Jesse Puljujärvi, who underwent double hip surgery during the 2023 NHL offseason, clearly benefitted from a long summer full of rest and rehab.
"I think his skating is stronger," said Mike Sullivan when asked Friday night about Puljujärvi, this after the Penguins beat the Blue Jackets, 7-3, at PPG Paints Arena. "He's got a more powerful stride. His balance is better. He's quicker from a dead stop... He went through a very difficult rehab process after the surgery that he had. My experience with those types of long rehabs is sometimes it takes longer than a year. I know how hard he worked to get back to skating and playing last year. I feel like watching him this year, from training camp... he just looks a lot stronger. I give him a ton of credit for how hard he's worked in the offseason... he's put himself in a position to succeed. He's earned the opportunities that we've given him... I think he's had a terrific training camp."
Before training camp, he might not have been considered a contender for one of the few open roster spots in the Penguins' bottom-six. To call his preseason a pleasant surprise would be an understatement. In the three games he suited up, Puljujärvi scored four goals. Two of his three assists were primary ones. Simply put, he played himself into the opening night lineup.
This was no different, and Sullivan had more praise for Puljujärvi following the win. "He's an exciting player for us because I don't think we have a lot of some of the things that he brings... he's shown the ability to finish. That breakaway goal tonight was a really nice goal. That's a high-end play."
We have no words 😮
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 5, 2024
Take a bow, Jesse Puljujarvi! pic.twitter.com/5reiZ8VHWn
"I think one of the best parts of his game is his ability to get in on the puck, put defensemen under pressure," Sullivan continued. "He can use his reach, his length, his physical stature to make it hard on our opponent... If he can produce some offense for us, make us hard to play against, get in on the forecheck, be reliable defensively, I think there's a huge opportunity for him."
2. With two goals and two assists-- including the stretch pass to spring Puljujärvi on the breakaway-- Lars Eller was the first star of the game. Eller's game isn't flashy, but it's very, very smart. His two goals tonight weren't an exception.
Eller doesn't force anything. He never does. He isn't afraid to make the simple play, which is the real strength to his game. He sees the game so well, and when he sees a play developing, he puts himself in a position to strike.
McGroarty ➡️ Puljujarvi ➡️ Eller 🚨 pic.twitter.com/uomm5qti6a
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 5, 2024
Four of the seven goals tonight came from Eller's line, but he's not getting ahead of himself. "I think it's going to be a lot harder next week. It's not going to be as easy... Our line today, we took the opportunities that were there, and we executed on a lot of them, and you just feel good about yourself going into next week. When you play the right way, you're going to get looks. I think it's good for the team when we're clicking and scoring goals. We're not going to score seven every game, but the feeling of putting the puck in the net can never hurt."
I asked Eller if he was going to win the Rocket Richard this season. "Yeah. This might be the year! Yeah, I've been fooling everybody for fourteen years, and now I'm going to go for it." You heard it here first, folks.
3. The power-play went 1/2 tonight. Rickard Rakell scored seven seconds after drawing the game's first penalty. After a down year where he dealt with a shoulder injury, that type of goal is what the Penguins hope and expect to get out of Rakell.
"He's come into camp in great shape," said Sullivan. This is the best condition he's been in since he's been with the Penguins. He's strong. I think he's had a really good camp, and hopefully he can build on that from a confidence standpoint. He puts a lot of pressure on himself to help us offensively... when he doesn't produce offensively, no one feels it more than him.
"That was a goalscorer's goal. It was a bullet... Terrific play all around. We know what he's capable of. He scored 30 goals the year before. He's capable of scoring goals in this league. He certainly has a body of work in this league to suggest that. We're hoping that we can help him recapture that part of his game."
A RICKY ROCKET TO TIE IT! 🚨 pic.twitter.com/CMvzh0ZVDw
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 4, 2024
4. The true bright spot of tonight's game is that everyone escaped unscathed. This preseason has seen no shortage of injuries-- I'll have a piece on that tomorrow-- and the Penguins have been no exception. Erik Karlsson suffered an upper-body injury before training camp even started. Blake Lizotte was diagnosed with a concussion after taking a puck to the face up in Sudbury. Alex Nedeljkovic fell victim to a lower-body-injury in Detroit, and during Tuesday's home game against the Red Wings, both Bryan Rust and Vasily Ponomarev joined the injury report. So, it's definitely a good thing that tonight's tilt with the Blue Jackets wasn't a chippy one.
