CRANBERRY, Pa. -- During training camp, Mike Sullivan had a simple line about how they evaluate the growth of young players.
"You can't always control when the puck goes in the net or if it doesn't," he said. "But you can control the process."
It's not exactly ground-breaking stuff. But it's a good reminder that you can't always judge players based on how often they show up on the scoresheet.
Three Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins who haven't quite found the back of the net (well, aside from one empty-netter) this season are Thomas Di Pauli, Teddy Blueger, and Ryan Haggerty. The trio played on a line together in Wilkes-Barre's first two games of the season, before head coach Clark Donatelli experimented with different line combinations during Saturday's game.
The line was a no-brainer to start the season. The three played together during their final preseason game in Pittsburgh, a 3-2 overtime loss to Detroit. They were the most dominant line on the ice that night, and were responsible for Pittsburgh's only goals. Haggerty opened the scoring after unleashing one of his signature shots from the left circle, and Blueger scored a breakaway tally. Their goals came because they created more chances than anyone else. Their Corsi For percentage when all three players were on the ice was 75 percent -- meaning when they were on the ice, 75 percent of the shot attempts came from Pittsburgh. A good Corsi For percentage is anything over 50, so 75 is outstanding. And it was because of their smooth passing and work ethic. They have great chemistry.
Through three games, those same chances have been there, but they haven't been able convert them as often as they would like.
In last week's season opener, the Penguins generated an incredible 47 shots. The shot production of the Di Pauli-Blueger-Haggerty line was unmatched, with 13 shots -- seven from Haggerty, and three from Di Pauli and Blueger.
I spoke with all three players after their practice in Cranberry, on their way to Cleveland.
"I think we all just work really hard," Haggerty said about his line. "We play our game, our system, extremely well. We're all good, smart players. I know everyone brings something a little different to the table, and we balance each other really well."
What Haggerty brings to the table is his physicality and two-way play, but also his terrific shot. He has 10 shots in three games to start the season, and quite a few have been slapshots like this one:
Di Pauli echoed some of the same sentiments when talking about their line.
"I think all three of us work hard," he said. "We all bring something a little bit different to the line. I think we work well together."
Like Haggerty, Di Pauli brings strong defensive play to the line. Di Pauli has the most speed of the three, and also brings a bit of flash:
I asked Di Pauli about his focuses for this season. The element of his game he believes will help him take the next step and reach the NHL is his defensive play.
"Obviously I want to stay healthy and put up a good amount of points, and be really good on the (penalty kill) too. I think that's something that's going to get me to the next level," he said. "And use my speed, create offensive zone chances, and be real solid defensively."
Di Pauli created the chance that earned Blueger his first goal of the season, an empty-netter. It was Di Pauli's pressure on Cleveland defenseman Tommy Cross that forced a turnover. Blueger intercepted the pass and sent it into the empty net:
It was a step in the right direction for Blueger. Blueger was the lone member of his line who expressed displeasure with their performance in the season opener.
"To be honest, I didn't think we had a great game," he said. "We had a lot of scoring chances, but I thought defensively we weren't that great, and we didn't skate as well as we'd like to. For myself, I thought I played too soft and didn't skate as I'd like. I think there's a lot of room for improvement, and we've got to be better. I think we can generate even more scoring chances, and hopefully goals."
Skating is Blueger's focus, and has been since his first full professional season in 2016-17. In 2017 training camp, Sullivan expressed concern that Blueger's lower-body strength and skating weren't developed enough to be successful at the NHL level. Since then, he's gotten stronger and faster, and has told me that he does feel more comfortable in his skating. It was his "focal point" of the offseason, in the gym and in the rink.
"I feel a lot faster out there, more comfortable in my feet," said Blueger. "Both in terms of speed and turns and everything."
Blueger is also focusing on getting his release off quicker, something he hopes will generate more goals.
The addition of Derek Grant to Saturday's lineup shuffled the lines, and Donatelli tried different combinations throughout the game. Blueger spent time with each player on his wing, with Adam Johnson and Jimmy Hayes completing the line at different points in the game.
