Blue Jackets/Penguins Preseason Finale Thoughts: Puljujarvi, Acciari finish strong

Offense from unlikely sources caps off the preseason

The Penguins wrapped up their preseason schedule with a home game against Columbus. They dressed a near-full NHL-worthy lineup for the game, though they’ll hope the injured Bryan Rust and Erik Karlsson are back in time for Wednesday’s opener against the Rangers.

It looked liked the game was about to settle in after a few minutes in, but then the Blue Jackets popped off for two goals in 40 seconds. More on those in the thought section below.

That inspired Pittsburgh to wake up, and a really nifty play came from all three members of tonight’s fourth line. Cody Glass did really well to lift a stick and steal the puck when the CBJ forwards were heading north to fly the zone. Glass made a cross-ice pass to Kevin Hayes, who held the puck and delivered a great assist right back across the ice for Noel Acciari to drop to a knee and hammer home on the one-timer. Well done from all involved.

The Pens earned the first power play of the game when Rickard Rakell got tripped. Rakell made the Jackets pay and tied the game at 2-2 just seven seconds into the power play when Rakell ripped a shot following more quick puck movement from the Pittsburgh power play.

The bottom-six spotlight continued in the second period. Jesse Puljujarvi continued his amazing preseason with a nice finish on a goal, making a delayed deke back to the forehand and lifting the puck late.

Just seconds later, Lars Eller found a way to keep possession with the puck (he’s got a knack for that) and centered for Puljuarvi. Puljujarvi made a savvy little bump pass for Rutger McGroarty to reach into and score a goal.

The feat continued when Noel Acciari blocked a shot and it fortunately bounced ahead for him to skate into on a breakaway. Acciari’s cheeky five-hole shot slipped in.

Columbus scored on a breakaway, but then Eller returned the favor with another goal to make it 6-3.

In the third period the Eller line went all Harlem Globetrotters. McGroarty made a spinning, falling pass to Puljujarvi. For some reason at this point all five CBJ players stopped moving their legs and were puck watching. Puljujarvi centered for Eller to finish. 7-3 game.

One of the lowest efforts you’ll see by a total team in a long time, but hey, it is the preseason. And that pass from McGroarty was mesmerizing.

Some more thoughts to put a bow on the exhibition season:

• Had just made a mental note in the first how Ryan Graves looked nice shutting down Adam Fantilli on a rush, then he about vanished on the first goal against. It was shades of last year, needless to say that’s not an encouraging sign. Everyone hoped the long summer would be a reset and maybe year No. 2 would be better, but I’ve seen no evidence to support Graves looking like a functional player on this Penguin team through preseason.
• That said, if we take the kid gloves off for analyzing Harrison Brunicke, his positioning defensively can tend to be too bold, too aggressive and that didn’t help on the first goal against. It would be a great story if a second round defenseman draft pick ends up getting some NHL regular games in his draft+1...But if it ends up being “just” a long look in the preseason, that’s about as good too. Like his offensive instincts, love his skating, but it might be time to put a pin in this one for a while and hope for he can continue his amazing ascent as a player back in the WHL.
• Switching gears, the power play movement is so nice. It’s actually refreshing to see the players moving their legs, moving the puck. They’ve got Crosby popping up all over the place, but often near the net. It’s been a while to not sigh when a power play happens, but there’s been enough change those feelings of dread are gone. Hopefully that energy and vigor continues when the game counts and the PK is chock full of the big time players looking to stop them.
• Great job again by Puljujarvi tonight. His eight total points in the preseason is the most by a Penguin player since Jake Guentzel also scored eight (in just three games!) back in 2017. The jump with him always somehow quickly becomes, is Puljujarvi about to take a huge step? Is he ready to be a big time player? Well, is Noel Acciari (3G in three preseason games)? Of course not, who would say such a thing. It IS nice those guys are playing well and putting their best foot forward to start a year, but it doesn’t always have to shift to a bigger picture question so quickly, let’s just see how it goes when the games count for real.
• That disclaimer and brake pumping aside, make no bones about it that Puljujarvi stabilized (if not outright saved) his NHL career with his strong performance over the past few weeks. That’s not nothing. So while we really should hold off on extreme visions of grandeur for him, it’s also true that it wasn’t too many days ago that not many expected he would make the opening night lineup. After this preseason, he certainly will be. That’s a big step forward and victory to celebrate without needing to make any wishful (and unattainable) projections of making him one of the top players in the NHL this season in terms of role or points. For now, it’s good enough to hold onto the well-earned W.
• Another player who got a lot of preseason attention was McGroarty, who appeared in six of the team’s seven exhibition games this fall. Final verdict after the Prospects Challenge and extensive work in the NHL preseason is that McGroarty is seriously and universally impressive. It might be best for him to play some games in the AHL and then see where things stand when an injury pops up, but he’s a damn good 20-year old player that is going to be an NHL staple in the not to distant future.
• Joel Blomqvist got a full game audition of facing an NHL roster with an NHL roster in front of him. Thought he did a good job. Not great, not awful, but good. The Pens play a back-to-back right out the gates next week on Wednesday-Thursday for the first two games of the season, so it may will be Blomqvist’s time for a debut in the very, very near future. He looks ready for it.
• Deep into the second period and into the third, the Pens pulled a change and put Rakell with Crosby and Drew O’Connor. Interesting twist to attempt to insert some life into what was quiet night for the bigger lines at 5v5. Might be something, might be nothing but it does serve as a reminder the lines are not going to be permanent at all this season up front. Certain roles are known but a lot of pieces are going to shuffle around when players need a boost, or when Crosby sets up a guy on the power play, they just might get some shifts together soon..

Thanks for coming along with the preseason journey for us, the next recap will be on a game that counts!