Quinn Beauchesne, the Penguins' fifth-round pick in this summer's draft, is well aware that some would call him "undersized" for a defenseman at six feet tall and 185 pounds.
"I play a little bigger than my size says," Beauchesne said with a grin. "I've got a lot of heart in me."
Beauchesne showed that heart in the Penguins' 2-1 win over the Bruins to open the Prospects Challenge today at the LECOM Harborcenter.
It was early in the second period when the Bruins' Dylan Edwards trailed first-round pick Ben Kindel into Boston's end and boarded Kindel, sending Kindel crashing headfirst into the boards. Beauchesne immediately made a beeline across the ice to Edwards, not hesitating before dropping the gloves, landing a few right-handed punches and taking Edwards to the ground.
"I wasn't expecting (to fight) going into the game," Beauchesne said afterward. "But I had to step up for Kinny there and go and get one. It was good, it was fun."
Fight aside, it was a good first impression for one of the newest members of the Penguins' prospect pool. He made some good plays defensively, had the secondary assist on the Penguins' opening goal, and came pretty darn close to completing the Gordie Howe Hat Trick with a goal a few times as the game went on.
"It was a great experience," Beauchesne told me. "It was nice to come out with a win, that was our main goal. It's a great learning experience for everyone, so it was nice to learn from some of the older guys and be able to put together a win."
Kirk MacDonald, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's head coach who is behind the bench for this tournament, was impressed with what he saw from Beauchesne.
"He had a great game," MacDonald said. "He played outstanding. Loved that he stood up for his teammate there on a hit. He made a great impression today."
Beauchesne will definitely be going back to junior at some point during training camp, rejoining the OHL's Guelph Storm where he racked up 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) in 49 games last season. But before he heads back north, he's hoping to continue to show his strengths to the Penguins' staff.
"Smooth-skating D, play good defense when I need it, chip in on offense when I can, and show a little bit of tough stuff here and there too," he said.
• Avery Hayes was the hero in this one, scoring the game-winner on a breakaway with 26.4 seconds remaining in regulation. Perhaps even more impressive than the goal was the pass, with Owen Pickering sending the puck through the air onto Hayes' stick from back in the Penguins' own end.
"He was screaming, he wanted it bad," Pickering recalled. "I heard him. It worked out, a good finish by him."
• An observation from postgame: Pickering has noticeably filled out, you can see it even in his face. I asked him and he said he's up to 207 pounds now, but that this summer the scale wasn't as important as just feeling stronger, and he has that. Looks like an NHL player.
• Pickering's pairing with Finn Harding was the Penguins' best in this game, and I want to emphasize that I mean the pairing. Harding was just as big of a part of that as Pickering. Especially early on in the game, nothing was getting by them. They took turns stripping opponents of the puck. Both also took turns getting involved offensively, moving up in the play or calling for passes for shots from the blue line.
"He's a good player," Pickering said of Harding. "He's a great guy, too, easy to talk to on the bench about things. There's a lot of dialogue for us about things we're saying. He played well, we read off each other."
Very encouraging game from Harding, who might be their second-best right-handed defense prospect after Harrison Brunicke. With Harding turning pro this season., he's really not too far off from pushing for a spot.
• Good to see Ville Koivunen score the opening goal on a delayed penalty call, obviously something you'd hope for from a guy expected to play in the NHL this season. Tristan Broz skated the puck into the zone and found Koivunen in the slot, and Koivunen finished from the bottom of the left circle.
The rest of his game was relatively quiet, and part of that is because the Penguins had one power play all game. They didn't score on that man advantage, but Koivunen, Emil Pieniniemi, Kindel,Broz and Avery Hayes were finding each other and had good zone time. Not bad, given the lack of practice time before coming here.
• Kindel overall had a more quiet game, and wasn't always noticeable. He was able to unleash his dangerous shot a few times, and came close to scoring in the second period from right in the crease. His effort was clearly there. MacDonald praised Kindel's more "subtle" plays afterward. But ideally, you see some more not-so-subtle things from your first-round pick before the week is over. Still early.
• Sergei Murashov did what Sergei Murashov does. He started the game, stopped all 11 shots he faced, and exited the game at the midway point of the second as planned.
• Gabriel D'Aigle finished in net, and it was a challenge to start -- not only was he coming in cold, his entry into the game was right as the Penguins were set to go on the penalty-kill for a double minor, but he handled it easily. When the game was back at even strength, he stopped a Bruins 2-on-1, the ensuing rebound attempt, and then a couple of attempts in quick succession a few seconds later. He earned the win with 17 saves on 18 shots.
"I think I played a good game, but I allowed a bad goal," D'Aigle told me. "At the end of the day, we won, and that's what's important."
D'Aigle credited the four-minute penalty kill right at the start as a "good wakeup" for getting him into the game.
• Props to the penalty-killers for killing off the double-minor and then a tripping call shortly after. Pickering, Brunicke, Broz, Avery Hayes were at the forefront of that effort, with Brady Peddle, Beauchesne, Atley Calvert and Kindel working on the kill as well.
• How seriously are the Penguins taking this? A look at their contingent watching from the stands: Kyle Dubas, assistant GM Jason Spezza, director of minor league operations Amanda Kessel, director of hockey operations Vukie Mpofu, VP of player personnel Wes Clark, director of goaltending Jon Elkin, director of pro personnel Andy Saucier, director of player development Tom Kostopoulos, development coaches Kain Tisi and Chris Butler, new head coach Dan Muse and assistants Todd Nelson, Nick Bonino, Rich Clune and Mike Stothers, plus a number more from hockey operations and development that I missed. Some of these players will see NHL time this season, and a few more aren't too far off. This tournament is part of the evaluation process.
