Jake Livanavage called it "what you dream of growing up as a kid."
The result was less-than-ideal -- a 7-5 loss to the Blues -- but the newly-signed defense prospect lived out his dream in the Penguins' regular-season finale, making his NHL debut on the Penguins' second pairing.
Livanavage had nearly zero practice time with the team since being signed out of North Dakota -- just a morning skate on Tuesday morning. That didn't stop Dan Muse from utilizing him heavily, though. Livanavage skated in 25:14, the only skater with over 22 minutes played. He played 2:52 of that quarterbacking the top power-play unit.
For a debut, and given the circumstances, it went pretty well. He was a minus-2 and got walked on one Blues goal, but you could see the puck-moving abilities, his offensive skill, his skating that led the Penguins to sign him in the first place.
"He played well," Muse said. "His first shift, good stick detail disrupts the play. And then a couple shifts later, just a couple really good plays on breakouts, some little subtle things there. I thought you saw that confidence build as he goes on. So I thought he did a good job of just getting into the game. It's never an easy thing for a guy playing first NHL game, no real team practice, jumping right into the fire. And I thought he found his way into the game really well."
THE ASYLUM
Livanavage 'found his way'
Jake Livanavage called it "what you dream of growing up as a kid."
The result was less-than-ideal -- a 7-5 loss to the Blues -- but the newly-signed defense prospect lived out his dream in the Penguins' regular-season finale, making his NHL debut on the Penguins' second pairing.
Livanavage had nearly zero practice time with the team since being signed out of North Dakota -- just a morning skate on Tuesday morning. That didn't stop Dan Muse from utilizing him heavily, though. Livanavage skated in 25:14, the only skater with over 22 minutes played. He played 2:52 of that quarterbacking the top power-play unit.
For a debut, and given the circumstances, it went pretty well. He was a minus-2 and got walked on one Blues goal, but you could see the puck-moving abilities, his offensive skill, his skating that led the Penguins to sign him in the first place.
"He played well," Muse said. "His first shift, good stick detail disrupts the play. And then a couple shifts later, just a couple really good plays on breakouts, some little subtle things there. I thought you saw that confidence build as he goes on. So I thought he did a good job of just getting into the game. It's never an easy thing for a guy playing first NHL game, no real team practice, jumping right into the fire. And I thought he found his way into the game really well."
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