When playoffs begin, Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson ups his game

When the Pittsburgh Penguins began preparations for a first-round playoff series against the New York Islanders with a practice Monday morning in Cranberry, Jack Johnson was alongside Kris Letang on the team’s top defense pair.

Why did coach Mike Sullivan put Johnson in such a prominent spot?

A conservative explanation is Sullivan was trying different combinations as Brian Dumoulin continues to work his way back from a lower-body injury.

A more exciting alternate theory, though, is this: Sullivan got a look at Johnson’s career playoff numbers and decided immediately to push him as high on the depth chart as he possibly could.

Johnson’s postseason scoring record doesn’t just dwarf his regular-season numbers. It’s among the best in NHL history.

Johnson has played four playoff series in his career, two with Los Angeles and two with Columbus. He has racked up 21 points in 23 games. His 0.91 points-per-game average is nearly three times his regular season average of 0.33.

It’s tops among all active defensemen, well ahead of all-stars such as Erik Karlsson, P.K. Subban, Brent Burns and Letang.

Among defensemen who have played at least 20 career playoff games in NHL history, Johnson ranks fifth, trailing Bobby Orr, Brian Leetch, Paul Coffey and Paul Reinhart and ahead of legends such as Al MacInnis, Denis Potvin and Raymond Bourque.

Johnson downplayed his role in racking up all those points, largely because 10 of them came on the power play.

“We had a really hot power play for a series, and I was a part of those,” Johnson said. “That’s probably the biggest reason.”

What Johnson didn’t downplay is how much he enjoys playoff hockey.

“It’s going to be awesome,” Johnson said. “Every team is starting undefeated, clean slate. Everyone’s got high aspirations and high hopes and dreams. It’s the best time of the year.”

With the Penguins, Johnson won’t see much power-play time, of course. His greatest contributions probably will come from providing a physical presence in the defensive zone. That’s something he enjoys at this time of year as well.

“It’s going to be tight-checking, and it’s going to be physical,” Johnson said. “You’re going to see if anybody’s going to back down in a seven-game series. You’re going to give hits. You’ve going to take hits. You’re going to get knocked down. You’ve got to get up and keep coming, and you’ve got to do it possibly for seven games for four rounds. It’s the guys that don’t back down that usually come out on top.”

Here’s a look at seven other Penguins players with a history of playoff success.

• Phil Kessel’s points per game rise from 0.83 in the regular season to 0.90 in the playoffs, and it’s not hard to figure out why. Thanks to his laid-back temperament, Kessel is no more nervy for Game 7 of a playoff series than he is for a Tuesday night game in November.

• Jake Guentzel has packed a career’s worth of memorable moments into his 37 playoff games, from the Game 1 winner against Nashville in the 2017 Stanley Cup Final to an unforgettable four-goal haul in a clinching Game 6 against Philadelphia last year. His points per game go from 0.77 to 1.14.

• Best known for winning the Stanley Cup twice while he technically was considered a rookie by NHL guidelines, Matt Murray’s save percentage rises from .917 to .923 once the postseason commences.

• Defensemen Justin Schultz, Olli Maatta and Dumoulin have seen small increases in their points-per-game numbers in the playoffs.

• Nick Bjugstad had only one playoff experience during his six full seasons with Florida, but it was a productive one. He had four points in five games in a first-round loss to the Islanders in 2016.