For the second time this week, a prospect-heavy Penguins’ lineup bested an NHL lineup.
On Wednesday, Pittsburgh was down early but mounted a second-half comeback to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-1. Valtteri Puustinen and Jonathan Gruden lit the lamp for the Penguins, and Kevin Hayes added an empty-net goal at the end to secure the victory.
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Goaltender Tristan Jarry stood tall as well, stopping 33 of 34 Columbus shots.
“I would say that it was a great team effort tonight,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. I thought the guys competed really hard. I thought we got better as the game went on… but I thought we settled in.”
Here are a few thoughts and observations from the Penguins’ victory over the Blue Jackets:
– For the first half of the night, Columbus was the better team. It was an early onslaught for Jarry, who allowed a goal to Blue Jackets’ forward Cole Sillinger in the first half of the first period.
But a large part of the reason the Penguins were able to come back in this game is because Jarry settled in. He didn’t allow another Columbus goal for the remainder of the game, and he made a few nice saves when Columbus was pressuring heavily.
This was Jarry’s final preseason appearance before the regular season begins on Oct. 9 against the New York Rangers, and it was a good primer.
– The first line of Rutger McGroarty, Kevin Hayes, and Jesse Puljujarvi was very good in this game.
They didn’t have anything to show for it until the end of the game, but they were creating chances for much of the second half of the game. Puljujarvi and McGroarty looked especially dangerous on the forecheck and in the offensive zone, trading chances and pressuring Columbus in the offensive zone.
Related: Penguins’ Top Prospect McGroarty Carving Out New Role
Even the empty net goal was the result of hard work from the line. McGroarty made a nice play in his own zone to get the puck to Puljujarvi in the neutral zone, who then carried it into the attacking zone and made a nice pass to Hayes from below the goal line.
Very solid work from that line tonight. I think it’s safe to say the Puljujarvi has more than earned his roster spot at this point.
– McGroarty was, once again, deployed on the lone Penguins’ penalty kill tonight. And he was on the first unit alongside Hayes.
I thought he looked pretty good out there, and he certainly looked comfortable. I wrote about him embracing this role the other day, but this could, potentially, be a really big development for the young forward, who is in a battle for final roster spot.
Versatility is a valued commodity in this league. And McGroarty clearly has that.
– Pickering botched three-on-one with Hayes and McGroarty in the second, and he didn’t have a particularly strong start.
But he made a nice defensive play to break up a Columbus scoring chance with his stick in the third. All in all, it ended up being a nice game from Pickering.
There is likely no path for Pickering to make the NHL roster at this point, but what I’ve seen from him in camp is very encouraging. Much like in this game, he didn’t get off to a fast start, but he got better and better as camp bore on.
The future looks bright for this guy and for the Penguins’ blue line. Between him and Harrison Brunicke, there is some promise knocking on the door for Pittsburgh on that front.
Related: Penguins Training Camp: Notes from Final Day of Practices
– Puustinen, once again, was very good when he needed to be tonight. He is likely battling for the final few spots on the roster – along with McGroarty, Boko Imama, and a few others – and he showed why he deserves to be in Pittsburgh on Oct. 9.
His skating looked a notch above almost everyone’s tonight. He was tenacious on the forecheck and in the offensive zone, and it was easy to tell that he knows the situation.
Unlike McGroarty, Puljujarvi, and Imama, Puustinen is not in the lineup for Friday night’s game against Columbus, so this was likely his last chance to make a case for himself for the final NHL roster.
And he did just that. It will be interesting to see how the others fare tomorrow night.
– Jonathan Gruden scored a between-the-legs deflection tally for the go-ahead goal in the third period of off a Joona Koppanen shot-pass. What a goal that was.
Gruden has been sneakily good in the preseason. This play aside, his style of hockey isn’t going to “wow” anyone. But he plays a quiet, clean game and gets the job done.
I imagine he’s going to be one of the first guys called upon from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton during the season.
– As mentioned before, the Penguins play their final preseason game Friday night in Columbus. The lineup is pretty much what the NHL roster is going to look like on Oct. 9, but there are still a few question marks.
Pretty much everyone in this lineup aside from Brunicke, Sebastian Aho, McGroarty, and Imama are, presumably, locks to make the NHL roster at this juncture.
With Blake Lizotte out indefinitely with a concussion, Vasily Ponomarev out day-to-day with an upper-body injury, and Erik Karlsson just skating with the team in a non-contact jersey for the first time Thursday, there may be a spot or two on the roster wide open for the taking.
Bryan Rust – who has missed the last two practice days for what was called “maintenance days” by Sullivan – is being held out of the lineup again on Friday. Being that this is the preseason, this very well could be precautionary. But that situation may be something to keep an eye on as well.
“I said to the guys after the game that, obviously, we have some difficult decisions, and the biggest compliment to them is they’ve made the decisions more difficult,” Sullivan said after the game. “So, that’s a great problem to have.”
Whatever happens, it appears that the battle for the final few spots on the roster is down to just a few players. For all of the players mentioned above, Friday’s game is yet another critical test for them – and, for some, the final one.
Related: Tough Roster Decisions Loom as Penguins Defeat Red Wings in Preseason Matchup
