The Pittsburgh Penguins took this under-manned crew over to Columbus to play a Blue Jacket team that would dress Kirill Marchenko, Zach Werenski, Adam Fantilli, Sean Monahan and Kent Johnson — among others. Here are the lines the Pens used.
Despite the uphill nature of the uneven teams, the Pens jumped out to an early lead. Ville Koivunen continued where he left off last season in generating assists. This time it was a pass to Zach Gallant (AHL contract) who snapped a puck in.
That was the extent of Pittsburgh’s offense for the night, in an eventual 4-1 loss. Game results are meaningless this time of year, the bigger thing is the individual performance and evaluation. Coach Dan Muse praised what he saw of Koivunen in the post-game.
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“The poise that [Koivunen] has with the puck, the confidence with the puck,” Muse said. “He ability to find that next play, to extend plays, making plays in tight area, he was doing that a lot last year. He was also working away from the puck and in the defensive zone, showing detail, blocking shots. He’s not the biggest guy in the world, but I think watching back, some of that really stood out. It’s combining all those things and showing that you can make an impact on both ends of the ice.”
Ben Kindel showed flashes of why he was a high first round pick this year and a knack for being a slipper player by generating two breakaways. Kindel didn’t score but also drew praise from Muse.
“When you watch him, the way he positions himself, the way he can change speed, you combine that with that sense to put himself in those great spots, then with the stick skills and just the overall abilities. You saw that at the rookie tournament, and I think you’ve seen it here in practices, and that’s not an easy thing for a young player like that.”
The Pens outshot Columbus 25-24 but weren’t able to get anything else going. Goalie Arturs Silovs started the game for Pittsburgh and stopped 12 of the 14 shots he faced during the first half of the game. A planned switch was made near the midpoint for minor league goalie Filip Larsson to get some action, Larsson stopped eight of nine shots in the second half of the game.
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The Penguins move on to an exciting weekend, they have a game Friday night at home against Detroit that will be an afterthought compared to the main event of the whole preseason on Saturday, when the Blue Jackets come to Pittsburgh and the Steel City says goodbye to Marc-Andre Fleury.