Despite a late push from the Penguins in the third period, Pittsburgh dropped its second straight preseason contest against the Buffalo Sabres by a score of 3-2.
Goals from the Penguins came from Jack St. Ivany in the first period and from Kevin Hayes in the second period.
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Aside from the loss, there was a lot to like from the Penguins in this game. They showed some heart late – which I’ll get to later – and there was a strong effort in all three zones.
Some notes and observations from’s tonight’s game:
– Probably the one thing everyone wants to hear about is the power play. And even though it’s still early – and K. Hayes, Rutger McGroarty, Anthony Beauvillier, Cody Glass, and Sebastian Aho certainly won’t comprise the first unit come Oct. 9 – structurally, it was mostly the same from last season.
Early on, there was some trouble with zone entries. Problems establishing possession in the attacking zone. Basically the same scheme. Not nearly enough movement.
However, the unit did get a few good looks later on, including a point-blank chance from McGroarty on the team’s third power play chance. It seemed like the unit got better over the course of the game.
Hopefully, as the preseason rolls on, this is an area the Penguins will tweak and improve ahead of the season opener.
– Glass and K. Hayes spent much of the night rotating in at the center position. Hayes did get the majority of draws and time there.
This goes back to what head coach Mike Sullivan said about the team’s center depth and having the flexibility to explore some options and see what works.
K. Hayes was really good tonight, as was that entire line, which seemed to develop some chemistry as the game pressed on. McGroarty and Glass were paired together for the second time this preseason.
Head coach Mike Sullivan said that they were the best line of the night.
Related: Penguins Drop Preseason Opener to Sabres
– Not to keep beating a dead horse, but Ryan Graves was a bit out of sorts again tonight. He had a few giveaways, was out of position on a prime Buffalo scoring chance midway through the second period, and kept getting beat along the boards in puck battles.
There’s still plenty of time for Graves to round out his game before the season starts, and hopefully, some consistency and chemisty with Jack St. Ivany will help him do just that.
He was much better in the third period.
– Speaking of which, I thought St. Ivany was good tonight. Sullivan explained this morning how St. Ivany is known for his defense but has good offensive instincts. That showed on the first goal tonight, which was one of his own.
– Tonight was the first time Glass was noticeable in a really good way. I thought he had been fine before this, but he didn’t do much to stand out.
But that wasn’t the case tonight.
He had two prime scoring opportunities at the end of the second period, one where he hit the post off a feed from K. Hayes, and another shot from point-blank range between the circles after McGroarty forced a giveaway and fed him the puck. He also had several good looks in the third period, including during the late push at the end of the game.
That line started to gel towards the end of the night, and Glass only got better as the game went on. And he said a lot of that was linked to his mentality, especially defensively.
“I just gotta stop thinking, as weird as that sounds,” Glass said. “Just go out there and play hockey because once you start overthinking, you kind of put yourself into trouble, and that’s what I kind of found myself in early.”
He and Beauvillier (who I’ll get to momentarily) were the best players on the ice tonight.
– McGroarty isn’t the best skater. That much is known.
But he is so, so smart in the offensive zone. He forced a few turnovers in the offensive zone, his board play and forechecking is good, and he instinctively knows where to be to make plays and create scoring opportunities.
He hasn’t done anything all that flashy up to this point, but he does a whole lot of the little things right. The offense will surely come once he gets fully adjusted to NHL speed.
Related: Penguins Training Camp: Notes from Day 4
– As expected, the NHL-caliber line Beauvillier, Lizotte, and Acciari line was good tonight.
Even though this is, obviously, preseason competition, I liked what I was seeing from them: A relentless forecheck, advantageous physicality, and good cycling down low in the offensive zone. Beauvillier was especially tenacious tonight and really showed off his skills along the boards.
This very well could be a line folks will see in the regular season. The early returns are good.
– Despite giving up a power play goal, I mostly liked what I saw from the Penguins’ penalty killing unit tonight. They were forcing Buffalo to the perimeter and didn’t give up too many Grade-A scoring chances.
Lizotte and Acciari appear to be the top forwards on the unit, and it’s been that way in practice as well. We’ll see how that features toward the end of training camp.
– Acciari made an incredible diving effort to prevent an empty net goal with the goaltender pulled at the end of the third period. He was relentless all night, but that was his best play of the night.
The Penguins made a nice late push, but it wasn’t quite enough. I have a feeling Sully is going to like his team’s effort.
– During the third period, the Jumbotron kept panning back and forth between a baby in a Penguins’ jersey and a Philadelphia Flyers fan in attendance. They were met with a loud chorus of cheers and boos, respectively.
It was great theater in an, expectedly, quiet preseason game.
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