Contact is common for Penguins defenseman Connor Clifton

The Connors are comfortable with contact when it comes to the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Forward Connor Dewar and defenseman Connor Clifton are the team’s two leaders in recorded hits this season.

Dewar paces the group with 39, while Clifton is second with 33.

But a significant discrepancy exists when auditing the calculus of their checking.

Dewar has accrued his figure in all 19 of the Penguins’ games this season.

Clifton has appeared in only seven contests.

“That number there — being high up there in hits (despite) having not played every game — it’s not a huge surprise,” coach Dan Muse said. “He plays a physical game. That’s when he is at his best. A lot of times too, it doesn’t always have to be those massive hits. He can wear down opponents there by just being consistent with it.”

While hits are a very subjective statistic that can be recorded differently by stat crews in all 32 of the buildings NHL teams play in, Clifton set a season-high for the Penguins on Oct. 14 with eight hits during a 4-3 road loss to the Anaheim Ducks, a contest, which, probably not coincidentally, was Clifton’s debut for the team.

Acquired in June via a trade with the Buffalo Sabres, Clifton has led the team he has played for — either the Sabres or Boston Bruins — in hits each of the past three seasons.

2022-23 — Boston Bruins, 208 hits

2023-24 — Buffalo Sabres, 204 hits

2024-25 — Buffalo Sabres, 208 hits

“I’ve always tried to play the hard way and do the small things,” Clifton said Wednesday. “Finish checks, block shots. I don’t think I’m going to get caught cheating the game offensively. Because that’s just not what you want from a third pair. Everyone likes to score, right? Everyone wants to score and contribute offensively, but I never really value how I’m playing off that.”

A cursory glance at Clifton’s offensive figures would suggest his method of self-evaluation is sound. In 391 career games, he has only 77 points (15 goals, 62 assists).

Hitting is what has gotten him to the NHL.

“I hated playing against him,” Dewar said. “He always gives you a reverse hit when you’re not ready for it, or box you out real hard. Some players, physicality gets them in the game and helps them be themselves.”

Clifton has gotten into four of the team’s past five games, which is a considerably improved rate of participation from earlier stages of the season when he was in the lineup for only three of a possible 14 contests.

What is it like being a healthy scratch?

“The days are long, really,” Clifton said. “You skate a lot. You go out extra in the morning, after the morning skate, even if it’s an optional. You’re going to the game, whether you work out during the first (period) or the morning. You’re going to be there. You get your work in, then you’re just awake forever. Then you’re cheering on the fellows and you still go to bed late. Then you wake up the next day and you’ve got practice. You didn’t play, so you should be ready to go. You’re still awake, you’re still up and you’re still thinking. You’ve got to turn it off. That drive home from PPG (Paints Arena), I’m trying to turn it off. I know I’m going to go right to bed and get to sleep.

“(When) you get in the game and you don’t want to overthink it. I never want to come in and be something I’m not. Try more than I’m capable of. I know what my role is on this team. So, when I come in, I try to play hard, try to impact the games that I feel I do positively. … You sit for three, four games and you’re so excited to get in, you’ve got a little too much energy. You’re a little too jumpy and you’re not making plays and you’re not seeing the ice. That’s how I feel a little bit each time I come back in after a scratch.”

Clifton admitted to such a mishap during a 5-4 home shootout loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Oct. 25.

“I left that game thinking I didn’t play good,” Clifton said. “I was just hesitant. Mainly, I wasn’t closing the way I usually do. That’s my whole game. That was the first time (this season) where I started overthinking it.

“Generally, the more I’m thinking, the worse I’m playing. So, I just try to play instinctually.”

For the time being, the right-handed Clifton appears a safe bet to play Friday at home against the Minnesota Wild on the third pairing with southpaw Ryan Graves, which has been a common union for nearly two weeks.

No matter how many games Clifton plays, it’s safe to assume he’ll seek contact before anything else.

“If I go and have an assist (on the) first shift and don’t finish my hits and don’t have a physical presence or an impact like that in the defensive zone and box-outs and help my goalie out, I’m going to think I played like (expletive) even though I had a goal or whatever,” Clifton said. “I try not to value offensive production when I evaluate my game, really.”