Connor Clifton didn’t think twice when the Bruins came calling on July 1.
Beyond his familiarity with Boston — having played parts of five seasons and 232 games with the Bruins — the free agent defenseman also felt his former club would offer an opportunity to earn steady playing time.
Despite playing just 50 games with the Penguins last season, the 31-year-old Clifton felt he had more to give with a team in need along the blue line.
Clifton’s hopes of securing a greater role with Boston were validated in the season-opening win over the Rangers on Tuesday, as he recorded a team-leading 23:23 of ice time.
The Quinnipiac product has logged more than 23:23 just nine times in his NHL career, across 435 games.
“I was a little sore, but excited,” Clifton said of his heavy workload. “That first game you’re always a little sore. You’re kind of juiced up to get at it, and a little nervous.”
With Charlie McAvoy serving a six-game suspension, coach Marco Sturm has had to reshuffle his defense corps to properly allocate the heavy minutes McAvoy usually commands.
Clifton and Nikita Zadorov were the beneficiaries on Tuesday, with Sturm relying heavily on a duo that can dish out hits, ferry pucks through the neutral zone, and activate offensively.
“I think Cliffy is healthy for Z,” Sturm said Thursday. “Z sometimes has a big mouth, and Cliffy settles him down, too. So, it’s a good combo … I trust them. They played a lot of minutes the other night. It’s not going to be like this every night, but they showed me they can play against the big boys, too.”
Clifton acknowledged he was surprised by how fleet-footed the 6-foot-7-inch, 244-pound Zadorov can be. But that mobility should come in handy for a defense corps that needs to sharpen its breakouts and transition game to limit how much time it spends around goalies Jeremy Swayman or Michael DiPietro.
Swayman (24 saves) was the main equalizer in the 3-0 shutout of the Rangers.
But Clifton — donning the spoked-B in a game that mattered for the first time in 1,250 days — was pleased with how Boston’s shorthanded defensive unit fared after an abbreviated training camp.
“I think we played to our identity,” he said. A couple big hits by [Zadorov], so it was great. I think we were reading each other well.”
‘A’ huge honor
Plenty of eyes were on David Pastrnak’s sweater alteration for the season opener, with the veteran winger drawing an ovation from the TD Garden crowd after being introduced as captain for the first time.
But scrappy winger Tanner Jeannot also had some changes to his gear — skating with an “A” on his sweater as one of Boston’s alternate captains alongside Hampus Lindholm.
Team president Cam Neely singled out the pugnacious forward as one of the emerging leaders in a reworked dressing room anchored by Pastrnak and McAvoy — alongside Lindholm, Zadorov, Morgan Geekie, and Fraser Minten.
“It’s obviously a huge honor,” Jeannot said. “To be able to wear that on my sweater on an Original Six team, it’s a dream come true. I just want to do everything I can to help the guys, help the team win, whatever that needs to be.
“If that’s making hits, blocking shots, getting to the net, going to the hard areas, I just want to help out ... We’ve got such a tight group in here. I love every single one of these guys and I’d do anything for them.”
Poitras back at practice
Matt Poitras returned to practice in a regular sweater but did not take part in line rushes. The 22-year-old center was placed on injured reserve to start the season, with Sturm undecided if Poitras would make the trip to Winnipeg and Minnesota. A return for Poitras might not be in the cards until at least next week, considering Sturm wants him to get a few more practices under his belt.
Conor Ryan can be reached at conor.ryan@globe.com.