Penguins' three fresh callups make good impression in latest loss

SUNRISE, Fla. -- Valtteri Puustinen had mixed emotions after the Penguins' 3-1 loss to the Panthers here in Sunrise, Fla. on Friday night.

The excitement was still evident on Puustinen's face. He was still smiling and a little giddy over the game he just played -- just his second NHL game, and his first in almost two years.

"But it's not the best feeling, because we lose," he explained.

Puustinen, 24, was one of three forward call ups who made their season debuts on Friday, along with Jonathan Gruden and Marc Johnstone, the latter making his NHL debut. It was the single biggest shakeup the Penguins have made to their roster in one game, sending Alex Nylander and Joona Koppanen back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton that morning and scratching Radim Zohorna in favor of the three sets of fresh legs.

The result was the same, and the Penguins' losing streak extended to four games. And while there are few moral victories for a team that is now below .500 at 11-12-3, this game felt like a significant step forward, and a much better showing from the team's previous 3-1 loss two days before in Tampa. It was a much better start, a more consistent effort, and there were other positives like Reilly Smith snapping his 15-game goal drought for the Penguins' lone goal, or the penalty kill being perfect despite missing several key penalty-killers due to injury.

The Penguins' three new faces all showed some positives in the loss, and this game is one that they could all build upon if they stick around moving forward.

That was perhaps most true for Puustinen.

Puustinen skated on the right side of Evgeni Malkin's wing, in the top-six sort of role that best suits him, unlike his NHL debut back in March 2022 when he was Jeff Carter's winger on the third line. If Puustinen is going to carve out a role for himself longer-term, it's going to be a role like he had tonight.

"I'm so excited, and this is a really good chance for me," Puustinen told me after the game. "I play with Geno, and he's an awesome player. He's a top player in this league for the last 15, 16 years."

Puustinen earned the secondary assist on his line's goal, getting the puck to Malkin after a play along the boards:

"I thought Puusty was good," Mike Sullivan said. "He makes a real nice wall play on the goal. He thinks it pretty well."

Where Puustinen might be able to help the Penguins the most if he stays in the lineup is on the power play. 

When I was talking with Puustinen after the game, he lamented only having one chance from what he called "my spot," followed by a little laugh over the territorial claim he just made. But he's absolutely right -- that's his office.

Puustinen, a right-handed shot is a mainstay at the left circle on Wilkes-Barre's top power play, and has been for years.  He's like a little Finnish Alex Ovechkin, just unleashing dangerous one-timers from there. He works on that shot all the time -- if you've ever seen him in warmups in the AHL, he parks himself in that spot and fires off a series of them. Puustinen's one chance on the power play came early in the second period, and it might have been the best power play chance the Penguins had all game:

Puustinen only saw 1:36 with the second unit during the Penguins' three power play opportunities, as the power play's goal drought extended to 37 consecutive failures to score. If Puustinen stays up, it might be worth seeing what he could do with the top unit, where he'd get more time and be with higher-caliber players who could feed him the puck for more of those one-timers.

"We had no practice, this group," Puustinen said of the power play. "I came in yesterday, and we had no (morning skate) today. If we play next game and get a practice, it'll be a better power play."

Puustinen finished the night with 14:18, one shot on goal, three shot attempts, two hits and one blocked shot, a pretty fine stat line for a player in Puustinen's situation. But he was fairly critical of himself, saying it was "not my best night," and attributing that to nerves.

"I would say I was so, so excited," Puustinen said. "I was a little bit like, 'Woo, I'm here now,' it's my second game, and I'm thinking it's my chance. So maybe I'm not thinking of doing the basic work. I can do better next game."

Sullivan said that the challenge for Puustinen is adjusting to the speed of the game -- not the foot speed, he has that. But rather the speed with which the game moves compared to the AHL, and adjusting to that decision-making.

"That's an adjustment for young players," Sullivan said. "But I think Puusty's a smart player, and I think he sees it pretty well. He thinks it pretty well. And I think he'll make that adjustment in time. But it's his second NHL game. He's a young player. I think he has a lot of upside."

Gruden and Johnstone played much different roles in the loss, but they were roles very much familiar to the two of them.

Gruden centered the fourth line, and Johnstone was his right wing. That's where both players most frequently played in Wilkes-Barre, with Jagger Joshua typically being their left wing -- a line Joshua once laughingly called the "Oreo line." Gruden and Johnstone's left wing in this game was a player who has a bit of a different skillset, but still adds a lot of physicality in Jansen Harkins.

The trio saw limited icetime as a unit in this game, mostly due to the high amount of special teams play. But when they were on the ice together for the 3:27 that they were, no shots were allowed in either direction, which is a fine result for a fourth line. 

