Penguins' Jack Johnson takes quiet approach to wearing 'A'

Veteran defenseman Jack Johnson said he has been honored to wear the letter ‘A’ on his Pittsburgh Penguins jersey as an alternate captain while Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Brian Dumoulin and Patric Hornqvist have been injured or ill.

“It’s always an honor to wear a letter on an NHL jersey,” he said.

But that doesn’t mean he considers the honor a license to bother game officials. Talking to the officials is an unwritten right in the NHL for those who wear the ‘A’ or ‘C.’

“I really don’t talk to the refs, unless there’s a big reason to,” Johnson said. “I don’t see any point in doing it.

“Once they make the call, they make the call. There’s no point in yelling at the refs.”

He said he’ll only talk to the officials when he has “a legitimate question about something.”

“They’re usually pretty good in communicating with the players,” he said.

Johnson said he believes he’s playing better than he did a year ago in his first Penguins season.

“Physically, I feel better,” he said. “I’m more comfortable. More comfortable with my teammates, more comfortable with the city, more comfortable with the coaches.

“I got some summer training I wanted to do, came into camp feeling really good.”

Johnson is a plus-8 after consecutive seasons of minus-6 and minus-4 in Columbus and Pittsburgh.

Defenseman Justin Schultz also wore the ‘A’ on Thursday, but he downplayed its significance.

“It’s nice. I don’t know,” he said. “Everyone in the room is a leader in here. I’m pretty far down the list.”

But he added, “It was nice to have it for a game.”

Coach Mike Sullivan said picking captains and alternates when the regulars are injured is a constant topic of discussion on the coaching staff.

“We don’t put it on guys unless they’re deserving,” he said. “These guys who are wearing letters provide a certain level of leadership in the dressing room.

“If we don’t think there’s a candidate, then sometimes we won’t go with three.”

‘Best friends’

Goaltender Tristan Jarry has been the Penguins’ No. 1 goaltender this month, starting four of the five games and recording shutouts in three of them.

He is playing more often than two-time Stanley Cup winner Matt Murray, but the two remain close friends.

“We’ve been best friends ever since we started in Wilkes-Barre,” he said. “He pushes me every day. We push each other, and it’s fun to be a part of. “Every time I go back to the bench, I’m asking him what he sees. It always helps when you have somebody else watching the game in the same aspect you’d be watching.

“I need him as much as he needs me.”