The Penguins traveled to Detroit for their third exhibition contest of the preseason, falling 4-3 to Detroit.
Radim Zohorna and Sam Poulin both got their second goals in as many games, while Valtteri Puustinen also got on the board. Alex Nedeljkovic played the whole game in net and produced a solid performance that included a terrific shorthanded save.
"Camp's been intense. There's been a lot going on, we're trying to learn a lot in a short amount of time. Trying to get to know a lot of the guys, obviously being new,” said the 27-year-old netminder, who signed a one-year deal with Pittsburgh after spending the last two in Detroit.
“So far, it's been good. You can't replicate game action, so it was good to get half that game on Sunday and to be able to play the full one now, get back into a full routine. Go through the entire game, all 9 TV timeouts, both intermissions - you're able to reset and refocus and refresh."
The full lineup can be found here, and read on for our first Sully Says of the 2023-24 season, with Head Coach Mike Sullivan – back behind the bench after watching both games of Sunday’s split squad with Columbus from the media level – providing his thoughts on the game and training camp so far.
On how he assesses what he’s seen from Nedeljkovic through training camp so far: I think he's been really solid. I think he's making saves he's supposed to make. I think you can see one of the strengths of his game is his ability to play the puck. I thought he had some really good handles, had some good exchanges with our defensemen. I think he's been pretty solid to this point.
On where Sam Poulin’s game is at, and if there’s any part of it he’s still trying to regain after being out: I think Sam's competing hard. He's found a way to score a couple of goals. I think any time you miss that much time, as a player, I think there's a little bit of catch-up that takes place. I think timing, speed and pace of play, things like that. I think Sam’s improving with each day that he plays. One of the things I really admire about his game is I think he's really stiff on the puck down in the battle areas, in the offensive zone. Plays below the goal line really well, he's good at the netfront. I think that's one of the big strengths of this game. We'll work with him on just some of his awareness and some of the reads defensively away from the puck, just the recognition skills. The way we play defense within our system, there's a huge burden or responsibility on the center ice position. So, I think he has an opportunity to grow there. But we're seeing it every day, he’s getting better.
On if any of the bottom-six candidates have started to separate themselves from the group: I think certain guys have played well; others have had sporadic moments of positive play. I still think it's real early, you know? We're three games in, we're not even a week into training camp. I don't want to be quick to assess. I think it's important that we just reserve judgment, just watch the camp evolve, just continue to give these guys some opportunities to play, and we’ll see where it goes. But we're excited about the group that's assembled here. There's a lot of candidates that could potentially make the opening-night roster. That competition, I think, is really good for all of us. It's going to keep us at our best. So, we're excited about the group that's here, and we'll continue to watch and see how it goes. But I think you can see the effort, the commitment, guys are playing hard. It's not always the cleanest games, and there's moments of sloppy play. But I think that's to be expected at this time of year.
On if they start to work some veterans in on Thursday versus Buffalo: Yes.
On how comfortable he is with Ty Smith on his off side (the right side): I don't know that I can answer that question yet. I haven't seen enough of it. But I thought he handled it pretty well. We'll see where it goes. He has good puck skills. He sees the ice pretty well.
On the importance of having defensemen that can play either side: It's huge. Anytime you have guys that can play multiple positions, can play their off sides, it just provides so much more flexibility and gives us the ability to move guys around and try to find combinations both on the blue line and up front that we think can set us up for success. I've always been such a strong believer that flexibility in the roster and versatility in the roster is a huge asset when you're able to have that. So, any time we have defensemen that have a comfort level and put on the off side, I think it just provides that much more flexibility for us.
