WINNIPEG, Manitoba — Craig Adams isn’t usually thought of as a big-numbers player.
He’s averaged one goal every 16 games or so during his career and has been good for an assist roughly every nine games.
But Adams hit a major — and impressive — milestone when the Penguins faced Winnipeg Thursday night at the MTS Centre, appearing in his 300th consecutive game.
That’s the second-longest such streak in team history and two games shy of the franchise record held by Jordan Staal.
“It’s not something I think about every day, but it’s good,” Adams said. “Obviously, you want to play every night. Whether it’s injuries or just being good enough to stay in the lineup, for a guy like me, that’s an accomplishment.”
He acknowledged there were “probably a couple of times” during the streak when he wasn’t sure if he’d be able to dress for games.
“There are times when, maybe the night before, you’re thinking, ‘Geez, I don’t know how I’m going to play tomorrow,’ ” Adams said. “But I’ve been really lucky to avoid any really serious injuries. … I’ve been pretty fortunate.”
Especially with the physically demanding role he fills, laboring on the fourth line and killing penalties.
“I have a lot of admiration for guys who have those streaks going, who play when they’re injured, play when they’re tired,” Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. “It’s really quite incredible, because it’s tough to do in this game.
“Craig has been, throughout his career, that warrior-type player. He contributes in any way he can.”
Don’t forget penalty-killers
The Penguins’ power play has gotten a lot of attention lately, and understandably so.
After all, it had scored on 41.3 percent of its chances before facing the Jets. That was a full 12 percent higher than Washington, which placed second in the NHL rankings.
But, while the power play largely has overshadowed the Penguins’ penalty-killing, they’ve been pretty good when down a man lately, too, piling up 30 consecutive successful kills before taking on Winnipeg.
Jets coach Paul Maurice has noticed the Penguins’ prowess while short-handed, but doesn’t seem surprised by it.
“They’ve been good for a while,” he said. “[The penalty-killing has] a good structure to it. They skate well, and they have good sticks. There’s a skill component to killing penalties, getting your stick on the puck and knocking down passes through the seams.
“If it’s on their sticks, they’re going to clear it. They’re pretty strong with that.
“They’re confident, so they’re aggressive. They take a chunk of your power play away just by forcing you to work on your own possession.”
Thorburn chugs along
Chris Thorburn, a blue-collar winger for the Jets, has a lot of hard miles on him.
The game Thursday night was his 537th in the NHL, including 39 with the Penguins in 2006-07.
In his first 536, he collected 36 goals, 61 assists, 663 penalty minutes and countless cuts, contusions and abrasions. Nonetheless, Thorburn insisted after the game-day skate that he loves his job and has no interest in giving it up anytime soon.
“I’m not a kid anymore, but, at heart, I’m still a kid,” he said. “This is something I’ve always dreamed of doing, so as long as I can keep my body in the right kind of shape and stay in good health, hopefully, I have a lot more years left.”
The Penguins traded Thorburn to Atlanta for a third-round draft choice in 2007, then used that pick to select defenseman Robert Bortuzzo.
First Published: November 7, 2014, 5:00 a.m.
