Pierre-Olivier Joseph’s vision on full display against the Rangers

It’s becoming more and more clear that Pierre-Olivier Joseph may be here to stay in the NHL and that his time playing in the American Hockey League may have come to an end.

In the first period of last night’s Penguins game against the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden, Joseph’s vision at the blue line was a sight to see.

Let’s take a look.

Joseph’s ability to get up the ice quickly and go from defense to offense was such a big part of this.

Kasperi Kapanen was able to gain possession of the puck while Jason Zucker and Joseph joined the rush creating a 3-on-2.

Zucker took the center lane while Joseph started to shift a little more to the outside on his left.

Zucker’s center lane drive opened up a passing lane between Kapanen and Joseph, and a beautiful pass from Kapanen landed right on his tape.

Joseph was eyes up the whole way, with a shot/pass, right at Zucker.

Seems suboptimal to leave a player right in front of the goaltender like that, but what do I know?

A little bit later in the period, Joseph’s vision showed off a little bit more on an offensive zone face-off play.

A little puck battle at the face-off would spit out to Joseph.

With no play to make, a quick pass to Teddy Blueger was the play to make.

Blueger would draw some defenders and kick it back to Joseph at the blue line.

Joseph, moving to his right, had no shooting lane with Phil Di Giuseppe in front of him.

A shifty little move would get Di Giuseppe off of his feet and out of his lane, while Brandon Tanev posted up in front of the net.

A clear shooting lane. A deflection from Brandon Tanev. Goal.

Joseph would cap off his night with a third assist in overtime, assisting Sidney Crosby on the game-winning goal.