Penguins Pass Final Preseason Exam (?)

It sure wasn’t the way coach Mike Sullivan would draw it up on the chalkboard. Indeed, the Penguins escaped Columbus with a victory last night by the collective hairs of their chinny, chin, chins. But in the end, a win is a win is a win. One our Pens will gladly take and use as a springboard to start the regular season.

Our ragged 4-3 overtime triumph in comeback fashion at Nationwide Arena was a tale of two distinct games rolled into one. The first 40 minutes dominated by the Blue Jackets, and the final 20 minutes and change, controlled by our Pens.

Following a fairly even start, the tenor of the game swung dramatically at 9:47 when Blue Jackets forward Sean Kuraly cut through the slot and flattened Pens goalie Tristan Jarry with a shoulder. Retribution was swift and…unfortunately ugly…as defenseman Mark Friedman moved in and speared Kuraly, it appeared not once but twice, the second time up around the neck.

I’m all for pushback and protecting our goalie. And while I give the feisty Friedman high marks for responding, obviously there are more prudent ways to deliver a message than with a spear. A punch to the mush for one. His ill-conceived stickwork earned him a five-minute major, a game misconduct and a fine following the game, not to mention a reprimand from Sullivan.

Already down 1-0 on an early goal by Oliver Bjorkstrand, the Pens killed off the major penalty and even knotted the score on a late-period marker by Chad Ruhwedel off the rush. However, Columbus continued to dominate the shot clock, piling up a 19-10 edge through two periods while reclaiming the lead on a goal by Kuraly. When one-time black-and-gold trade target Max Domi struck early in the third, things didn’t look good for our boys.

However, the Pens again displayed the remarkable resilience that’s become a hallmark. Midway through the final period Bryan Rust burst past three Blue Jackets and struck on a breakaway, igniting the comeback fuse. To digress, is there a better bargain in all of hockey than the “Rusty Razor” at $3.5 million per?

Two minutes later we knotted the score at 3-3 when Teddy Blueger’s shot deflected past countryman Elvis Merzlikins. In overtime, the Blue Jackets shot themselves in the foot with a too-many-men penalty and our guys took full advantage, with Jason Zucker pouncing on a rebound for the game winner.

A remarkable turn of events, given that we were outclassed for most of the contest. Enough to earn us a passing grade…barely.

Puckpourri

Columbus held a 29-28 edge in shots on goal. The Pens controlled the faceoff circle, winning 53 percent of the draws. Brian Boyle, who logged 2:39 of shorthanded ice time, won five of seven; Blueger seven of 12.

Blueger paced the Pens with a goal and an assist. Newcomer Brock McGinn had two assists. Continuing in his bid to make the squad, Dominik Simon picked up an assist. The dark horse forward candidate finished the preseason with three points (2+1).

Jarry stopped 26 shots in a workmanlike performance, including a number of key saves to keep us in the game.

With Friedman out for most of the game our defensemen each logged over 20 minutes, except for Ruhwedel (19:52). While Chad held up well (a goal, a plus-one, two shots, two hits and three blocked shots), others…most notably John Marino and Marcus Pettersson…struggled. The Pens were outchanced, 11-4, at 5v5 with the former on the ice and 13-5 with the latter.

On the flip side, we enjoyed the better of the 5v5 scoring chances with Ruhwedel (10-5) and Brian Dumoulin defending (10-4).

Speaking of d-men, Juuso Riikola cleared waivers and joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Center Michael Chaput (a goal and an assist in his lone preseason game) was sent down as well, paring our training camp roster to 27 players.

In the good news department, Sidney Crosby (wrist surgery) and Zach Aston-Reese (covid) resumed skating with the team.

The Pens finished the preseason with a 4-2 mark. Ready or not, we start the season against defending Cup champs Tampa Bay on Tuesday evening.