Penguins Postgame: Blomqvist Steps Up; Power Play Sharp vs. Red Wings

Somewhat maddeningly, the Detroit Red Wings announcers repeatedly referred to him as Joel Bloomquist rather than the correct Joel (pronounced Yole) Blomqvist. It was a nod to the fact the goalie was not expected to play Monday, ticketed for a season to begin in the American Hockey League, and the senior broadcasters didn’t need to learn his name beyond Monday.

Coaches had not scheduled Blomqvist to play Monday and certainly not claim an NHL roster spot. However, that may have changed in the first period of the Penguins’ 5-1 win over Detroit at Little Caesars Arena.

Starting goalie Alex Nedeljkovic suffered an injury as he went down to make a save. Nedeljkovic stayed down on his pads, visibly grabbing his midsection before knocking the net off the moorings to alert the referees to his injury and leaving the game at 13:04.

Enter Bloomquist, er, Blomqvist, who stopped 20 of 21 shots in just under 47 minutes. Nedeljkovic stopped both shots he faced in the first 13 minutes — no, it was not a high-event game.

Detroit outshot the Penguins 22-21. Detroit goalie Cam Talbot stopped nine of 11, and Sebastian Cossa allowed two more goals on nine shots.

Penguins Recap

The Penguins power play has become lethal in the last couple of preseason games. The man advantage scored again Monday in the first period when Drew O’Connor slid from the bumper to the net. Valtteri Puustinen toe-dragged around a penalty killer and snapped a hard pass for O’Connor to deflect into the net.

Penguins power play uses the bumper (O’Connor) who goes to the net. Puustinen nifty play, then pass. 1-0 pic.twitter.com/Iv6QCsWTzi

— Dan Kingerski (@TheDanKingerski) September 30, 2024

At 4:54 of the second period, Lars Eller knocked the peanut butter off the top shelf with a shorthanded goal and a 2-0 Penguins lead.

Live. Laugh. Lars. pic.twitter.com/IOGUu6ursa

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 1, 2024

Noel Accairi scored a pair of third period goals.

COOKIE, PART 1. 🍪 pic.twitter.com/I2wuYftYRe

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) October 1, 2024

Vasily Ponomarev netted a long-range empty netter.

Penguins Report Card

Joel Blomqvist: A+

The goal he allowed was a technique breakdown when he dropped to his pads, giving up the ability to slide laterally. That was one little mistake in what was a very good game against a good amount of the Red Wings‘ NHL  players, including Dylan Larkin, Alex DeBrincat, Patrick Kane, Lucas Raymond, and Moritz Seider.

“I thought he was terrific. He made some big saves, especially against the powerplay in the second period,” said coach Mike Sullivan. “We were we were on a penalty kill exhibition for a lot of the second period, and (Blomqvist) was a big part of it.”

Blomqvist made a couple of sprawling saves and other spread-out saves and kept his net while moving laterally quite well. After suffering a bit of a beatdown in Buffalo during the first preseason game, he looked like a legitimate NHL goalie on Monday.

Jesse Puljujarvi: A

He was dominant in the first period. He’s trending to make the NHL roster and seems like all but a sure thing. Puljuarvi blocked a shot, raced past defensemen, and had a short breakaway with Rutger McGroarty on the wing in the first period. McGroarty didn’t finish, but the play was everything that the Penguins hope Puljujarvi can offer–good defense, physicality, speed, and some offensive burst.

He only registered one assist but was a plus-3.

Penguins Power Play: A

There’s a little juice building with the power play, which was one-for-three. They’re moving the puck–the secondary units followed suit with PP1–and getting the puck to the open man, but most importantly, they’re getting sticks near the net. O’Connor slid from the slot to the net, and he was the second Penguins player within 10 feet of the cage.

The scheme is different from that of years past. The power play is no longer driven by the point but is now being run from different points based on the PK. The goals are set up from the wall and scored near the net. You’ll also notice the player on the wall pressuring the PK by pushing toward the net.

When the wall players push toward the net, it forces the PK to make decisions and opens space in the scoring areas. It’s not exactly re-inventing the wheel, but it’s much different than previous iterations.