Johnstone and Gruden are strong penalty-killers at the AHL level, and they both got some penalty-killing time in this game, often deployed as a two-man unit given their familiarity with each other. Both players saw roughly a minute of shorthanded time. There was only one shot attempt even allowed during that time, coming at a moment when Johnstone was off the ice but Gruden was on.

"I thought they did a pretty good job," Sullivan said of their work on the penalty-kill. "You know, Wilkes kills very similar to the way we do, so the concepts are familiar with those guys. Obviously, at this level, it happens a whole lot faster. So that's the challenge, but I thought they did a pretty good job."

If Johnstone and Gruden are to see more NHL time and get more comfortable on the penalty-kill, it could go a long way for the Penguins given the current injuries to Matt Nieto, Noel Acciari and Bryan Rust. It would lessen the workload for Lars Eller, Drew O'Connor and Jeff Carter. 

The Panthers' tying goal from Oliver Ekman-Larsson came shortly after a penalty ended and Johnstone was still on the ice. It was a weird play where Tristan Jarry tried to cover the puck and it slipped through his pads, and then took a bounce off of Johnstone:

Johnstone and Gruden both have skillsets that could allow them to be effective fourth-line players if they stick around. I did this in-depth feature on Johnstone's fast track through the professional ranks earlier in the year and spoke with his AHL head coach from last season, Greg Moore. Moore described the 27-year-old Johnstone's knack for going to the net front, playing physical, and being one of the best players he's ever seen at doing all the "little things" it takes to help a team win. Johnstone finished with two hits in 7:19 this game.

Gruden, who played three NHL games last season, is more known for his defensive play and bringing a gritty element, as well as being strong in faceoffs at the AHL level. When Wilkes-Barre is trying to protect a lead late in a game, the 23-year-old Gruden is often the first forward over the boards because of his ability to be a shutdown player. Gruden played 5:56 in this game, and recorded two shot attempts and one hit.

Overall, Sullivan was pretty satisfied with the contributions of the three new faces to the lineup.

"I thought they competed hard," he said. "You know, they're honest players. They play hard. They compete hard. I thought they gave us what they had."

The Penguins have rotated a number of different depth players in these roles to varying degrees of success throughout the season. If they can find good, consistent young legs to add a boost to the lineup, that would be a huge plus to come out of this string of the injuries the Penguins are currently dealing with. Puustinen, Gruden and Johnstone all made a pretty decent first impression on Friday night.

THE ESSENTIALS

• Boxscore
• Live file
• Scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
• Schedule

THE HIGHLIGHTS

THE THREE STARS

As selected at Amerant Bank Arena:

1. Sergei Bobrovsky, Panthers G
2. Eetu Luostarinen, Panthers LW
3. Anton Lundell, Panthers C

THE INJURIES

• Forward Bryan Rust missed this game with an upper-body injury sustained Wednesday in Tampa.

• Forward Noel Acciari is sidelined with lower-body injury and last played on Nov. 30. He is on injured reserve. He was on this trip but didn't practice with the team.

• Forward Matt Nieto is on long-term injured reserve with a lower-body injury. He last played on Nov. 30.

• Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel is week-to-week with a lower-body injury sustained Nov. 19. He's on injured reserve and has resumed skating on his own.

• Forward Rickard Rakell is out "longer-term" with an upper-body injury sustained Nov. 19. He's on long-term injured reserve and has resumed skating on his own.

• Defenseman P.O Joseph is on injured reserve with a lower-body injury. He last played on Nov 4. He's in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning assignment and played on Friday, and is also expected to play on Saturday. If all goes well, Kyle Dubas said Joseph could be back in the NHL lineup as early as Tuesday vs. the Coyotes.

THE LINEUPS

Sullivan’s lines and pairings:

Jake Guentzel - Sidney Crosby - Drew O'Connor
Reilly Smith - Evgeni Malkin - Valtteri Puustinen
Vinnie Hinostroza - Lars Eller - Jeff Carter
Jansen Harkins - Jonathan Gruden - Marc Johnsone

Ryan Graves - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Erik Karlsson
Ryan Shea - John Ludvig

And for Paul Maurice's Panthers:

Evan Rodrigues - Aleksander Barkov - Sam Reinhart
Carter Verhaeghe - Sam Bennett - Matthew Tkachuk
Eetu Luostarinen - Anton Lundell - Nick Cousins
Jonah Gadjovich - Kevin Stenlund - Ryan Lomberg

Gustav Forsling - Aaron Ekblad
Niko Mikkola - Brandon Montour
Oliver-Ekman-Larsson - Dmitry Kulikov

THE SCHEDULE

The Penguins flew home after the game. They have a scheduled day off on Saturday, then are back to work with a 11 a.m. Sunday practice at PPG Paints Arena. Next game is Tuesday at 7:08 against the Coyotes at PPG Paints Arena -- the first "home" game for West Mifflin's Logan Cooley.

THE FEED

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