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<p>Tom Kostopoulos noticed something about Tom Sestito during Wilkes-Barre/Scranton&#8217;s 5-0 loss to Providence on March 26.</p><p>The Penguins&#8217; captain felt that Sestito, who posted 15 penalty minutes in the game, was the only one who showed up.</p><p>&#8220;You could see by the look in his eyes that (Sestito) did not want to lose that game,&#8221; Kostopoulos said.</p><p>Sestito doesn&#8217;t want to lose his season either.</p><p>A knee injury robbed him of several weeks in late October into November, and after a brief return the problem flared up again, putting Sestito on the shelf for all of December.</p><p>For a veteran player trying to establish himself with a new team, and work his way back up to the NHL, it was a rough time for the Penguins&#8217; tough guy.</p><p>&#8220;The beginning of the year was disappointing,&#8221; Sestito said. &#8220;It wasn&#8217;t the year I wanted.&#8221;</p><p>Now, Sestito, 28, is 100 percent healthy and he&#8217;s playing not only to save his season, but perhaps his career as well.</p><p>And the results couldn&#8217;t have come at a better time.</p><p>After posting a goal, two points and 20 penalty minutes in 12 games during February, Sestito has picked things up in March. In eight games he has two goals, six points and 37 penalty minutes, including three fighting majors.</p><p>But Sestito&#8217;s worth goes beyond the numbers. On March 25, he fought fellow heavyweight Zack Stortini, who two days earlier hit Penguins defenseman Tim Erixon from behind.</p><p>Sestito&#8217;s goal against Springfield on March 29 - a tip-in during a power play, proved to be the game winner.</p><p>It&#8217;s been an eventful couple weeks for the Rome, NY native and for good reason.</p><p>&#8220;This is big boy hockey when it gets closer to playoffs,&#8221; he said. &#8220;I pride myself on trying to play the same way every game, but you can get lost in January and February. It&#8217;s a long season.</p><p>&#8220;This is the time of year when you want your game to be on all cylinders.&#8221;</p><p>There are a lot of &#8220;cylinders&#8221; in Sestito&#8217;s game, a facet that can be tough to balance at times.</p><p>He&#8217;s capable of contributing offense, and his role on the second power-play unit proves that it&#8217;s expected. Sestito is also mindful of helping out in the defensive zone, as his plus-2 rating in the first eight games of March suggests.</p><p>And then there&#8217;s the physical component - something Sestito has excelled in throughout his career and certainly can&#8217;t be neglected.</p><p>Sestito admitted it can be difficult to balance so many jobs, so he enlisted the help of head coach Clark Donatelli and associate coach Jay Leach.</p><p>&#8220;I went to them and asked them to make sure they&#8217;re on me if I&#8217;m not playing a certain way,&#8221; Sestito said. &#8220;Some games it gets away. They get one me if I&#8217;m not playing that way all the time, and that helps.&#8221;</p><p>At various times in his career, producing offense has been just as important in Sestito&#8217;s game as playing physical. People see his penalty minutes, such as when he led the NHL with 213 penalty minutes in 2013-14, and chalk up Sestito as a one-dimensional player.</p><p>But he&#8217;s also scored 42 goals in 60 games in juniors one season, and posted 32 points in 46 games in the AHL during the 2010-11 season. Sure, the penalty minutes dominate Sestito&#8217;s stats, but they don&#8217;t define his game.</p><p>&#8220;People see my penalty minutes and that I fight a lot so they think I can&#8217;t play,&#8221; Sestito said. &#8220;It goes back to the roles. I&#8217;ve been on teams where I was top line, first power play. And then I&#8217;ve been places with a lot of skill, especially in the NHL, and I was out there to create energy and stick up for teammates. I think it does get lost, but I can score goals down here.&#8221;</p><p>Sestito&#8217;s versatile mix of providing offense, playing physical and dropping the gloves hasn&#8217;t been lost on his teammates.</p><p>&#8220;When you play against a guy like that you know he&#8217;s on the ice. It&#8217;s just a presence out there,&#8221; Kostopoulos said. &#8220;Not many people like playing against him. He brings a different element to the game.&#8221;</p><p>While it&#8217;s not unusual for tough guys to sit during the postseason, Sestito feels his versatility will keep him on the ice.</p><p>&#8220;I think I bring more to the table than a physical presence,&#8221; he said. &#8220;This may not have been the year I wanted, but I&#8217;m getting in a groove and I&#8217;ve got more to prove.&#8221;</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Tom Sestito fight&#8217;s Hershey&#8217;s Liam O&#8217;Brien last month. Sestito has been combining his physical play with offensive contributions as the Penguins head to the playoffs. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_pens_her3_faa.jpg</photo0><caption0>Tom Sestito fight&#8217;s Hershey&#8217;s Liam O&#8217;Brien last month. Sestito has been combining his physical play with offensive contributions as the Penguins head to the playoffs. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div><div class="neFile"><img class="neImage" src="https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_sestito1.jpg">
<div class="neCaption">Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Tom Sestito is out to prove his worth as the AHL playoffs near. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo1>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/web1_sestito1.jpg</photo1><caption1>Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Tom Sestito is out to prove his worth as the AHL playoffs near. </caption1><photoCredit1>Fred Adams file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit1></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>WBS tough guy proves he can put up points and penalty minutes</subheadMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Tom Venesky</p><p>tvenesky@www.timesleader.com</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Tom Sestito contributes to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins with fists and stick