Penguins Starch Blue Jackets 3-1

As the old saying goes, turnabout is fair play.

Three days after a Penguins squad loaded with regulars got dumped by the Red Wings rookies, a team largely comprised of black-and-gold irregulars beat the Blue Jackets A-Team by a 3-1 count in Columbus last night. Lending credence to my colleague Other Rick’s insistence that our Pens might would be better served by icing a combination of kids ‘n’ vets.

Speaking of, our makeshift top line of rookie Rutger McGroarty, Kevin Hayes and Jesse Puljujärvi led the way, unleashing nine shots on goal (including four by McGroarty) and teaming up on a game-cinching, empty-netter.

As much as I like the idea of McGroarty landing a spot, I’m really pulling for Puljujärvi to make the cut. We could sorely use a forward with his size, defensive sensibilities and latent scoring potential.

Fellow Finns Valtteri Puustinen and Ville Koivunen teamed with up Tristan Broz to produce our first goal—a snapper by Puusti—at 4:52 of the second period. The go-ahead marker came nearly 20 minutes later to the second, with Jonathan Gruden doing the honors with helpers from Joonas Koppanen and heavyweight Boko Imama (!!!).

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