But Pearson has found goals harder to come by this season despite a lot of hard work and unfortunate bounces that led to inevitable frustration.
Pearson finally got tangible results Thursday for his strong play around the net with his first goal since the All-Star break, which ended a 15-game scoreless streak. That gave him 11 goals in 65 games, well off a 24-goal clip but not reflective of the work he's done as a 6-foot-1 traffic cone in front of opposing goalies.
It cannot be measured in any statistic, but Pearson's obstructive presence has been noticeable the last few weeks, especially on the power play, where he's assumed the role previously occupied by Trevor Lewis.