COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Maybe everyone was wrong about Juuso Riikola except Riikola himself.
Oh, and Jim Rutherford, too.
After yet another exemplary showing Friday night in the Penguins' preseason finale, a 7-6 loss to the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena, the best, biggest story of this training camp -- the electric emergence of this 24-year-old Finnish defenseman who'd never played in North America -- suddenly looks like it might segue from the prelude right into the first real chapter.
Meaning, you know, no minor leagues. Just start out in Pittsburgh.
I asked Rutherford, following the game, to assess Riikola's overall showing.
"Yeah, you don't know how long the adjustment's going to take. And he's obviously made that in the preseason," Rutherford told me. "He needs to build on what he's doing, but he's had a terrific preseason."
Has he made the call tougher on the GM than he'd thought it might be?
"Not at all. Not at all. I mean, I knew he'd be here to start the season."
Wait, what? To 'start the season?' As in start out in the NHL?
The man politely declined to elaborate.
But that's where the conversation's carrying now. And that's wonderful, because it should.
Set aside that Brian Dumoulin left late in the second period with an unspecified upper body injury -- "He'll be evaluated when we get back to Pittsburgh" was all Mike Sullivan would divulge -- and set aside all other circumstances, too. This kid deserves better than to be seen as some emergency replacement because he's been that good.
No, better.
In this one, he had two assists, three shots, a blocked shot, a plus-3 rating and, as ever, even superlative statistics don't do it justice. He smothered Columbus forwards one-on-one, won 50/50 battles, made smart decisions with the puck and, occasionally, just spun and skated it up himself.
And this after a punishing showing Wednesday against the Sabres in registering a game-high six hits, half of those board-rattlers.
Watch the first of the two assists, this with the top power-play unit:
A net-front diving goal in preseason?
Patric Hornqvist knows one speed, and one speed alone. All out. All the time. pic.twitter.com/3Sbbpfg3fh
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 29, 2018
That's a boomer of a slap shot, obviously, but what can’t be seen in that clip — and the game wasn’t televised, so there isn’t a better one — is how Riikola commanded that power play, how three of the world’s greatest hockey players immediately deferred to him from a formation they seldom use, the umbrella, which puts all its faith in the player right where Riikola had taken over.
Does Riikola even realize that this is supposed to be hard?
"Do I?" he came back when I asked that after the game, though he seemed to take the question literally. "I just try to do my best every day."
He answers like that all the time, I've noticed, and I told him so. Never too high, too low, anything.
"Well, honestly, I don't feel like I'm playing at my best right now."
Say what?
"I don't. I feel like this is routine. I feel like I'm a player who doesn't go from having such a great game to a bad game."
That shows on the rink, notably when he takes risks. There's no fear of failure. Aside from his puck decisions, it's his most striking trait.
Still, I couldn't help but ask, with the preseason closed and the roster about to be pared: Has he worried at all about the possibility that he could be sent to Wilkes-Barre?
To this he laughed.
"Why should I? I'm here to do my best every day. Let's see what happens."
• My goodness, Derick Brassard had a night. Cody Tucker's got that covered, but all I'll add is that I've not seen him close to this level since his arrival in Pittsburgh, and people whose opinions matter infinitely more than mine feel likewise.
• Tristan Jarry was left to fend for himself far too often in giving up five goals on 20 shots through his period and a half. But, again, make a save. He not only came up short in that facet but also looked clumsy in his lateral movement, even jittery.
Casey DeSmith took over midway through the second and gave up two goals on 17 shots.
I never took seriously the concept of a backup goaltending duel, and I won't now that DeSmith is the obvious choice. For now. Jarry's got the better talent, but that's got to come with poise or it's pointless. And if this really was a test on the part of the coaching staff, starting Jarry rather than DeSmith, then the grade was a D-minus at best.
Sullivan was kinder.
“Both Tristan and Casey have been with us for a while. We have a good handle on their respective games," he said. "It’s more a decision about their body of work, rather than a specific game. We’re excited about both guys and think they’re very capable.”
• Pity Zach Aston-Reese. No, actually, pity Pierre-Luc Dubois if he'd accepted Aston-Reese's hard challenge to fight in the first period. Sullivan's told me in the past that Aston-Reese's fights in the minors had caught the attention of people around the hockey world, not just the Penguins, and I'm guessing there was reason for that.
As it was, Dubois not only kept his mitts about him and kept backing up, but he also hilariously began scanning the rink for the linesmen to come and rescue him.
• Regardless, the sequence illustrated, I thought, Aston-Reese's awareness that he's not looking like he'll open the season in the lineup. His projected spot on the third line has now clearly been taken by Dominik Simon -- alongside Brassard and Bryan Rust -- and he's got no business working the right side, as he did on the fourth line here and would have to do in the regular season.
Depth is nice, but it can also cause bona fide problems. Not necessarily at the outset, but eventually Aston-Reese and Daniel Sprong both need to be on the ice, or they'll be stunted. That just can't happen.
• I've got zero issue with the forward lines.
I know Simon's got a perception problem with some in the fan base -- believe it or not, not every player needs to put up points -- but he's off-the-charts respected in the room for his skill level at sustaining the attack and supporting plays all over the ice. In the Sullivan system, a player like that isn't optional.
Aston-Reese, ideally, will win his way onto the top three lines sooner rather than later. Sprong will definitely come later, even if his injured left knee heals soon. He's a project.
• It would have been just as easy to feel bad for Chad Ruhwedel, who was a minus-3 and had that look all the worse by being last man back on all three goals. One of those came on a three-on-one, the other two on slam dunks.
That said, the defenseman's job is, you know, to defend. Make a play.
If nothing else, should Dumoulin not recover from his injury in time for the opener, it couldn't be more obvious that Ruhwedel still wouldn't be the choice for the starting six. Jamie Oleksiak wasn't great in this game as Ruhwedel's partner, but he's had a strong camp.
• There aren't enough superlatives for how well Carl Hagelin's supporting Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel these past couple games. As Hagelin and I talked about the other night in Pittsburgh, he's in the odd role of both leading the rush and leading the backcheck, and he's doing both while also making smart decisions with the puck, constantly aware of the need to protect possession rather than simply grind.
And talk about leading the rush:
Every day I'm #Swagelin ? pic.twitter.com/UX8p3I1LrX
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 28, 2018
"I think we're all ready for the season to start," Hagelin said afterward. "Obviously too many goals tonight, too many chances, but we'll bounce back from that."
• Two of the Penguins' first three shots beat Bobrovsky, half of the first six, four of the first dozen and ultimately, six of 29 ... it's as if he can't perform at either end of a regular season.
• It's the preseason, I know. None of it means a thing. But hey, it's got to be considered some sort of progress to get excited over Greg McKegg last September and Riikola this September.
• Enough of this. Bring on real pucks. Six days.
