Derick Brassard helps Penguins' third line show glimpse of dangerous potential

When discussing a victory over the Atlanta Falcons earlier this season, Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield said he had a strong performance because he woke up that morning feeling dangerous.

It became a popular social media meme and was plastered on T-shirts sold around Northeast Ohio.

Pittsburgh Penguins center Derick Brassard pulled off a poor man’s version of the same concept on Sunday.

Before facing the Chicago Blackhawks, he said he thought his line with wingers Tanner Pearson and Phil Kessel had done some good things lately. They just needed to convert their scoring chances into goals.

“I think we’re looking forward to tonight to maybe being a little bit more dangerous offensively,” Brassard said.

In a sense, Brassard succeeded. He scored a second-period goal, punctuating a strong night for his line. The goal gave the Penguins a 3-2 lead in the second period.

It became a poor man’s version of Mayfield’s motto because the Blackhawks rallied for a 5-3 victory in the third period.

“Tanner was hard on pucks and Phil had some good looks,” Brassard said afterwards. “It’s too bad we couldn’t get another one there.”

On the goal the line scored, Brassard set up outside the right faceoff dot, took a pass from Kessel and blasted a bad-angle one-timer that trickled through goalie Cam Ward’s pads.

It was one of 11 shots the line combined for in the game.

“I thought it was one of their better games,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “I thought they did a better job of supporting one another coming out on the breakout. In the offensive zone, they stayed closer together. They had more zone time. This is the most zone time they’ve had in a lot of the games.

“That’s what we envisioned when we put those guys together. They’re three really good players. They all have offensive instincts. (Pearson’s) a guy that’s good in the battle areas. He goes to the net. Phil’s dangerous off the rush. He’s got a good shot, can pass the puck. Brass is a pretty good playmaker. They have the makings of being a very good line. I thought they were good tonight.”

Getting the third line going would go a long way toward giving the Penguins the balanced offensive attack they crave.

Adding to his total of eight goals and 14 points in 34 games this season would make Brassard a far more indispensible part of that attack.

“We had some looks,” Brassard said. “This morning, I said offensively that tonight we had to have a better game.”

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Jonathan Bombulie is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Jonathan at jbombulie@tribweb.com or via Twitter @BombulieTrib.