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Penguins vs. Blackhawks: Thoughts on a preseason games

The Penguins and Blackhawks hook up and some thoughts on the game

By Hooks Orpik
Matt Marton-USA TODAY Sports

Dusting off the old recap machine for a (brief) look back at the preseason game between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Chicago Blackhawks .

Chris Kunitz finally breaks the scoreless tie in the 3rd period with a tip in of a Trevor Daley shot on the power play that thankfully was close but legal.

Kunitz strikes again with a not pretty (but still effective) little poke in from close to make it 2-0.

Take that back, it is kind of pretty.

We'll go rapid fire to finish this out already

  • Tristan Jarry looked like an NHL goalie. Pens were outshot 13-3 in the 1st period, Jarry was very steady. Shouldn't read too much into one night in a long process but Jarry did nothing to hurt his case for being the NHL backup to start the season, and took another step in saying he could.
  • The type of night where you see why vets who are in the NHL, are in the NHL. Daley's toss of the puck on net and Kunitz's tip for a goal. Eric Fehr chips a puck off the wall that Josh Archibald collects and gets to the front for Kunitz to tip in again. Vet moves by guys like Daley, Fehr and Kunitz (all wearing the A for alternate captain tonight).
  • Daley though, didn't look quite as nimble tonight as he did last season. Is it the broken ankle? Or understandably some rust to knock off? Or maybe even a veteran just getting ready to kick it into gear when it counts (next month) and not hitting on all cylinders in the preseason? This coast effort (some before it starts) wasn't too good late in the game with the Pens on the power play, no less. Great save by Jarry
  • It's not difficult to see why the Penguins are so impressed and intrigued by Jake Guentzel who had a game high 6 shots on goal. He's a heck of a player in every regard, great vision, decent enough hands, and excellent hockey sense and anticipation who has a knack for always being around the pick. Still needs some seasoning and to get his beak wet in the pro game, but he looks like he could be a good player for Pittsburgh.
  • I don't know what the official over/under for total NHL games David Warsofsky will play it, but I would probably take the over on a reasonable bet. He's small and not a true NHL defenseman, but like we tweeted, when the puck is on his stick he's very decisive. And, like the Trib's Bill West reminded us, he's a favorite of Sullivan.
  • Interesting to see on a night where Daley and Brian Dumoulin dress that the Pens TOI leader is former Buffalo Sabre Chad Ruhwedel. Preseason is a time for evaluation, and unfortunately, Pittsburgh usually has enough defensive injuries in a season that you want to know what you have in the organization. Ruhwedel, at 26 years old, does have 33 career NHL games in Buffalo.
  • Still can't get over how good the "new"/ old away jerseys look on the ice. Hoooooo boy.

Pens skate off with a 2-0 win. Nice to see Kunitz, Jarry,  Fehr, Daley and Guentzel (all NHL opening night roster members, save the last) look pretty solid. No reason or need to read too much into an NHL preseason game, but good to see the guys who should look good, look pretty good and no obvious injuries happen. Time to move on to the next one.

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