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Drive to the Net: Puljujarvi plays 'good first game' in Penguins debut
Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Drive to the Net: Puljujarvi plays 'good first game' in Penguins debut

Originally posted on DK Pittsburgh Sports
By Taylor Haase  |  Last updated 2/8/24

Jesse Puljujarvi on Tuesday played his first NHL game in nine months, the culmination of what he called a "long, long journey" as he worked his way back from double hip surgery.

Puljujarvi skated on the right side of the Penguins' third line next to Rickard Rakell and Lars Eller in the team's 3-0 win over the Jets, the same configuration the Penguins used in the two days of practices that followed Puljujarvi signing his two-year contract.

"I thought Jesse had a good game," Mike Sullivan said after. "He's jumping on a moving train, so to speak."

Though Puljujarvi had the benefit of skating in 13 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton prior to signing his NHL contract, Sullivan noted that it's a whole different challenge for a player to get re-acclimated to the pace of an NHL game.

"The pace at this level is another level," Sullivan said. "There's only one way that you can get acclimated to that, is by just getting in games and competing. I thought he did a good job. He's good on the forecheck, he's a rangy guy. He just takes up a lot of space, and he's got a good stick. I thought he hunted pucks the offensive zone, he was part of that goal they scored, he had a good first game."

That goal Sullivan is referring to was the Penguins' first of the game, Kris Letang's goal in the first period. Puljujarvi helped force a turnover in the Penguins' end then dumped it into the offensive zone, where Jets defenseman Josh Morrissey briefly recovered it before turning it over to Letang:

Let's take a look at some of Puljujarvi's other highlights from the night:

• Puljujarvi finished the game with two shots on goal on three attempts. The first came on his first shift as a Penguin, after a nice effort by him to get himself open in front of the net:

• When Sullivan talks about Puljujarvi being good on the forecheck and "hunting pucks" in the offensive zone, he's talking about shifts like this one:

• Puljujarvi's skating looked fine, especially given what he's been through. His speed was there. He hit at least 20 miles per hour twice, and his top speed of 22.47 miles per hour came right here with this rush up ice toward the end of the first period:

That's faster than the league average for forwards of 22.03 miles per hour, and not far off from his previous two season's bests of 22.91 and 22.66 miles per hour respectively.

• The line as a whole did well for their first game together. Puljujarvi played 9:41 total, and 6:52 of that came with both Eller and Rakell on the ice with him. During that time the Penguins recorded nine shot attempts to the Jets' four, for a shot attempt share of 69.23% that led the team. They were the only line that was on the ice for more unblocked shot attempts for than against, by a margin of 6-3. Most of those attempts hit the net too, outshooting opponents 5-1.

The Puljujarvi signing was a win-win for both the team and the player. Puljujarvi gets rewarded with the security of a two-year, one-way deal for his efforts. But if he can't maintain the level of play needed to stick at the NHL level, his $800,000 cap hit is low enough that he could be waived and buried in the AHL if needed, which would result in no cap hit for the NHL team. It's a low-risk signing.

One game is a small sample size, and the challenge will be how Puljujarvi's hips and skating hold up as he starts to string more games together. But at least for now, it's looking like Puljujarvi could be an effective addition to the Penguins' forward lineup.

This article first appeared on DK Pittsburgh Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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