"I don't know if you guys watch a lot of hockey," forward Ryan Reaves prefaced to the media. "I was absolutely horrendous last game. I needed a bounce back."
That bounce back came on Thursday night in the Pens' 3-1 victory against Los Angeles. Reaves scored the game's opening goal in the second period and was a force all over the ice.
"His play as of late has been strong," head coach Mike Sullivan noted of Reaves' most recent outings. "He had a good game (against LA). I love to see him score. Any time a player like 'Reavo' has an opportunity to chip into the offense it's a huge goal for us. We're thrilled for him."
Reaves was a healthy scratch by the Pens three weeks ago, sitting for three consecutive games. Rather than hang his head in disappointment, Reaves used the development as motivation.
"A healthy scratch is a message," Reaves said. "It's something you have to look at to work on your game. You have to come back with a response and I've been trying to do that the last couple games."
Reaves has certainly responded. He has two goals in his last five games while still providing the Pens with a physical and protective presence.
"Reavo is doing exactly what our expectation was when he came in here," Sullivan said. "He's a great teammate. He's a good, solid two-way player. He brings a certain dimension to our team of physicality that we felt was important to our team. He sticks up for his teammates. He does a lot of those little things and endears himself to his teammates and the coaching staff because of it."
Reaves' offensive surge and recent play is all the more welcomed as the Pens try to deal with injuries to Patric Hornqvist and Tom Kuhnhackl.
"I have to step up no matter who's in the lineup," Reaves said. "With those guys out, they're players we lean on a lot. Hornqvist plays big minutes in front of the net and get in goalie's faces. Kuhnhackl is a really good penalty killer. Everyone has to step up when you have players out of the lineup."
