There's a tendency to call preseason games "meaningless."
They're just exhibition games, and they don't count towards anything in the standings. In that sense, sure, they don't have any lasting impact.
For some young players, though, they're anything but "meaningless."
For prospects, the preseason is players' first taste of NHL action, and for players like Kasper Bjorkqvist, their first professional game of any kind.
"I'm excited, for sure," Bjorkqvist said prior to tonight's preseason game against the Blue Jackets. "I don't really know what to expect. There's obviously a lot of emotions -- excitement, happiness, a little nervous as well. But I'm just trying to enjoy the moment for sure, it's my first professional game. It was a great feeling getting drafted a few years ago, and now it's an even greater feeling to get the honor of putting on the jersey. It's an exhibition game, but it still feels like a big thing."
Alex D'Orio has already played a professional game, as a Black Ace last season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He's on tonight's roster, and will most likely split the game with Matt Murray. For D'Orio, he's looking forward to playing in front of an NHL crowd for the first time.
"I'm super excited," D'Orio said of tonight. "Especially, the game is in Pittsburgh, so it's nice to see the game rink. I'm looking forward to seeing the feeling when I jump on the ice during warmup, and to see how the crowd can be loud."
Both the Penguins and Blue Jackets are set to have a fair amount of NHL roster players in their lineups. Players always speak about the speed being one of the biggest differences when adjusting from college hockey to professional hockey. Tonight's game will be a "case of a challenge" for Bjorkqvist to see how his speed measures up to the pros, and see how much he's learned since the start of camp.
"I'm still trying to play my own game," Bjorkqvist said. "Go to the net, get some pucks in there, play hard. I think it's great. ... I've learned a lot in these four, five days that we've had the camp going now from all the older guys and the vets, both in the NHL and the American League as well. I think it will be a great challenge and opportunity."
Bjorkqvist was slotted into the Penguins' fourth line during the morning skate, and saw time with the Penguins' second penalty killing unit. Bjorkqvist killed penalties often during his time at Providence College, and is hoping to get some extra ice time out of the role tonight.
"That's for sure something that I did in college," Bjorkqvist said. The smaller my role has been the more I've done it, just to get some ice time. ... I think it's something personally that I like, and I think it's an important part of the game."
If D'Orio does get into the game, he'll be facing shots from some of the Blue Jackets' NHL regulars, including Alexander Wennberg, Scott Harrington, and Brandon Dubinsky. D'Orio has been in the net against Pittsburgh's NHL players all camp, but this is a different kind of challenge.
"That'll be fun, during a real game," he said. "I face a lot of shots during the practices, but not in the games. So that'll be fun to face those players that usually I watch on TV."
So, no. It's definitely not "meaningless" for these guys.
THE ESSENTIALS
• Media notes
• Team statistics
• NHL scoreboard
THE SESSION
• A small group of players practiced before the morning skate, primarily players who will be among the first cuts -- players on AHL deals, the injured Justin Almeida, etc.
• The Penguins used the top power play unit of Justin Schultz, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel, Patric Hornqvist, and Alex Galchenyuk.
• The second power play unit used was Marcus Pettersson, David Warsofsky, Nick Bjugstad, Samuel Poulin, and Dominik Kahun.
• The Penguins used a number of different penalty killing units, including:
Erik Gudbranson, John Marino, Dominik Simon, Brandon Tanev
Gudbranson, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Kasper Bjorkqvist, Sam Lafferty
Joseph, Marino, Tanev, Simon
• Adam Johnson didn't skate today or yesterday. Mike Sullivan says Johnson is day-to-day with a lower-body injury.
THE OTHER SIDE
• Elvis Merzlikins will start tonight and play about half the game, then Veini Vehvilainen will be in net for the Blue Jackets. The game will function as a sort of a litmus test for Merzlikins, too.
Elvis Merzlikins says he's looking forward to his preseason debut tonight in the #CBJ net. Where is he in the process of adapting to North American hockey? “We are going to see and then after the game you are going to tell me.”
— Jeff Svoboda (@JacketsInsider) September 19, 2019
THE COMBINATIONS
• The Penguins used the following lines:
Jake Guentzel - Dominik Simon - Dominik Kahun
Alex Galchenyuk - Evgeni Malkin - Brandon Tanev
Samuel Poulin - Nick Bjugstad - Patric Hornqvist
Kasper Bjorkqvist - Sam Lafferty - Nathan Legare
The defense didn't use consistent pairings during the skate.
• And for the visiting Blue Jackets:
Gus Nyquist - Alexander Wennberg - Emil Bemstrom
Kevin Stenlund - Brandon Dubinsky - Sonny Milano
Jakob Lilja - Zac Dalpe - Marko Dano
Markus Hannikainen - Ryan MacInnis - Eric Robinson
THE SCHEDULE
Faceoff tonight is 7:08 at PPG Paints Arena, where Dave, Dejan, Sunday and I will have your coverage. The Penguins will practice in Cranberry tomorrow, with the first group taking the ice from 10:10 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., and the second group skating from 12:40 p.m. to 2 p.m.
THE COVERAGE
Visit our Penguins team page for everything.
To continue reading, log into your account:
