A couple months ago -- heck, no, a couple days ago -- Evan Rodrigues would never peel off the blinders, never think a second thought. He'd approach the attacking blue line with his mind a blank slate. And upon arrival, he'd dutifully dump the puck deep, he'd pin his ears back, and he'd pursue it.
In his mind, in this instance, he's a fourth-liner. And this is what fourth-liners do.
Fast-forward now to this actual Saturday night at PPG Paints Arena, site of Game 3 of the Penguins-Rangers first-round Stanley Cup playoff series, and check out Rodrigues' place on the line chart:
Fourth-liner status confirmed.