Penguins Kids Cleaned, Pressed and Folded by Sabres Regulars
Hey all. Still in the process of figuring out this “semi-retirement” bit. While I don’t plan to write game summaries this season, I thought I’d post a quick mish-mash article in the wake of the Penguins’ first preseason tilt.
Kind of a “semi-summary” if you will.
Speaking of mash, that’s pretty much what an established Sabres sextet did to a black-and-gold squad lined with kids and various and sundry hopefuls. When your top defense pairing consists of Ryan Graves and Mac Hollowell (he of the 5’9” 170-pound variety)…well…
…suddenly a 7-3 loss doesn’t seem so bad.
Following an even first period, at least on the scoresheet, the wheels fell off the Pens’ collective wagon—goalie Joel Blomqvist’s in particular—early in the second. The Sabres struck for five goals on eight shots in less than five minutes of action, which left Blomqvist rattled and begging to be pulled. Which he was a short time later in favor of Filip Larsson.
Although you could argue the Sabres had settled into their post-goalfest nap by this stage, the Pens regrouped with Larsson between the pipes and actually outscored their hosts, 2-1, the rest of the way, with both goals coming off the stick blade of rejuvenated Jesse Puljujärvi during a 19-second span of the third period.