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<p>WILKES-BARRE &#8212; For more than a month, Patrick McGrath could only watch.</p><p>One of the longest-tenured Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, McGrath was a healthy scratch for the first 12 games of the season, and he only cracked the lineup twice during November. Despite the coaching staff raving about McGrath&#8217;s hard work in practice, the fifth-year pro was unable to crack the lineup due to a glut of forwards ahead of him.</p><p>&#8220;It was tough,&#8221; McGrath said. &#8220;We just have so many good guys on this team and throughout the organization.&#8221;</p><p>Still, McGrath, 24, knew an opportunity to get into the lineup would arise at some point. Injuries and call-ups would occur, and he just had to wait for a chance.</p><p>McGrath&#8217;s patience paid off in mid-December. With injuries to several regulars, along with call-ups to Pittsburgh, McGrath got the nod to help fill the voids at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.</p><p>Now, after sitting out more than a month, McGrath is a regular in the lineup anchoring the fourth line.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s good to be back on a consistent basis. You can practice as hard as you want, but it&#8217;s different in a game,&#8221; he said. &#8220;The more you play, the higher your confidence gets.&#8221;</p><p>McGrath played in six of the team&#8217;s 14 games in December and two of the three games in January so far. He has a goal in 10 games on the season, and has proven effective at jumping into the lineup whenever he&#8217;s needed, even if it isn&#8217;t every game.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s nice when some guys go up and they trust you and rely on you here,&#8221; McGrath said.</p><p>Centering the fourth line on most nights is Jarrett Burton, a player who McGrath has been teammates with since the 2014-15 season in Wheeling.</p><p>That familiarity with Burton has allowed McGrath to bring chemistry to the Penguins&#8217; fourth line.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s easy when you have a guy like that. We know what each other is going to do and we keep it simple. Nothing out of the ordinary,&#8221; McGrath said.</p><p>Head coach Clark Donatelli said McGrath&#8217;s hard work in practice has been noticeable in games, and he cited improvement in his skating and stickhandling.</p><p>Even though McGrath has endured long stretches as a healthy scratch, his experience and attitude have helped when it comes to to transition back into the lineup, according to Donatelli.</p><p>&#8220;Sitting out that long and coming in, it&#8217;s hard to do that,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;Patty&#8217;s been great with it.&#8221;</p><p>While providing points has never been a big part of McGrath&#8217;s game, he has proven effective with his physical play. He has dropped the gloves in three of his last four games and former teammate Daniel Sprong credited McGrath&#8217;s fight during a game on Dec. 29 against Hartford as a key to the Penguins&#8217; 5-1 win.</p><p>After McGrath&#8217;s fight early in the second period, the Penguins scored four un-answered goals to defeat the Wolf Pack.</p><p>&#8220;If it gets a guy like (Sprong) going, it&#8217;s great for the team,&#8221; McGrath said of his fight. &#8220;That&#8217;s the goal.&#8221;</p><p><strong>NOTES</strong></p><p>Gage Quinney participated in Tuesday&#8217;s practice. Quinney hasn&#8217;t played since Dec. 29 while dealing with an injury. &#8220;Really happy to have him back in the lineup,&#8221; Donatelli said. &#8220;He plays a lot of minutes on the power play and different scenarios.&#8221; &#8230; Tom Kostopoulos skated on Tuesday but didn&#8217;t practice. Donatelli said Kostopoulos, Tom Sestito, Lukas Bengtsson and Michael Leighton are still considered week-to-week.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">After appearing in two games during the first two months of the season, Shavertown&#8217;s Patrick McGrath has been a regular on the fourth line. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/01/web1_McGrath1.jpg</photo0><caption0>After appearing in two games during the first two months of the season, Shavertown&#8217;s Patrick McGrath has been a regular on the fourth line. </caption0><photoCredit0>Fred Adams file photo | For Times Leader </photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><subheadMeta>WBS Pens forward playing regularly after sitting out first 12 games of season</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 @TomVenesky</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Patrick McGrath providing depth for WBS Penguins