Milton’s Ryan Shea is part of an all-Hockey East pairing that has energized the resurgent Penguins

“It’s been a pretty long road to get here,” Shea said prior to facing his hometown Bruins for the first time. “Obviously, I didn’t get my opportunity in Dallas, even though I was playing pretty good hockey there. But that’s how the cookie crumbles sometimes — you’ve just got to be patient. I pretty much never gave up on my dream to play in the NHL.”

St. Ivany, a California kid from Manhattan Beach, began his college career at Yale, then transferred to Boston College after his sophomore season. Originally a Flyers draft pick, the 24-year-old was a free agent upon leaving the Heights in 2022, signed with the Penguins, and only recently was promoted from AHL Wilkes-Barre Scranton.

The infusion of youth on the back line, noted coach Mike Sullivan, has been a key element in helping boost the Penguins, who were 5-0-1 in their six April games prior to facing the Bruins. The recent hot streak had the team back in the hunt for one of the final two playoff spots in the Eastern Conference.

“We tried to sign him when he was coming out of college,” said Sullivan, the ex-Bruins bench boss, noting that Shea long had been on the club’s radar. “This time around, when we had the opportunity to sign him and add him to this group of defense, I was certainly excited. We had done some homework when he was coming out of Northeastern and then since he’s played at the American League level — he’s been one of the better defensemen at the AHL level in the role that he plays.”

Shea’s game, not flashy, has been more that of a conservative, stay-at-home back liner, though in today’s game all defenseman are charged with more than just pushing guys away from their net. Sullivan refers to Shea as a “stabilizing” defenseman, one who can calm things down defensively and also help move pucks out of the defensive zone.

“He defends well … a calming force,” said Sullivan. “He makes good plays with the pucks. He has very deceptive moves and that helps us get pucks out of our end. He defends well with his stick, has good size [6 feet 2 inches, 200 pounds], good on the penalty kill, and that was the game we were hoping he was going to bring to our team.”

The Shea-St. Ivany duo ”has been real reliable for us,” added Sullivan, “and Ryan has been a big part of that … I think he is playing with more confidence this time around.”

Shea made his NHL debut with the Penguins in October and saw ample action through November before being returned to the AHL in early December. He’s only been a roster regular again since the start of April, which also coincides with that 5-0-1 run Pittsburgh took into the game here vs. the NHL’s other Black and Gold franchise.

“Honestly, it’s great,” said Shea, musing over what it meant to face the Bruins, the team he idolized as a kid growing up only a Red Line commute away from the Garden area. “You grow up watching the Bruins, guys like [Zdeno] Chara and [Patrice] Bergeron and guys even earlier, like [Johnny] Boychuk … the guys I liked to watch on the blue line. They brought a lot of joy to everyone in Mass. back in the day.”

The Bruins’ power play, a bugaboo of late, rolled out with some changes here vs. the Penguins after going a low-pulse 2-for-27 over the nine previous games.

The most obvious twist had Pat Maroon, playing his first game in Black and Gold, manning the net front on the No. 2 unit, joined up front by Charlie Coyle and Danton Heinen. Kevin Shattenkirk, back for his first game action since April 2, returned to point duty, supported in large part by Morgan Geekie.

The first unit started the night with Jake DeBrusk among the shooters with regulars Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Pavel Zacha, and point man Charlie McAvoy. McAvoy entered the night with only one power-play goal all season (Nov. 18), but he had connected at even strength in each of the previous two games.

Per coach Jim Montgomery, the two power-play units for the most part operate under similar instructions, though some of the message is tailored to personnel as well as the time on ice each is allotted during a typical two-minute man advantage.

“It’s probably 60 percent the same message,” said Montgomery, “but we want the second unit to be more direct, because they’re not going to have as much time out there. We want more people and pucks to the net. Breakouts are a little bit different [between the two units]. That might be because of personnel, but also just a factor of time on the board.”

Shattenkirk, playing in only his 59th game of the season, entered the game with two power-play goals, the most of all Bruins defensemen this season. He had a familiar screener up front in Maroon. The two played together in Tampa in 2019-20 and have a Cup ring to prove it.

“We all know what he does and the strengths of his game,” said Shattenkirk. “A bit part of that [for Maroon] is being at the net front. I played with him at Tampa on the second power play. That was our M.O. to get pucks there. We know not only does he do a great job of screening, but he can make those little plays along the goal line, so again, I think he fits perfectly into the mold for what we are trying to do on our unit — he’s a great asset to have him slot in there.”

The Vegas Golden Knights, with ex-Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy in charge, on Friday night locked down the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth. Entering the 8:20 puck drop here, the last two Eastern berths remained up for grabs among the Penguins, Islanders, Red Wings, and Capitals. The Flyers also remained in the hunt, but began the day having played the most games (80) of the “wannabe” bunch. It’s possible the Bruins won’t know their Round 1 opponent until the East wraps up regular-season play Wednesday, a night that has the Penguins playing the Islanders in Elmont, N.Y. …The Bruins will enjoy a day of rest in D.C. on Sunday, face the Caps there the next night, then return for the season wrap Tuesday night vs. Ottawa on Causeway Street ... In his 451 regular-season games prior to facing the Penguins, McAvoy had 12 power-play goals. Shattenkirk, playing in game No. 950, entered with 44.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com.