CHICAGO -- Marcus Kruger's role in the Chicago Blackhawks’ 2013 Stanley Cup-clinching goal did not end up in the scoring summary.

As the puck was sliding along the left boards in the Blackhawks’ offensive zone, Kruger beat a Boston Bruins skater to it, knocked it to teammate Johnny Oduya with a backhanded pass and Oduya quickly shot it. Michael Frolik redirected the puck, and it ended up on Dave Bolland's stick for the game winner in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals.

The goal will forever have its place in Blackhawks history, but how Kruger factored into it will not. Kruger didn’t get credited with an assist because, of course, he was the fourth person to touch the puck before it arrived in the net. In a lot of ways the play symbolizes what Kruger means to the Blackhawks. He’s often essential to their success, but he rarely shows up on the score sheet.

While Kruger’s capacity as the team’s top penalty-killing forward and his defensive responsibility of often facing the opponents’ best line might go unseen by the casual viewer, his contributions certainly don’t go unnoticed by the Blackhawks.

"I think for us as a group in the room we all know the ability he has, his skating ability, the puck control, the plays he can make," Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews said. "So at the end of the day, I wouldn’t say frustrating, but maybe for him he’s always kind of had to deal with just being content with that role and knowing he’s going to get a certain amount of minutes, he’s going to get a certain amount of opportunities.

"For a player who knows that he could be out there creating offense on a lot of other teams, to continuously be in that defensive role, I think he’s just really put his own needs and his own wants aside and he’s doing what he has to do to be a part of a winning team. We don’t get anywhere without guys like that. He’s definitely always there doing that same job, winning big draws, blocking shots, killing penalties and scored a big goal the other night. It’s guys like him who maybe don’t get the attention, but make a huge difference for us."

Like any center, Kruger enjoys putting up points, and he did produce them at a solid rate earlier in his career in his native Sweden, but he quickly absorbed what his role was expected to be when he joined the Blackhawks and embraced it. Kruger, the son of a hockey coach, was always taught to put team over self, and that’s what he continues to do.

“I think most of us, that’s why we play a team sport, not playing individual sports,” said the 24-year-old Kruger, who was drafted by the Blackhawks in the fifth round in 2009. “That’s always something I liked doing. There’s nothing better than winning together with the team you’ve been playing all year for. That’s the best feeling, and that’s why we play.”

Kruger does show glimpses of his offensive skill -- he put a backhand pass through his legs to set up a playoff goal last season and scored Friday against the Minnesota Wild in Game 1 of their second-round series -- but no one on the Blackhawks gets less of a chance to be offensive than Kruger. That’s how Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville has designed it.

Quenneville began to fully comprehend how much he could trust Kruger in the defensive zone during the 2012-13 season. Since then, Quenneville calls upon Kruger more than any other forward in defensive situations. Of Kruger’s 2,334 faceoff zone starts in the past three seasons, he’s started 1,163 times in the defensive zone, 728 in the neutral zone and 443 in the offensive zone. He’s started more than 50 percent in the defensive zone the past two seasons.

Despite starting in the defensive zone that often and often against skilled opponents, Kruger’s possession numbers have still been positive. He’s had a 52.7 Corsi percentage and been a plus-208 Corsi in the past three seasons. The Blackhawks have had 2,047 shots for and 1,839 shots against with him on the ice in 5-on-5 situations. He’s also had positive goal differential in two of the past three seasons.

“That just shows how good he is in the defensive zone or playing against top lines,” said Blackhawks forward Andrew Shaw, who has been playing alongside Kruger on the fourth line in the second round. “He gets good quality ice playing against other teams’ top lines and does a great job with it. He works as hard he can to shut them down and chips in offensively when he can.”

On top of his 5-on-5 duties on the checking line, Kruger is Quenneville’s top forward choice for the penalty kill. Kruger has led the Blackhawks’ forwards in short-handed ice time the past three seasons. During that span, the Blackhawks have killed off 501 of 600 power plays for an 83.5 percentage.

Quenneville loves playmakers and goal scorers, but he especially appreciates defensive players. It’s why he gives Kruger high praise.

“I think his attention to detail in his game [makes him effectively defensively]," Quenneville said. “His awareness particularly on the defensive side is kind of what we’re talking with [Marian Hossa] as far as his awareness to be above the puck, coming up with loose pucks, tenacity in the puck area, tight areas. He does keep the puck. He has real good patience with it in the offensive zone when they get those shifts that usually start in their own, which is a bonus. I just think his instincts on how to play the game really complement our team.”

Kruger’s consistency has also been accentuated by the fact he’s played with so many different wingers in the past three seasons. He has played with Shaw, Frolik, Brandon Bollig, Ben Smith, Jamal Mayers, Joakim Nordstrom, Daniel Carcillo and Andrew Desjardins, among others during that time.

Despite all that change, Kruger hasn’t changed.

“The last few years we lost a few players every year here and it’s been different linemates and stuff like that,” said Kruger, who won 53.3 percent of his faceoffs this season. “But for me, I’ve always tried to play the same game, be reliable and talking [to] whoever I got on the sides there and try to get it just to work. That’s the key thing. Try to build up some chemistry with the guys I play with.”

Desjardins is the latest forward to join Kruger’s line. The Blackhawks acquired Desjardins at the trade deadline, and he has played mostly with Kruger down the final stretch and seen firsthand what he brings to the Blackhawks.

“There’s not much you can say bad about him,” Desjardins said. “He’s a really intelligent player in every area, I find. He’s in the right spots. He has an eye to score. He has a real good stick defensively. He leads in PK. He does a real good job and fills the role really well.”

It might not be an attention-getting role, but Kruger knows what he does is important to the Blackhawks.

“I know my role on this team right now,” Kruger said. “I try to do that as good as I can. Now it’s the playoffs, it’s all about winning. It’s not about yourself. You have to leave your ego aside and do everything it takes to win. I really think I can do more on the other side of the ice, too. That’s something I want to show. But right now, it’s just focus on playing good, doing everything I can for the team. That’s how I always wanted to play.”