It isn't known yet if Di Pauli, Blueger, and Haggerty will be reunited in the coming games or go their separate ways, but each has had a strong showing through these first three games. More goals will come from those three.
MORE FROM WILKES-BARRE
• Oct. 11: at Cleveland, 3-0 win
• Oct. 13: at Cleveland, 4-1 win
• Zach Aston-Reese is getting his "swagger" back in Wilkes-Barre, with one goal through three games. I spoke with him during Tuesday's practice in Cranberry, and you can read all about his start to the season right here. He experienced more physicality in this week's games, on the giving and receiving ends. The most notable instances were with 5-foot-5 Monsters captain Nathan Gerbe, of all people.
Gerbe laid a big hit on Aston-Reese in Thursday's game:
Aston-Reese returned the favor later in the game, and tried to get Gerbe to drop the gloves. Gerbe just hung on, and each player received a minor penalty for roughing:
• Grant cleared waivers on Thursday, but didn't make it to Cleveland in time to play in Thursday's game. He scored a goal in his first game as a Penguin on Saturday. It was his 100th career AHL goal in his 316th career AHL game.
• Grant qualifies as a veteran in the AHL, so he counts towards the team's veteran limit of five players. To make room for Grant, veteran defenseman Will O'Neill had to sit. Defenseman Jeff Taylor played in O'Neill's place. Tobias Lindberg was the forward that had to sit for Grant.
• Goaltender Anthony Peters has been the Penguins' best player through three games -- no question. He pitched a 28-save shutout on Thursday and made 32 saves on 33 shots on Saturday. His goals against average of 0.98 ranks first in the league, and his .968 save percentage ranks second.
Wilkes-Barre is still carrying goaltender John Muse, who is signed to an NHL contract. Peters' ECHL rights are owned by Cincinnati, meaning if he were to be sent down to the ECHL he could not go to Wheeling. There was talk from Donatelli of the Penguins potentially working out a deal with Cincinnati to be able to send Peters down to Wheeling, depending on how the backup goaltender situation shakes out. We haven't seen Muse play in a game yet, but I really don't think we need to. Once Tristan Jarry gets sent back down, Muse may go down to Wheeling. Or, they could keep three goaltenders on the roster. They've done it before. Peters does not belong in the ECHL.
• Anthony Angello scored his first professional regular season goals on Thursday and Saturday, after scoring his first two in last season's playoff run.
• The power play, which finished next-to-last in the league last season, went 0-for-5 in last week's season opener. The Penguins had ample opportunity to figure things out this week, as they were given a whopping 11 power play opportunities on Thursday, and converted on three of them. The Penguins then went 0-for-3 on the power play on Saturday. The power play is still not what they want it to be, but it's a start.
• Development coach, former Penguin, and all-around legend Tom Kostopoulos was working with the team during their practices in Cranberry and Cleveland. From what I saw in Cranberry, he was mainly sitting back while the Wilkes-Barre coaches took charge, and offering feedback and working with players individually.
• You know how most hockey teams play with a soccer ball before games? Wilkes-Barre players have taken up Spikeball, of "Shark Tank" fame. The nets were set up outside of the locker room in Cranberry, and play-by-play man Nick Hart spoke about it on Saturday's broadcast. I'm no expert on Spikeball, but judging by this video it looks like it requires a lot of hand-eye coordination.
• Lines and defense pairings from Saturday:
Garrett Wilson - Derek Grant - Jimmy Hayes
Zach Aston-Reese - Sam Lafferty - Anthony Angello
Adam Johnson - Teddy Blueger - Ryan Haggerty
Thomas Di Pauli - Linus Ölund - Sam Miletic
Chris Summers - Stefan Elliott
Jeff Taylor - Zach Trotman
Matthew Abt - Ethan Prow
• After this week, the Penguins have a record of 3-0. They rank second in the Atlantic Division behind the Charlotte Checkers (4-0). The power play is operating at 15.8 percent, and the penalty kill is at 91.7 percent.
• The Penguins have three games this week against their biggest division rivals. They'll host the Hershey Bears (0-5) on Wednesday, then have a home-and-home series against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms (2-1) on Friday and Saturday.