THE ASYLUM
Prospects Challenge: Fifth-rounder Beauchesne stands tall
Quinn Beauchesne, the Penguins' fifth-round pick in this summer's draft, is well aware that some would call him "undersized" for a defenseman at six feet tall and 185 pounds.
"I play a little bigger than my size says," Beauchesne said with a grin. "I've got a lot of heart in me."
Beauchesne showed that heart in the Penguins' 2-1 win over the Bruins to open the Prospects Challenge today at the LECOM Harborcenter.
It was early in the second period when the Bruins' Dylan Edwards trailed first-round pick Ben Kindel into Boston's end and boarded Kindel, sending Kindel crashing headfirst into the boards. Beauchesne immediately made a beeline across the ice to Edwards, not hesitating before dropping the gloves, landing a few right-handed punches and taking Edwards to the ground.
"I wasn't expecting (to fight) going into the game," Beauchesne said afterward. "But I had to step up for Kinny there and go and get one. It was good, it was fun."
Fight aside, it was a good first impression for one of the newest members of the Penguins' prospect pool. He made some good plays defensively, had the secondary assist on the Penguins' opening goal, and came pretty darn close to completing the Gordie Howe Hat Trick with a goal a few times as the game went on.
"It was a great experience," Beauchesne told me. "It was nice to come out with a win, that was our main goal. It's a great learning experience for everyone, so it was nice to learn from some of the older guys and be able to put together a win."
Kirk MacDonald, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's head coach who is behind the bench for this tournament, was impressed with what he saw from Beauchesne.
"He had a great game," MacDonald said. "He played outstanding. Loved that he stood up for his teammate there on a hit. He made a great impression today."
Beauchesne will definitely be going back to junior at some point during training camp, rejoining the OHL's Guelph Storm where he racked up 24 points (six goals, 18 assists) in 49 games last season. But before he heads back north, he's hoping to continue to show his strengths to the Penguins' staff.
"Smooth-skating D, play good defense when I need it, chip in on offense when I can, and show a little bit of tough stuff here and there too," he said.
• Avery Hayes was the hero in this one, scoring the game-winner on a breakaway with 26.4 seconds remaining in regulation. Perhaps even more impressive than the goal was the pass, with Owen Pickering sending the puck through the air onto Hayes' stick from back in the Penguins' own end.
"He was screaming, he wanted it bad," Pickering recalled. "I heard him. It worked out, a good finish by him."
• An observation from postgame: Pickering has noticeably filled out, you can see it even in his face. I asked him and he said he's up to 207 pounds now, but that this summer the scale wasn't as important as just feeling stronger, and he has that. Looks like an NHL player.
• Pickering's pairing with Finn Harding was the Penguins' best in this game, and I want to emphasize that I mean the pairing. Harding was just as big of a part of that as Pickering. Especially early on in the game, nothing was getting by them. They took turns stripping opponents of the puck. Both also took turns getting involved offensively, moving up in the play or calling for passes for shots from the blue line.
"He's a good player," Pickering said of Harding. "He's a great guy, too, easy to talk to on the bench about things. There's a lot of dialogue for us about things we're saying. He played well, we read off each other."
Very encouraging game from Harding, who might be their second-best right-handed defense prospect after Harrison Brunicke. With Harding turning pro this season., he's really not too far off from pushing for a spot.
• Good to see Ville Koivunen score the opening goal on a delayed penalty call, obviously something you'd hope for from a guy expected to play in the NHL this season. Tristan Broz skated the puck into the zone and found Koivunen in the slot, and Koivunen finished from the bottom of the left circle.
The rest of his game was relatively quiet, and part of that is because the Penguins had one power play all game. They didn't score on that man advantage, but Koivunen, Emil Pieniniemi, Kindel, Broz and Avery Hayes were finding each other and had good zone time. Not bad, given the lack of practice time before coming here.
• Kindel overall had a more quiet game, and wasn't always noticeable. He was able to unleash his dangerous shot a few times, and came close to scoring in the second period from right in the crease. His effort was clearly there. MacDonald praised Kindel's more "subtle" plays afterward. But ideally, you see some more not-so-subtle things from your first-round pick before the week is over. Still early.
• Sergei Murashov did what Sergei Murashov does. He started the game, stopped all 11 shots he faced, and exited the game at the midway point of the second as planned.
• Gabriel D'Aigle finished in net, and it was a challenge to start -- not only was he coming in cold, his entry into the game was right as the Penguins were set to go on the penalty-kill for a double minor, but he handled it easily. When the game was back at even strength, he stopped a Bruins 2-on-1, the ensuing rebound attempt, and then a couple of attempts in quick succession a few seconds later. He earned the win with 17 saves on 18 shots.
"I think I played a good game, but I allowed a bad goal," D'Aigle told me. "At the end of the day, we won, and that's what's important."
D'Aigle credited the four-minute penalty kill right at the start as a "good wakeup" for getting him into the game.
• Props to the penalty-killers for killing off the double-minor and then a tripping call shortly after. Pickering, Brunicke, Broz, Avery Hayes were at the forefront of that effort, with Brady Peddle, Beauchesne, Atley Calvert and Kindel working on the kill as well.
• How seriously are the Penguins taking this? A look at their contingent watching from the stands: Kyle Dubas, assistant GM Jason Spezza, director of minor league operations Amanda Kessel, director of hockey operations Vukie Mpofu, VP of player personnel Wes Clark, director of goaltending Jon Elkin, director of pro personnel Andy Saucier, director of player development Tom Kostopoulos, development coaches Kain Tisi and Chris Butler, new head coach Dan Muse and assistants Todd Nelson, Nick Bonino, Rich Clune and Mike Stothers, plus a number more from hockey operations and development that I missed. Some of these players will see NHL time this season, and a few more aren't too far off. This tournament is part of the evaluation process.
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