"He brings a lot of energy," Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said of Wilson, who has five points (two goals, three assists) in 16 Stanley Cup Playoff games this spring. "He can skate. He's a north-south guy. He has a physical element to his game. He's good when he gets in on the forecheck. He's a good first forecheck guy that can create a 50-50 puck that gives us an opportunity to create some offense. He goes to the net hard and he can shoot the puck. When he plays with those guys, he brings all of those elements to that line."
Wilson had to learn to bring all those elements to a line like the one he is on. It wasn't easy, especially because he came to the Penguins as a goal scorer.
He had back-to-back 16-goal seasons at UMass-Lowell. He scored 41 goals in 89 AHL games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the Penguins American Hockey League affiliate, from 2014-16, including 22 goals in 34 games last season.
But scoring was not on Sullivan's mind when he put Wilson on a line with center Sidney Crosby earlier this season, and at times with Malkin. It certainly wasn't on Sullivan's mind when he put Wilson with Malkin and Kessel in Game 4 of the conference final.
Wilson had to figure that part out.
"My biggest thing is I've got to be physical to be effective, and skate too," Wilson said. "Especially at the beginning of this year I was not really playing as physical, and I kind of thought I needed to make these special plays playing with those special guys. That was my mindset about it."
It took several conversations with assistant Rick Tocchet for Wilson to realize he needed to play his physical game alongside the Penguins top players.
It's working now.
Wilson had six hits in Game 1 against Nashville. He's second on the team in the playoffs with 54. Malkin leads all playoff scorers with 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists), including five in his past five games with Wilson on his line. Kessel is tied for third with 19 points (seven goals, 12 assists), including four in his past five games.
