PENGUINS

Harrison Brunicke couldn't tell you what his emotions were after scoring his first NHL goal in the Penguins' 4-3 win over the Islanders on Thursday.

"You talk about that blacking out feeling? That's what I felt," Brunicke said afterward.

Brunicke likely isn't ever going to be the type to be a big goal-scorer at this level. That's not his job. But even so, getting a pretty big goal in just his second game in the NHL is just one more reason to think he might deserve to stick around awhile longer -- maybe even for the full season.

Brunicke's goal came early in the second period, with the Penguins trailing 2-1. Filip Hallander carried the puck into the New York end and held off two Islanders until Brunicke caught up, and Hallander was able to drop the puck back to Brunicke for the snap shot:

"I was just following up the play," Brunicke said. "(Hallander) made a great play peeling out there and finding me. It felt pretty good."

Brunicke was good in his debut, after maybe taking some time to get his bearings and settle in. This game had more good steps forward for Brunicke, even aside from the goal.

Brunicke played in 12:01, including just shy of a minute on the power play, again quarterbacking the second unit. One early impression of Dan Muse is that he's looking for his defensemen to be more aggressive in creating offense and getting shots off, and we did see more of that from Brunicke in this one. While he wasn't afraid to move up in the play and get involved in his debut, he wasn't yet shooting the puck much himself -- just one shot on two attempts. His three shots against the Islanders trailed only Kris Letang's four among Penguins defensemen, with his four attempts being third behind Erik Karlsson (eight) and Letang (seven).

"I thought I had a little more jump in my game," Brunicke said. "I'm just building that confidence each and every game. There's still things that I want to improve on, defensively, transitioning pucks, things like that."

Defensively, Muse said that there's a "really good base there" for Brunicke, while acknowledging that there's still room to lean, as with any other prospect coming in.

Brunicke wasn't perfect -- he had two giveaways. But the team as a whole wasn't quite as "tight" as in the season opener. Not one defenseman went without a giveaway, and Brunicke was hardly the worst offender. 

Kyle Dubas acknowledged in the team's GM Show this week that they aren't looking for perfection, of course, from these young guys. But when they do make mistakes, they want to see that it doesn't "derail them." And that's what Brunicke has been able to show.

Ideally the Penguins would decide what to do with Brunicke (and Ben Kindel) within the first nine games played, because once a junior prospect plays that 10th game, his entry-level contract kicks in. Hypothetically, if Brunicke were to stay past the ninth game and the Penguins later decided he needed to go back to junior, that would still be allowed but a year of his entry-level contract would still be burned.

Whether it's at that nine-game milestone or down the line, it's hard to imagine a scenario where Brunicke goes back to junior at this point. Is he ready to be a full-time, 82-game NHL player? Hard to say at this point. But even if he eventually falters and could benefit from some games off -- what's better for his development? Playing 60-something games in Pittsburgh? Or a full-year playing against teenagers?

It'll be interesting to see what happens down the line. It's still only been two games. But just seeing Brunicke's readiness in these two games, and the small improvements from game to game, it's hard to imagine he ends up back in Kamloops.