Penguins
Gameday: Penguins Exhibition Lineup, Prospects Second Chance vs. Buffalo
The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t do so well in their first exhibition game on Monday night. They were generally disorganized and lackluster despite outshooting the Columbus Blue Jackets for most of the game. Eventually, they lost 3-0, and head coach Mike Sullivan has cherry-picked things he liked about the game and players’ performances.
The prospects who were collectively pedestrian on Monday will get a second chance on Friday against the Buffalo Sabres. Of course, if Buffalo dressed their NHL roster or their expected AHL roster, would anyone know the difference?
I kid, I kid.
After the Monday exhibition loss, the Penguins began the second phase of training camp by splitting their 48-player squad into two. Sullivan placed the NHL players in Group 1 and the prospects and minor leaguers in Group 2. However, the head coach said several players would have a chance to win their way into Group 1.
He also gently chided his team’s performance in the first preseason game.
“…There was a lot of sloppy play, and we know we got a long way to go,” Sullivan said on Wednesday.
Based on the roster for the second exhibition game, it may be a make or break for a few of them as they get another chance in the Penguins lineup. However, the Penguins are not dressing any of their NHL centers: Jeff Carter, Teddy Blueger, or Brian Boyle.
If you’re the betting sort, the under may be the way to go.
The lineup is primarily the same–heavily dotted with the prospects like Sam Poulin and Nathan Legare. Sullivan used goalies Tristan Jarry and Filip Lindberg in the first game. On FridaO’Connor he will use his other two goalies Casey DeSmith and Louis Domingue, who signed with the Penguins as an NHL-experienced third goalie. Domingue opened up this week about the mental struggles, loss of confidence, and motivation after playing for seven teams in the last two seasons and being stuck on the taxi squad last season.
The Buffalo Sabres are expected to dress NHL regulars: Casey Mittelstadt, Jeff Skinner, Victor Olofsson, Kyle Okposo, Rasmus Dahlin, Henri Jokiharju, Colin Miller and Craig Anderson.
PHN will update the lines after the morning skate at the UPMC Lemieux Complex. The game is not televised, but can be heard on the Pittsburgh Penguins flagship radio station, 105.9 the X.
The Buffalo Sabres will stream the game, however, such streams often have local restrictions. PHN is unsure if it will be available to Penguins fans. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
Forwards:
10 – Drew O’Connor
20 – Kasper Bjorkqvist
22 – Sam Poulin
26 – Michael Chaput
34 – Nathan Legare
42 – Kasperi Kapanen
45 – Jonathan Gruden
49 – Dominik Simon
57 – Anthony Angello
64 – Jordy Bellerive
67 – Radim Zohorna
75 – Kyle Olson
76 – Valtteri Puustinen
Defensemen:
4 – Taylor Fedun
24 – Mitch Reinke
27 – Matt Bartkowski
28 – Marcus Pettersson
44 – Will Reilly
79 – Niclas Almari
Goaltenders:
1 – Casey DeSmith
70 – Louis Domingue