the ice, which probably isn’t the smartest thing to do,” Friedman said. “But that’s just me being me. If I can draw a penalty out of it, like we did going into the third (period), then so be it.”

During Friday’s 3-2 overtime road loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, Friedman got into a fight with someone slightly smaller than him in forward Vincent Trocheck (5-10, 183 pounds).

Regardless of the opponent, Friedman’s approach is appreciated by his teammates.

“He’s awesome,” forward Bryan Rust said. “He’s a wild man. He gets the boys going. It’s fun to have him in the locker room.”

But how does he fit into a team that is the least penalized in the NHL? Through Friday, the Penguins had averaged a league-low 6:52 penalty minutes per game.

“We want him to play his game. We want him to be who he is,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “But he’s got to make sure he stays on the right side of the line. The type of team that we have here, the type of game that we’re trying to play, it requires discipline in a lot of forms. We don’t want to be a team that beats ourselves, and we want to be a team that plays to our strengths. That’s an important aspect of it.”

Friedman has contributed more than just a few penalty minutes, to be sure. Since replacing injured defenseman Mike Matheson on the team’s third defensive pairing over the past four games, Friedman has not recorded a point, but he has been in the black in terms of being on the ice for shots attempts for (45) versus shots attempts against (39) in five-on-five scenarios.

Arguably his most spectacular contribution came during a 3-2 road win against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 27. With his team trailing 2-1 at 9:12 of the third period, Friedman scooped a puck off his own goal line and prevented a would-be goal that likely would have snuffed out hopes of a comeback.

“I think I’ve been pretty solid,” Friedman said to media in Columbus, Ohio, after that game. “I really like my game. My compete level and my skating ability has shown. Getting up in the play is one of my strengths. If I can keep doing that, I like where my game is heading.”

Regardless, it’s a pretty safe assumption Friedman will be a candidate to head to the penalty box in just about any game he participates in.

“I try not to do it after the whistle,” Friedman said. “But again, if I can get under a guy’s skin and he takes a penalty after the whistle, so be it. If we get up five on four, I like our chances. I try to keep it everything (before) the whistle.

“It’s just me being me. That’s how I play the game.”

Note: The Penguins had a scheduled day off Saturday.