The Penguins played their final home preseason contest on Wednesday, falling 2-1 to a star-studded Red Wings at PPG Paints Arena. They’ll close out their exhibition slate on Friday in Buffalo before opening the 2023-24 campaign on Tuesday, Oct. 10 versus Chicago.
Here is the lineup Pittsburgh used, featuring mostly guys battling for roster spots in Pittsburgh, either come opening night or at other points in the season:
Rem Pitlick-Radim Zohorna-Alex Nylander
Jansen Harkins-Sam Poulin-Valtteri Puustinen
Andreas Johnsson-Joona Koppanen-Avery Hayes
Austin Wagner-Colin White-Vinnie Hinostroza
Ty Smith-Ryan Shea
Libor Hajek-Chad Ruhwedel
Xavier Ouellet-Mark Friedman
Alex Nedeljkovic played the whole game in goal, making 22 saves – including a breakaway stop late in the contest. Ouellet scored Pittsburgh’s only goal. Here’s what Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan had to say afterward.
For those in your mind who have had a good camp, where do things stand right now in terms of what their chances are in terms of contributing to this roster? “I think we've got a number of players that have the potential or the capability of playing in Pittsburgh and helping us. So, from that standpoint, it's really exciting. Not everybody can make the roster. That's just the reality of it. So, we've got some really difficult decisions to make. We're trying to watch each game as it comes. We're trying to watch each practice as that comes. We evaluate and we talk, and there's been different players that have performed well at different times through the course of the camp. There's been some ups and downs I think with all of them. But we're really excited about the group as a whole, because we've got a fairly deep group, which is what makes the decision-making so difficult. I can point to a number of different guys that I think on any given night had strong games.
We’ve talked about Big Z (Radim Zohorna), I think he's had a pretty strong camp.
I thought Colin White’s line tonight was really good, they got some tough assignments against (Dylan) Larkin’s line. That's a tough challenge, and we put him in that spot on purpose. I thought they did really well against some really good players out there.
So there's been a number of different guys, I think, that have shown their capabilities throughout the course of the camp. As I've said all along here, we're trying to exercise some patience, reserve judgment and just kind of watch it evolve. We’re getting down to the time where we're going to have to make decisions here fairly shortly, and we're in that process right now. From my standpoint, I'm really appreciative of the players and their efforts. A lot of those guys that were in the lineup are the guys that are competing for the spots, and I thought they played really hard. Guys competed hard out there tonight. We had a lot of good moments where we were playing on top of Detroit, and they had a pretty good lineup in tonight. They’ve got a lot of skill, especially skill on the back end. They play a fast game, and I thought our guys competed hard. So, we're encouraged. We're making progress. We've got a ways to go beyond that, too, and we'll just take each day as it comes. We'll see where it goes.”
You obviously had some pretty good goaltending in this game. I just want to ask you about the state of your goaltending in general and what you've seen in this camp from all your guys, including Tristan Jarry. “I think they've been solid. The depth of the position I think is strong right now. You look at the guys that we have, I think Tristan has had a solid camp. I think Ned has had a couple of solid games. So those two guys, for me, I think are tracking the right way. I think (Magnus) Hellberg has played well, (Garrett) Sparks has played well. Joel Blomqvist has played really well as a young goalie in the rookie camp. So, we feel like we're in a pretty good spot right now with respect to that position, just from a depth standpoint. I think they've all really done a solid job. None of them are satisfied. We're going to continue to push them to get better. That's the nature of what we do. But certainly as far as their effort is concerned, and their attitudes, and just their engagement in the process has been really encouraging.”
With Sam Poulin, we’ve asked you about him from a playing perspective. Can I ask you about him from a human perspective? There's always going to be high expectations for a former first-round pick. At the same time, he took a leave of absence for very important reasons, missed a lot of hockey. Combining all those factors, what's fair to expect from him in an immediate sense right now? “I think Sam is a real good player. I think our expectations haven't changed with Sam. We think he's a really good player. We think he has a lot of potential, and I think understanding and putting his situation in context, he missed an awful lot of hockey last year – almost the whole season. So, I think that that takes some time. But I thought he had a strong rookie camp in Buffalo. I think he’s showed signs in the exhibition games here. We really like his game. He's big, he's strong, he's good down low below the goal line under the underneath the hash marks of the offensive zone. He's really good at the net front using his body to protect pucks. He can get to rebounds, he's got a pretty good stick, getting his stick on pucks for deflections. He has the ability to play center and wing. So, I think there's a lot about Sam's game that that's encouraging from our standpoint. I think the biggest and most important thing, and I'm sure I'm stating the obvious with this, is Sam’s health, first and foremost. That’s always been a priority for us, and will continue to be. But he looks really good, he feels really good. He's doing really well. We're excited about where he is and where potentially, he could go.”
What are your thoughts on Austin Wagner and some of the grit that he’s brought to camp, and what role he might play out? “So, I didn't have a lot of familiarity with Wags’ game. What I'll tell you is he's made an impression on this coaching staff. He's a terrific teammate. He brings a lot of juice on the bench, in the locker room. He brings us some energy, and I love that about him, just getting to know him as a person. He's just a good teammate, I can tell in how engaged he is and how competitive he is. I believe stuff like that's important, it's contagious. So, that's been evident to us. I think he brings good speed, size. He's got a bit of a power game. And he knows what he is. He plays within himself. He plays a north-south, straight-ahead game. He has some good awareness away from the puck. He’s got a defensive conscience. He was playing on Colin White’s line tonight, for example, and I thought Wags did a really good job. He’s strong on pucks. We used him on the penalty kill a little bit, and he’s done a pretty good job there. So, he’s certainly made an impression on our group. And like I said, I love his personality. I just think he's a great teammate in the short time that he's been here.”
