Conor Sheary recaptures his chemistry on the Penguins' top line

The Penguins wore jerseys. Actual jerseys.

No, not practice jerseys with a corporate sponsor’s chintzy logo on the right shoulder. Their real jerseys and uniforms.

And there were referees. Granted, they were assistant coaches Mark Recchi and Ty Hennes donning the Zebra stripes, but officials were on the ice.

Oh, and don’t forget the warmups, the operational scoreboard and even music beforehand.

The Penguins staged an intrasquad scrimmage Saturday and added several details to make it seem like they were playing something resembling a game of consequence for the first time since the NHL went into stasis four months ago because of the coronavirus pandemic.

It was staged in the antisceptic environment of the team’s facility in Cranberry, and the only spectators in attendance were a handful of masked reporters or team employees.

But it was just like the good old days.

Of early March.

There were also reminders of other brighter times — such as their last Stanley Cup run in 2017.

The reunion of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Conor Sheary on the team’s top line offered that.

Sheary connected with Crosby and Guentzel for goals twice during the scrimmage, displaying the chemistry and intrigue they possessed as a trio when the Penguins last held the Cup.

“It’s good to get into game situations with those guys,” Sheary said during a video conference Saturday. “You can try to emulate that in practice, but it’s not always the same. (Saturday) was a little more game-like.”

While hooking up on a handful of goals against teammates going at 85% is hardly the same challenge as trying to do it against the Boston Bruins or New York Islanders, Saturday’s scrimmage showed there was plenty of cohesion present between Sheary, Guentzel and Crosby, who left the scrimmage during the second period for undisclosed reasons.

Both scores they accounted for were generated by Sheary’s play behind the net.

On the scrimmage’s second goal, Sheary went deep on the right wing against defenseman John Marino, swooped behind the net then spun to his left, feeding a tight pass to a trailing Crosby who was able to tuck a forehand shot past goaltender Matt Murray on the short side.

And with the third goal, Sheary corraled an errant shot behind the net and fed a pass under the stick of defenseman Marcus Pettersson to the slot, where Guentzel was able to whack a shot past Murray’s right shoulder.

“Behind the net, all three of us kind of like to play down low below the goal line,” Sheary said. “A lot of times, when you don’t have the puck, you’re trying to get open. We were able to find a couple of goals today. Hopefully, we can keep creating that chemistry and keep finding each other out there. “

Added Guentzel: “Conor is such a smart player, you know he can make those kinds of plays. It just showed on Sid’s goal on the short side. That was such a nice play to go on the (backhand) there. Obviously, a special player and I really like playing with him.”

The trio was broken up after the 2017-18 season when the Penguins dealt Sheary, and his $3 million salary cap hit, to the Buffalo Sabres to clear some payroll.

Any hopes Sheary had of enjoying similar success in Buffalo went unfulfilled as he staggered through two unremarkable seasons with that woebegone franchise.

“I think I was put into different situations (with the Sabres) than I was here,” Sheary said. “As a whole, the team was kind of in a rebuild mode. A young team trying to find their way a little bit whereas Pittsburgh already knew their identity. They had the culture already in place by the time I was here. So I think it was easier for a young guy to come into that as opposed to a rebuild. I don’t know what it was specifically that didn’t work out. But I’m glad that I ended up back in Pittsburgh.”

The Penguins reacquired Sheary at the trade deadline Feb. 24 in part because of Guentzel being sidelined with what was expected to be a season-ending shoulder surgery. But with the NHL’s postseason delayed until August, Guentzel appears to be fully recovered from his ailment and poised to rejoin Crosby and Sheary.

Despite being one of the smallest players in the NHL at a purported 5-foot-8 and 179 pounds, Sheary’s ability to operate in compact, high-traffic areas, such as behind the net, is what makes him an ideal option to coalesce with All-Stars such as Crosby and Guentzel.

“His tight-area skills are really good,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “That’s one of the, I think, strengths of Conor’s game. He plays with a lot of courage for an undersized guy. He’s willing to go to the hard areas, and he’s willing to play in the trenches. And he’s so elusive with his lateral mobility and his agility in tight space. That’s what allows him to be effective when he plays with guys like Sid and Jake because they thrive in that area of the rink. Conor just enhances that with the strengths of his game.”

Even with the chasm of two-plus years since his last real game alongside Crosby and Guentzel, Sheary has a vivid understanding of what he need to be in order to remain effective with his old linemates.

“I’m not going to change my game at all,” Sheary said. “It’s obvious my game is mostly speed and then making plays off the rush. (Then) once we get in (the offensive) zone, kind of getting to that grind game.”

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