The Penguins took care of game No. 2 out of three in their prospects challenge event in Buffalo on Sunday, against the Columbus Blue Jackets.

Pittsburgh used these combinations:

Ryan Miller – Tristan Broz – Travis Hayes
Atley Calvert – Ben Kindel – Avery Hayes
Max Graham – Gabe Klassen – Jordan Charron
Carter Sanderson – Nolan Renwick – Brayden Edwards

Advertisement

Emil Pieniniemi / Harrison Brunicke
Daniel Laatsch / Quinn Beauchesne
Brady Peddle / Chase Pietila

A lot of the top players got the day off, all of , Ville Koivunen, Kale Dach, Owen Pickering and Finn Harding were made scratches for today’s event.

Gabriel D’Aigle started this game and gave up two first period goals to start the game out. The Pens fired 15 shots on goal in the first frame but failed to score.

Avery Hayes did his thing to score two second period goals to tie the game. The second, a snipe on the power play, was well done. Hayes is too good to be out there in this event. He’s playing like he wants to get the day off for tomorrow’s game.

At this point the game got really chippy. Quinn Beauchesne got in his second fight in as many days. Max Graham was spending a lot of time in the penalty box and got in a little scrap of his own. Harrison Brunicke boarded a player behind the Pittsburgh goal on an ugly looking hit and went to the box himself, though luckily the Blue Jacket looked OK afterwards.

Advertisement

Columbus scored on D’Aigle during a 5v3 power play after all that madness to re-take the lead.

Brunicke went back to the box for a high stick call and then Graham got into another fight. This game seems stuck in a loop in the second period, but this time the Pens ended up with a power play after Columbus is assessed an instigator.

The Pens had a long 5v3 at the beginning of the third period with lots of zone time. They didn’t score there but Tristan Broz tied the game back up again with a power play goal from in front of the net.

Atley Calvert got on the board to give Pittsburgh their first lead of the game by following up on his own shot to punch a rebound in. It ended up being a short-lived lead, Columbus scored two more goals to tie the game in regulation and then finish things out in OT for a 5-4 CBJ win. The Pens lose despite a 44-29 shot advantage.

Advertisement

Some more quick notes and observations:

Beauchesne got tossed from the game when his jersey came loose in his fight. He’s been very scrappy, probably has a harder edge to his game than realized.

Kindel was a lot more noticeable in this game compared to the first with his puck touches and generating a few scoring chances. He was also good quarterbacking the power play from the left point.

Graham, 21, was a throw-in from New Jersey in the trade that sent Cody Glass to the Devils. He’s huge and coming off an injury, looks like a lumbering skater after coming off an injury that shortened his season last year. I haven’t seen a lot of jump and pace in his game to suggest an NHL future, but if nothing else he might be a Wheeling fan favorite in the near future if he keeps seeking contact and going for extra-curricular fights after the whistle.

The Pens scratching some of their best players today serves as the reset for what this event is; they’re trying to evaluate and give opportunity more than prioritize winning or seeing players they already know are good at this level like Pickering and Koivunen.

For those reasons it would make a lot of sense to consider rotating Brunicke, Broz and A. Hayes out of the lineup tomorrow for the third and final game of the event. Those three have done enough and shown all that’s needed to be seen this weekend.

With a game tomorrow, Gabriel D’Aigle went the distance in net, which will probably mark the end of his tournament since Sergei Murashov got the day off today and will be ready for tomorrow. D’Aigle is interesting to watch, he’s a big goalie but scrambles and battles like a smaller one.

To that end, today offered a lot more than Friday in terms of different situations. The Boston game looked like a breezy exhibition compared to how physical today was. That led to lots of power play and penalty kill time to see these players in different game situations. No shortage of seeing some fire and how players would respond in a physical environment.

The Pens have one more game to go in Buffalo, tomorrow starting at 12 noon.