Shea playing 'fearless hockey,' showing chemistry with St. Ivany in second NHL stint

It looked like a pretty harmless-looking shot -- Bryan Rust chirped Shea in the locker room after, saying "32 miles an hour, what a bomb!" But it got the job done.

Shea quipped that it was his goal to not go the entire season without a point, and so it was nice to "change it up."

"It's been a long time coming," he said. "Happy to see get rewarded from that. Just a simple shot. I gotta do more of that. I think I'll get more of those bounces if I do."

Jack St. Ivany, Shea's defense partner and previous recipient of the team's Jofa helmet as the player of the game, opted to pass it along to Shea after the win for his first goal:

"That was pretty cool to be out there with him and be able to be the first one over and give him a big hug," St. Ivany told me of Shea's goal. "That was awesome. That's why you play hockey."

Looking more at Shea's defensive game, two changes stand out -- he's more aggressive in hunting pucks and forcing turnovers, he's more physical and blocking more shots. That's that "fearless hockey" mindset he came in with. The numbers reflect that -- in his first 22 games, he averaged 1.13 takeaways, 2.48 hits, and 3.15 blocked shots per 60 minutes of ice time. In these last three games, he's averaged 2.77 takeaways, 5.55 hits, and 4.16 blocked shots.

When I asked Mike Sullivan if he thought this is the best Shea's looked in the NHL so far, Sullivan said there was "no question."

"I think the second time around he has a whole different confidence level," Sullivan said. "I don't think he's playing a cautious game. He's making the plays when they're there, he's making simple plays when they're not there. He's defending hard."

Shea said that he thinks that the "outside noise" started to get to him in his first stint, and he started getting nervous when he played. That increased confidence this time around is paying off.

It also helps that he's playing with a partner with whom he has good chemistry already in this stint. Shea rotated on the third pairing with either Ludvig or Chad Ruhwedel in his first opportunity, to OK results. In 82:49 at five-on-five with Ruhwedel, the pair controlled 50% of the shots on goal, 45.61% of the expected goals (which aims to quantify the quality of chances attempted when on the ice), and got outscored 3-1.  In 59:19 at five-on-five with Ludvig, the pair controlled 47.46% of the shots on goal, 39.57% of the expected goals and got outscored 3-1. 

Now, Shea is playing with St. Ivany, another rookie defensemen with only eight NHL games under his belt, and someone with whom Shea was frequently paired with in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. They've skated together in 32:46 at five-on-five and have controlled 47.37% of the shots on goal, 61.41% of the expected goals, and have outscored opponents 3-0.

Shea and St. Ivany have been a pairing on the penalty-kill, too. They've played 6:04 together on a penalty-kill and haven't let up any goals.

"I think him and Jack have played really well together as a pair," Sullivan said. "They're defending hard. They've been good on the penalty-kill. They have pretty good chemistry. That's something that we've noticed and watching in the time we've had them here. But I don't think there's any question Ryan's brought his game to another level this time around."

Shea told me that it "helps a bunch" having St. Ivany around, given their familiarity with each other. He added that St. Ivany's a "very positive guy" and that can help when he's hard on himself.

Shea and St. Ivany also have great communication between the two of them. The regular talks on the bench is something Shea picked up on both Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson doing a lot with their defense partners during his first stint. Now, when Shea and St. Ivany are between shifts, they're usually breaking down what happened with each other.

"It's not anything bad, it's not yelling," Shea said. "If there's something to criticize, we criticize. And then we turn the page. I think that's the best part about having a defenseman like that."

"We're good friends off the ice," St. Ivany added. "That helps. We played together in Wilkes, and each game we play together here we figure out together. We feed off each other. I just feel like we have good chemistry and so we're able to build off that."

The Penguins' third defense pairing has had a rotating cast of characters all season, and none of them have been exceptionally good. A pair of rookies in 27-year-old Shea and 24-year-old St. Ivany have shown to be real, viable candidates to take over those third-pairing duties longer-term. Neither deserves to come out of the lineup at this point, and assuming both are re-signed this summer, could merit a serious look in training camp next season to take over full-time duty.

Maintaining consistency in this level of play is going to be key, obviously. Shea knows that he let his play dip in his first stint, and that's how he ended up back in Wilkes-Barre after 22 games. He's determined to not have that happen this time.

"I told myself I wasn't going to let this one slip," Shea said.