Penguins announce lineup for first exhibition game

Drew O’Connor headlines group of young players going up to Buffalo

The Penguins have released their first preseason game lineup ahead of tomorrow night’s matchup in Buffalo.

Star players and other key figures usually don’t appear early in the exhibition schedule, and even lesser so when it’s a road game. NHL rules mandate a certain number of players with regular season games last year, so Pittsburgh will send up Drew O’Connor, Valtteri Puustinen, Cody Glass, Jesse Puljujarvi, Emil Bemstrom, Ryan Graves, John Ludwig and Ryan Shea to join a cast of mostly younger and inexperienced players for the early road exhibition contest.

Rutger McGroarty, Harrison Brunicke, Ville Koivunen and Tristan Broz all get the nod, and following being the core of a successful Prospects Tournament last week have played their way into what could be some meaningful opportunities.

From the team:

Below is the Penguins’ lineup for Saturday’s preseason game against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM ET and the game will be available to watch locally on SportsNet Pittsburgh. Fans can also tune in on the Penguins’ official flagship radio station, 105.9 ‘The X’.

GOALIES

30 – Joel Blomqvist

31 – Filip Larsson

DEFENSEMEN

4 – Nathan Clurman

5 – Ryan Shea

7 – John Ludvig

27 – Ryan Graves

45 – Harrison Brunicke

57 – Philip Waugh

81 – Mac Hollowell

FORWARDS

2 – Rutger McGroarty

10 – Drew O’Connor

11 – Vasily Ponomarev

16 – Jimmy Huntington

18 – Jesse Puljujarvi

19 – Cody Glass

26 – Tristan Broz

41 – Ville Koivunen

48 – Valtteri Puustinen

52 – Emil Bemstrom

74 – Tanner Howe

84 – Atley Calvert

85 – Avery Hayes