5. Six of the seven goals scored tonight came from the bottom-six, and two of them came from Noel Acciari. His second of the night was particularly impressive. He steps into Hunter McKown, strips the puck, and is off to the races-- or, at least, about as close to "off to the races" as you can get with a guy who, according to NHLEdge, is well below the 50th percentile when it comes to skating speed.
THE DAD STRENGTH IS REAL 💪 pic.twitter.com/YZ9Lh6vCEd
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 5, 2024
Acciari's shift to the wing was a conscious decision, according to Sullivan. "Noel is such a conscientious player defensively... when he has the ability to produce offensively, and chip in offensively, like he has throughout the course of this preseason, that's a welcome addition to his overall game. Certainly he's capable, he's had a twenty-goal season in the past. He's capable of scoring goals. We're hoping that maybe if we get him on the wing a little bit, it might give him an opportunity to generate a little bit more offense. That was part of the thought process of putting Cody Glass in the middle and moving Noel to the wing. Certainly he's capable of playing center, but we think there might be an opportunity there where he could help us a little bit offensively if he plays the wing."
6. Harrison Brunicke didn't stand out all that much tonight, but that's a good thing. He spent the majority of the game on the third pairing with Ryan Graves, and that's what you want from a third pairing defenseman. When he was noticeable, it was for the right reasons. He was moved up to the second pairing with Marcus Pettersson about midway through the third period. He drew a penalty, blocked two shots, and was solid throughout his 16:21 of ice time.
7. Rutger McGroarty had another strong game. He had two assists, and finished off a pretty passing play to score his first preseason goal in a Penguins' sweater.
Introducing: Rizz McGroarty 🤩 pic.twitter.com/3S4dh3rJTR
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 5, 2024
"Obviously, it's pretty cool," he said when asked about ending the preseason on a high note. "I put in a lot of work. Mentally, coming in, it was a little overwhelming at first, but now, I feel really comfortable with my game. I feel really good with where my game's at."
"I thought Rutger had a great game again tonight," said Sullivan. Every game he plays, I think he gets a little bit better, feels a little bit more comfortable. This is his first pro training camp. That can always be an overwhelming experience for a young player, and I think he's handled it extremely well. He's a mature kid... he thinks the game on an NHL level. He has great recognition skills, anticipation, he knows how to play the game. With each day that he's played here, with each game that he's played, he gets a little bit better at adapting to the pace of play, how quickly guys think the game, things of that nature. For me, it might've been his best game tonight, and he's played an awful lot... we're real excited about where his game is and potentially could go moving forward. We think he's going to be an impact player."
8. I don't anticipate McGroarty making the opening night roster, and that might not be a bad thing. He's talented, and he sees the game well, but he would probably benefit from starting the year in the AHL, both physically and mentally. How many 14th overall picks go right from juniors to the NHL? There's no harm in sending him down-- he's waiver exempt-- especially since he would likely see top-six minutes in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. They could deploy him on both the top power-play units and the penalty kill, and give him a few games to build confidence.
9. Cody Glass played a quietly good game. He went 6-3 in the faceoff dot, and was solid on the penalty-kill. He wasn't super noticeable, but he made one play that really stuck with me:
Cookie with a monster tally 🍪 pic.twitter.com/pQ9rl2FpWl
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 4, 2024
Glass hustles to overtake Cole Sillinger, lifts his stick, and steals the puck. He passes cross-ice to Kevin Hayes, and Hayes sets up Acciari for his first goal of the night.
10. This was Joel Blomqvist's first full preseason game. He struggled early on, letting in two goals in the first 5:05. Those two goals came just 40 seconds apart.
"It's the same thing after every goal," he said when asked what was going through his head. "Just reset and focus on the next one."
Blomqvist regrouped well, and refused to let the early adversity send him spiraling. He ended the game with 26 saves on 29 shots. "The team played good in front of me, and we ended up getting the win. That's the most important thing."