GOALS OF THE WEEK
Sam Lafferty scored his first goal of the season on Thursday:
Hayes scored his first goal of the season, picking up an easy rebound chance:
Grant scored his first goal in his first game as a Penguin on Saturday:
SAVES OF THE WEEK
Peters made these two saves in Thursday's shutout:
He made this stop on Saturday:
BEYOND THE AHL
Poor Alex D'Orio.
The Saint John Sea Dogs currently rank 15th in the 18-team QMJHL, with a record of 2-6-2-1. D'Orio has been one of the biggest reasons that the Sea Dogs aren't sitting at the bottom of the standings, although his 4.19 goals against average and .887 save percentage may not reflect that.
D'Orio has faced 364 shots through 10 games -- the most in the league. He's made 323 saves -- the most in the league.
On Oct. 14, the Sea Dogs fell to the Charlottetown Islanders, 6-5 in a shootout. The Islanders peppered D'Orio with 54 shots, and even though he ultimately took the loss, he was by all accounts the reason the game was as close as it was.
Alex D'Orio has been lights out in the first. Made a number of massive cross-crease saves as the Islanders are heavy on the attack. #LightItUp
— Aidan Northcott (@AidanNorthcott) October 14, 2018
Islanders lead 4-1 after forty. Shots 37-17 for the Isles.
Alex D'Orio keeping the Sea Dogs in this one with a number of huge saves.
— Charlottetown Islanders Stats ?? (@IslesStats) October 14, 2018
Penguins director of player development Scott Young spoke on D'Orio's situation during the team's July development camp.
"You learn a lot about his battle level and his mentality and how he fights through adversity," Young said. "One of the things with Alex is that he played so many minutes, and that's tough, but it's actually great for a goaltender as far as the shots that he sees. It says a lot about him, and we're really high on him."
So, while D'Orio and the Sea Dogs won't be winning the Memorial Cup any time soon, the Penguins aren't discouraged by D'Orio's situation. In fact, they see it as a positive.
D'Orio is 19 years old, so he'll be eligible to play in the AHL next season. Goaltenders take longer to develop, so he won't be an option for Pittsburgh anytime soon. But it will be interesting to see how he fares on a team that can actually compete.
TOP PICK TRACKER
• Left wing Kasper Bjorkqvist (second round, 2016) and Providence College played two games this week -- a 4-0 win over Miami University and a 3-0 loss to Notre Dame. Bjorkqvist had two shots in the win and led the Friars with six shots in this week's loss, but he's still searching for his first point of the season. The Friars shuffled their lines this week, but Bjorkqvist remained the first line left wing for both games.
• Defenseman Zachary Lauzon (second round, 2017) is still rehabbing from his neck injury. He has resumed training, but is expected to be out of Rouyn-Noranda’s lineup until December.
• Defenseman Calen Addison (second round, 2018) recorded three assists in three games this week with the Lethbridge Hurricanes, bringing his season totals to one goal, eight assists in nine games. Addison played two games on the Hurricanes' third defensive pairing, and played one game on the top pairing. When he's been on the top pairing, he plays on the left side, but when he's been on the bottom pairing, he plays on the right side.
• Forward Filip Hallander (second round, 2018) registered two assists in two games this week with Timra IK. He now has two goals and four assists through eight games this season, his first season in the SHL.
WHEELING WATCH
Tomorrow's feature will check in with Pittsburgh native, Robert Morris alum, and current Nailer Zac Lynch.
PROSPECT FUN THING
Jarry spoke to the Pittsburgh media after Wilkes-Barre's practice. Chris Summers, having already chirped Haggerty during Haggerty's availability, made Jarry his next target.
Summers joined the media scrum and stuck his phone out like he was recording. Another member of the media asked Summers if he had a question, and the exchange went like this:
Summers: "Just, are the rumors true?"
Jarry: "... About you?"
Summers: "Yeah."
Jarry: "No."
Summers asked Jarry how he got into goaltending and asked if Jarry still wants to be a goaltender, or if he has aspirations to move to a different position. It sounds as if Jarry still wants to be a goaltender. Big news.