Before the Penguins' game Wednesday night against the Blues, Mike Sullivan was asked what Stefan Noesen could be expected to bring to the lineup in his first game as a Penguin.
"Well, my hope is that he'll come in and make a positive impact on the game," Sullivan answered. "He's had a real good start in Wilkes-Barre, he's one of the leading scorers in the American League. He has 100-plus of games of experience in the NHL. He's a good hockey player. Our expectation is that he's going to come in and make a positive impact and help our team."
Noesen lived up to expectations in the Penguins' 3-0 win, and probably went a little beyond those expectations.
With 40 seconds remaining in the second period, Noesen scored his first goal as a Penguin (and his first in the NHL since March 15) to give his team a 2-0 lead. It was a pretty fantastic play. Jared McCann took the initial shot from the left circle, and Noesen deflected the puck. Jordan Binnington was able to stop Noesen's redirect, but couldn't control the rebound. Noesen went from the backhand to the forehand and just lifted the puck into the net:
"On the forecheck, (Zach Trotman) kept it in, we were able to switch sides there," Noesen said of the start of the play. "(Dominik) Kahun skated to the other side and gave it to (Jared McCann). He made a good play at the net and happened to get behind those guys, and kind of kind of got lucky."
"That play doesn't happen if Jared doesn't find the puck toward the net, and if it doesn't go off (Binnington's) pad and goes to me, it's one of those things. It's a little luck."
Sullivan called the goal "Patric Hornqvist-like" for Noesen's net-front presence.
Noesen's reaction after the goal said it all:
"It felt good," Noesen said with a big smile. "Coming to a new team, it's a way to make your mark. Usually that's not the way I do it, usually I have more of a checking role and chip in every now and then. First game, it felt good."
I liked seeing Noesen be properly utilized in this lineup in this game. With his experience, and with the way he's been dominating in every way in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season, he's not someone you can call up and bury on the fourth line. He's an excellent playmaker and a strong finisher, and he needs to be playing with skilled players. Playing on the second line along with McCann and Alex Galchenyuk is where he should be at this time, and it was great to see him put right on the top power play unit, given the amount of power play success he had in the AHL.
When I spoke to Noesen after he signed his NHL contract on Monday, he said that it could be an adjustment coming from the AHL to the NHL just because of the pace of play, something he's well aware of given his prior experience at this level. There's a lot less time to make decisions at the NHL level than he's been used to getting this season. He made the adjustment pretty seamlessly, though.
"The first period, I had a lot of energy, the adrenaline going" he said. "Between periods, I could kind of catch my breath and understand that we actually are in a hockey game here and there are three periods. But it was good overall, I thought our line played pretty well. We had a couple of chances against, so we probably need to clean up."
Goal aside, Noesen had a strong game. He was credited with two shots on goal -- his initial chance, then his own rebound that he was able to capitalize on.
He had one takeaway in the first period:
Later in the first period, Noesen was credited with a hit:
Midway through the third, Noesen blocked a wrist shot by Vince Dunn:
For Noesen's efforts, he was given the MVP of the game award, a firefighter helmet. Each game, the previous winner of the helmet chooses the next recipient. Back when Noesen was a member of the Devils' he consistently performed well against the Penguins, and told me he relished playing the role of a pest and specifically getting under the skin of Evgeni Malkin, as his line was always matched up against the Malkin line. It's only fitting that Malkin was the guy who handed the helmet off to Noesen. Things came full circle:
Noesen: "I'm not good at speeches."
Just good at scoring goals ? pic.twitter.com/qF66FQPXae
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) December 5, 2019
In this one game and in all of Noesen's time in Wilkes-Barre, he's looked to be a great fit for the organization. He credits the Penguins' system and the freedom the system allows.
"I love the way that we're playing," he said. "I love the way that they have us, they let us be ourselves in a way while playing in the structure. I did feel at times that when I was in Jersey I wasn't able to do that. Sometimes that's when your confidence goes down. It seems like here you have a little longer of a leash in a sense. Whenever you're able to do that and make plays, you don't have to hold your stick as tight, and I get to be me."
Sullivan liked what he saw from Noesen in his debut.
"He's really good at the netfront," Sullivan said. "He has good size, he has good hands, he has that hand-eye coordination, he knocks the puck out of the air. He's strong on the puck, he's good in the battle areas. That's what I've witnessed in the first game, and that's something Mike Vellucci and Jim Rutherford has talked to us about. We liked his game. ... We're certainly excited that he's part of the team."
Through the first quarter of the season, Noesen has already looked like he has no business being in Wilkes-Barre. If he keeps playing like this, I can't imagine he ends up back there. They'll have to find a way to keep him in Pittsburgh, or risk losing him to waivers.
MATT SUNDAY GALLERY
Penguins vs. Blues, PPG Paints Arena, Dec. 4, 2019 -- MATT SUNDAY / DKPS