"We're still lucky people, man. We get to play a game for a living. I never forget that."
It's not always easy to get Jason Zucker to smile in a casual, non-competitive setting. And I'd hardly blame him, with all he's endured over a dozen-year NHL career that's seen him dropped from more figurative cliffs than Wile E. Coyote for a brutally high percentage of it.
But I couldn't help but catch the lips slide upward at least a little with those words above, all shared with me a few minutes after his goal, his assist, his soul-crushing check and his multiple roof-raising celebrations put forth the most passionate component to the Penguins' 5-4 flipping of the Canucks on this Tuesday night at PPG Paints Arena.