The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins played their first exhibition game of training camp on Sunday evening, and there were a lot of positive takeaways from their 5-1 win over the Binghamton Devils at the Barnabas Hockey House in Newark, N.J.
The Penguins opened the scoring early with their first shot of the game from one of the players trying to earn a full AHL contract with the Penguins, Tim Schaller.
Schaller, 30, signed a professional tryout contract with Wilkes-Barre for training camp. He spent the majority of last season in the NHL with Vancouver, scoring five goals and one assist in 51 games. Over the past six years, he's played in 276 NHL games, scoring 29 goals and 28 assists.
"We really like his size," head coach J.D. Forrest said afterward of the 6-2, 205-pound Schaller. "He's got a nice combination of size and skill. He can get going too with the puck, and he's a really smart hockey player. Definitely a hard worker. He's someone we think who has been doing a great job in our short camp. You saw some of his ability on display here tonight."
Early in the second period, right-handed defense prospect Josh Maniscalco extended the lead to 2-0 with a slapshot from the right point:
It was an overall strong game from Maniscalco, who also drew a penalty earlier in the game. Forrest, who is also the defense coach since there is only one assist coach, was impressed with the defense corps.
"I thought up and down the lineup we were really strong," he said. "I thought Cam Lee was excellent on the back end, and Josh (Maniscalco). Billy Sweezey, in a different way, had a couple of real solid hits."
Zach Nastasiuk, one of the forwards signed to an AHL contract this year, extended the lead to 3-0 in the third period off of a feed from Chase Berger:
Emil Larmi, who was otherwise solid in the game with 21 saves on 22 shots, including a number of big saves while shorthanded, came far out of his net to play the puck and was picked off by Devils first-year pro Reilly Walsh, who broke the shutout. It was a flash of some of the over-aggressiveness that then-head coach Mike Vellucci pointed to last season as something they'd like to see Larmi improve upon.
The goal didn't detract from Larmi's strong performance in this game, though.
"Hey, I thought he was excellent," Forrest told me of Larmi's game. "He made some big stops for us, on the penalty kill, some plays that were scrambling around in front of the net. ... He was really good, solid for us. He gave our guys a lot of confidence, knowing that he's going to make that first stop, sometimes a second or third. I thought it was a really good game from him."
The Devils pulled their goaltender with just under three minutes remaining, and Schaller set up Jordy Bellerive for an empty net goal to make it 4-1. A goal from Jonathan Gruden, the forward prospect acquired in the Matt Murray trade, sealed the win.
Forrest singled out a couple of other forwards who impressed in the win.
"Janny Drozg, I thought he was flying, showing his skill and his speed, and some confidence with the puck. It was good to see our big center (Radim) Zohorna there, I thought he was pretty dominant, using his size. Jordy Bellerive played his game, a real tough, gritty game. He and Tim Schaller complemented each other really well. I could go up and down the lineup and talk about each player, what they did well tonight."
For many of these players, it was their first game action in 10 months. Forrest said that given the circumstances, he was "pleasantly surprised by the level of execution."
One of the biggest takeaways, though, was how happy everyone was to just be playing hockey again.
"There was a lot of smiles in the room, from the staff, and the players," Forrest said. "And that was before the game started. Everyone is happy to be in this game environment again. It's been a long time coming. It feels really good."
THE INJURIES
• Forward Sam Miletic is day-to-day with what Forrest simply called a "medical issue." He participated in Pittsburgh's camp but was absent for the final three days.
• Defenseman Zach Trotman underwent right knee surgery Jan. 14 to repair a torn meniscus and is expected to be out 4-6 weeks. He's still technically on Pittsburgh's injured reserve, but physically in Wilkes-Barre, so he figures to start the season in the AHL when he's healthy.
• Defenseman Jesper Lindgren left Sunday's game after sliding into the boards and is still being evaluated.
THE LINEUPS
Forrest's lines and pairings:
Tim Schaller-Jordy Bellerive-Nick Schilkey
Jonathan Gruden-Radim Zohorna-Zach Nastasiuk
Justin Almeida-Chase Berger-Jan Drozg
Luke Stevens-Felix Robert-Michael Joly
Cam Lee-Jesper Lindgren
Jon Lizotte-Josh Maniscalco
Dylan MacPhearson-Billy Sweezey
THE SCHEDULE
The second and final preseason game will be Tuesday at 7 p.m. in Allentown against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. The season begins Feb. 6 at home against the Binghamton Devils.
THE CONTENT
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