One year ago Carl Hagelin was a key cog in the Pittsburgh Penguins’ championship run as a member of their HBK line alongside Nick Bonino and Phil Kessel.
It was a line that proved to be a nightmare matchup for opponents and drove a lot of the team’s success in the playoffs.
It has not been the same story this season for Hagelin.
After missing a significant chunk of the season due to injury, Hagelin has struggled to regain the form he showed joining the Penguins in a trade and has found himself as a healthy scratch through the first two games of the Stanley Cup Final.
On Friday, he seemed to voice a little bit of frustration regarding the situation.
“I think every time the game starts and you’re not out there, you’re going to be pissed off,” Hagelin said, via Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “But it doesn’t do you any good to be pissed off on a day like this. You’ve got and whatever you can to make you better, and make you prepared for whatever’s thrown at you. If I get in tomorrow, I’ve got to be ready to play. No one’s going to feel sorry for me, and I don’t want to feel sorry for myself It’s one of those things. I’m always a positive guy, so if I get out there, I’ll play a good game.”
With Bonino listed as day-to-day and a game-time decision for Saturday’s Game 3 it could be an opportunity for Hagelin to get back in the lineup.
He missed 21 games during the regular season as well as the entire first-round against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Even when he has played this postseason his role has been extremely limited averaging just under 12 minutes of ice-time per game. He has one goal and zero assists in 11 playoff games. He scored six goals and 16 assists in 61 games during the season.