Penguins defenseman Jeff Petry adjusting to Pittsburgh

Defenseman Jeff Petry has played in 806 games in his NHL career.

The first 295 came with the Edmonton Oilers.

The three most recent have been as a member of the Pittsburgh Penguins.

And the middle — and perhaps, most profound — 508 were in the service of the Montreal Canadiens.

For eight seasons, Petry was a respected and key component to an era of modest success for the storied Canadiens franchise.

The right-hander was usually good for double-digit figures in goals and 40 points in seasons that weren’t disrupted by a pandemic.

And during the 2020-21 season that was considerably altered by covid-19, Petry became something of a civic treasure for helping the Canadiens reach their first Stanley Cup final in 27 seasons.

This past offseason, Petry was traded to the Penguins. That transaction came at Petry’s request to be dealt to the United States as it was difficult to see his family — primarily based in Michigan — during the pandemic because of laws related to crossing the border.

So on Monday, during the Penguins’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Canadiens in Montreal’s Bell Centre, Petry was cheered, repeatedly.

Four times, to be precise.

The first came during a stoppage when a brief tribute was presented on the video board.

Un bel accueil pour Jeff Petry ????

A warm welcome for Jeff Petry ????#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/CwKsIgp0yB

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) October 17, 2022

The other three occasions came when Petry incurred all three of the Penguins’ penalties in the contest. The final took place in overtime and led to the winning score by Canadiens forward Kirby Dach.

Beyond that, the only reception Petry’s return recorded came in the form of boos anytime he touched the puck.

Regardless, Petry appears to harbor nothing but warm sentiments for his tenure in Montreal.

“From the day I got here, I think my time here was really beneficial for me,” he said to media in the Bell Centre following Monday’s morning skate. “If you look at, I guess, the pattern of my career — I kind of came into my own and developed into the player that I am — a big chunk of that was my time here. … It was a special time here.”

It was special for reasons beyond the rink as well.

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“My first full year here was the year my first son was born,” Petry said. “Now, we have four. We all spent quite a bit of time here.”

Petry’s time in Pittsburgh has been brief so far. After all, he has played all of 3.6% of an 82-game regular season for the Penguins. But he largely has provided what the Penguins expected when they traded for him in July.

“We’ve learned that he is an elite player,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “That is what we hoped that we were getting. He’s been everything that we expected. He helps us on both sides of the puck, he’s big and strong at our net front, he defends well, he helps us on our penalty kill.

“We’ve played him in our top four (defensemen) obviously. He’s a big part of all the situations. He’s just a real solid defenseman on both sides of the puck. That’s what we were hopeful that we were going to get, and he’s certainly lived up to all of our expectations.”

Having played the bulk of his career in Canadian markets, Petry wasn’t quite sure what to expect playing in an American market for the first time. But he likes what he sees out of Pittsburgh as a hockey town.

“I obviously knew about some of the players,” Petry said. “But coming in and seeing how passionate the fans are and how it is a big sports town and how much they really care about hockey. Obviously, in Canadian markets, it’s huge and in some of the (United States) markets, you don’t necessarily see it. But they are very passionate about their hockey team there.”

Note: The Penguins had a scheduled day off Tuesday.

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