It's no longer a big deal for Brandon Sutter to be facing his ex-Carolina Hurricane teammates. Sutter was traded in the Jordan Staal deal and Monday's matchup will be the fifth time since the trade. "The first couple [of games] are kind of tough, but I think that now, I'm kind of past that," Sutter said. "We played them already this year and it just felt like a normal game. It just feels like playing hockey." Sutter has four assists in 11 games this season after scoring 11 goals and 19 points in 48 games last year.

Brandon Sutter scored the only goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins in Tuesday's 6-1 Game 3 loss. Sutter snapped one past Tuukka Rask not long after Marc-Andre Fleury replaced Tomas Vokoun. For a minute, it appeared the Penguins were poised to get back into the game and the series, but Brad Marchand's goal less 25 seconds later seemingly put an end to that idea. Truth be told, if Sutter is Pittsburgh's leading scorer, chances are the night is not going as planned.

Brandon Sutter is hoping to chip in offensive in the Eastern Conference finals. If the Boston Bruins prioritize shutting down the Penguins' top two lines, then it will be up to Sutter and the rest of the third line to pick up the slack. "Our line can't just play defense," Sutter said. "We need to score goals. We know it." Pittsburgh will attempt to bounce back after suffering a 3-0 loss in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals.

Brandon Sutter is still learning during his first playoff appearance. "I think in the first series for Brandon against the Islanders, he found out a little bit about playoff hockey," coach Dan Bylsma said. "The intensity of it, the ups and downs, the emotions of winning hockey games and losing hockey games. The big game in Game 5 (when he won 67 percent of his faceoffs), Game 6 (when he won only 28 percent), all those things you learn." He will enter the Eastern Conference Finals with one goal and one assist in 11 playoff games, but led the Penguins with two goals in three regular-season contests against the Boston Bruins.

Brandon Sutter believes the Penguins began to play better defensively toward the end of their series win over Ottawa. The Penguins are well-known for their offensive play, but the team's defense, led by the underrated Sutter, is a crucial factor in their success."The last two games were our best two defensive games of the series," Sutter said. "That seems to be the difference for us. We score more goals when we play better defense. We know we can score goals. We have a lot of weapons, obviously. When we take care of our own end, it's kind of a special group." The Penguins will have their work cut out for them as they take on the Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Brandon Sutter has struggled with consistency on his faceoffs during the postseason, but he isn't overly concerned. "It's funny, because it's game to game. One game, you'll struggle really bad," he said. "The next game, against the same guys, you'll do really well. It's tough to get that consistency. That's the challenge." Going into Game 4, he flirted with nearly a 60 percent winning percentage in three straight contests. On Wednesday though, he won just 44.44 percent of his draws. Sutter has two points in 10 postseason contests.

Brandon Sutter started Game 4 on the fourth line. He skated there for the latter part of Game 3 on Sunday as well. Sutter scored his first goal since April 17 in Tuesday's 6-4 loss to the Islanders after he was reunited with Matt Cooke and Brenden Morrow on the third line. Cooke and Morrow picked up assists on Sutter's first point of the playoffs.

Brandon Sutter tallied two goals in Pittsburgh's 6-4 win over Montreal Wednesday night. The two-goal effort snapped a 10-game scoreless slump for the two-way center. Sutter has 11 markers and 16 points in 43 games with the Penguins. He appears to be developing some chemistry with Brenden Morrow, which should bode well for the team once their lines return to order and they get some players back from injury.

Brandon Sutter scored two goals to lead Pittsburgh to a 3-2 lead over Boston on Tuesday. He tied the game at 2-2 and potted the game-winning tally late in the third. Sutter has a total of eight markers and 13 points in 27 matches. Chris Kunitz netted his 18th goal of the year in the game as well.

Brandon Sutter will make his return to Raleigh Thursday night when the Penguins visit the Hurricanes. Much of the pre-game hype will center around Jordan Staal playing against Pittsburgh for the first time since being trade last June, but Sutter is the one will be playing in his old building from a different perspective. "Obviously, it's a little extra special when you're playing against a bunch of friends and fans who really treated me well," said Sutter. He has four goals and four assists in 20 games this season, but has received a bump in responsibility with Evgeni Malkin sidelined.