Penguins hockey returned last night and were dealt a tall task immediately. The Penguins had a prospect laden lineup while the Buffalo Sabres iced a very competent NHL centric roster. Personally, I thought that was a good thing despite being out shot 43-18 and the final score of 7-3. I don’t care in the least about wins or losses. This is about throwing players in tough spots to see how they do, even if it doesn’t go as planned.

There is an excess of bottom six forwards at camp with a select number of open spots. Jesse Puljujarvi is the leader in the club house for one of those spots. After scoring twice in training camp scrimmages he followed it up with a hat trick against Buffalo. He scored every goal the Penguins scored. Coming off the double hip surgery was going to take some time and with another offseason to get stronger the early returns are positive.

Jesse Puljujarvi has scored a hat trick for the Penguins.

This morning, Mike Sullivan spoke about what he's seen over these last few days from the forward (who came to PIT last December on a PTO after bilateral hip surgery, then signed a two-year deal in February): pic.twitter.com/fdockYD9HE

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) September 22, 2024

Puljujarvi has another year left on his contract at 800k. There’s potential for very good value if he is feeling truly healthy for the first time in a long time. This can manifest by either helping the Penguins push towards a playoff berth for the first time in two seasons or if they fall off the pace they can add to their growing pile of draft picks due to the expiring contract. Regardless, of the impact to the Penguins it is nice to Puljujarvi healthy after such a big surgery.

Harrison Brunicke got caught on a few plays including one that led to the Sam Lafferty goal where the puck was lost in his feet. While missteps were had I’m going to focus on the positive. I think he has poise and moves well for his size. These reps are only going to help him. I don’t believe there will be a huge learning curve for him. Overall, I think this will be a draft pick they hit on.

Rutger McGroarty’s skating was a little below what I was anticipating. Not that he can’t be an effective professional, just that I thought it would be a little better. He will have to rely on his spatial awareness and his ability to see plays. This was just a first impression observation of one preseason game. It doesn’t define his career and I imagine, like for all players, the more NHL reps he gets the better things will be.

It took three shifts, but I’m not in the mood to watch Ryan Graves play hockey on a semi-nightly basis. It is what it is.

Joel Blomqvist exited the first period stopping 15 out of 16 shots faced when the Penguins took a double minor for high sticking and an additional infraction when that one expired. I thought it was decent to get out of the period tied at one. Unfortunately, things fell apart for Blomqvist in the second period. He gave up five goals on only eight shots. There will be more games and I hope to see him again this preseason and how he responds to what I can only imagine was a hugely disappointing turn of events for him.

The Penguins and Sabres will meet again on Tuesday. I imagine we’ll see a stronger Penguins lineup and a not as loaded Sabres one.

Thanks for reading!

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