The only undrafted college free agent the Penguins have signed to any type of contract during this season is goaltender Tommy Nappier out of Ohio State.
Nappier was signed to a three-year AHL contract in March, an unusual deal given that most AHL contracts are only ever for one season.
Nappier joined Wilkes-Barre/Scranton earlier this month and has been practicing with the team since. With goaltenders Max Lagace and Emil Larmi both recalled to Pittsburgh's taxi squad, the opportunity for Nappier's professional debut in net presented itself on Friday when Wilkes-Barre hosted the Binghamton Devils.
Nappier took the loss, making 16 saves on 21 shots in a 6-3 game. He didn't get much help from his new teammates in front of him, with mistakes and defensive breakdowns leading to a number of odd-man rushes and otherwise quality chances from the Devils.
"We didn't do him any favors on those goals," head coach J.D. Forrest said of Nappier after the game. "The first one, the seam pass on their power play, then a half-breakaway, a breakaway. We really wanted to play better and prevent any of those types of high-end scoring chances. We didn't. I thought he did great his first game playing pro hockey. A big adjustment for anybody at any position, and in particular goalies. I thought he did a nice job for us tonight."
"I thought he played great," captain Josh Currie added. "We didn't give up a bunch of shots, but the shots we did give up, which I think we need to work on, they were high-quality. He stood in there and he looked confident. As a team we have to do a little better job defensively with some of our turnovers or more communication in the D-zone. But I thought he played really well. As a team we just have to give him and all of our goaltenders a little more run support. We're not getting enough past the other team's goaltender and it's putting a lot of pressure on our goalies to keep us in it and keep us going."
On the first goal, the Penguins were left shorthanded after a Kyle Olson tripping call. Binghamton's Fabian Zetterlund made a cross-ice pass to Nate Schnarr, who was left with a wide-open spot in front of him in net after Nappier wasn't able to get over quick enough:
Based on the scouting report I got from goalie development coach Andy Chiodo on Nappier, though, that's unusual for him to give the shooter that much space with which to work.
"He's a big goaltender (6-3, 220), he reads the release really well," Chiodo told me of Nappier earlier this month. "He makes a really good first save, covers a lot of net, reads the play very well."
The goal was a continuation of a troubling trend from the Penguins, who have now allowed the game's first goal in 13 consecutive games.
"I don't think we've necessarily had slow starts," Forrest told me when I asked about the streak. "It just seems like we make maybe one mistake that ends up costing us early. But it's something that we've spoken about, just going out there ready to play with a purpose. It's a trend that we've got to make sure we stop. It's hard to play from behind like that every night, most nights."
"It's tough," Currie said. "You don't want to be playing from behind, especially in this league. Every team, it doesn't matter where you are in the standings, every team is good and can score. We had a few mental breaks, three to be exact, big mistakes end up in the back of our net. It's definitely demoralizing and frustrating. But you have to move on when things like that happen."
The Penguins got a power play opportunity of their own later in the period when Felix Robert drew an interference penalty, and Tim Schaller took advantage and tied it. P.O Joseph took a shot from the point, and the Devils goaltender didn't cover the rebound. Drew O'Connor collected the loose puck and got it to Schaller, who tapped it in:
Schaller got called for tripping early in the second period to put the Penguins on the penalty-kill. Jon Lizotte's shorthanded goal put the Penguins ahead, 2-1. O'Connor forced the turnover in the Penguins' zone after a hit, and Currie carried the puck up ice before getting it to Lizotte in the slot:
After not getting a shorthanded goal all season up until Chase Berger's tally last week, the Penguins now have two shorthanded goals in three games.
"I don't know if there's anything in particular," Forrest said when I asked about the sudden contributions from the penalty-killers. "We have some continuity with some of our penalty-killers throughout the season. It's not like we've emphasized the up-ice pressure any more than we have in the past. Sometimes that's the way it goes. ... Once they come, they start to exponentially accumulate. Hopefully that's the case with our penalty kill."
Everything fell apart in a 4-minute span in the second half of the second period, killing the momentum it looked like the Penguins were building up earlier in the period.
"We had four or five shifts there where (the Devils) couldn't get it out of their zone," Forrest said. "We had a ton of chances then they went down and we had a few really big breakdowns that cost us that we haven't really seen at that level, and they capitalized on them."
"To get a shorthanded goal from (Lizotte) there, we should be able to build off that with some momentum," Currie said. "I thought we had a couple of good shifts after that. But two mental breakdowns and they end up in the back of your net."
The Devils blew past three Penguins skaters on a rush, giving Binghamton's A.J. Greer a shot off the rush with no one around him that beat Nappier glove-side. Then 59 seconds later, Schnarr was sprung on a breakaway and scored to put the Devils back in the lead, 3-2. Less than three minutes later, the Devils extended the lead when Kevin Bahl ripped a shot from the right circle after some lengthy zone time for the Devils.
"We found ourselves trying to find a way back again," Forrest said. "It's not easy to do a couple of times again, once is enough."
Currie cut the Devils' lead in half with a power play goal early in the third period. Currie's accurate shot from the right circle has been one of the Penguins' best weapons on the power play all season, and he put that to use with his goal, picking a small opening in the corner:
I asked Currie about that goal after the game, and he gave an unofficial assist to backup goaltender Alex D'Orio for the tip he gave Currie at intermission:
"We were talking in the room there after the second," Currie said. "It seemed like that spot was open all game, I just didn't seem to want to shoot there earlier on in the power play. Then D'Orio said to just aim for the post, he said it's tough for goaltenders if you aim for the post short-side. Then Schaller did a great job screening. D'Ors helped me out with that one between periods. I knew if I did get another look on the half wall, I was shooting there. I was just lucky enough to find a spot there and it was nice to see it go in."
The Devils responded less than a minute later on a delayed penalty call on the Penguins. Nappier made two quick saves, but the rebound on the latter pinballed around in front of the net and rolled out to Devils forward Ben Thomson, who was left wide open for the shot.
"We get another goal where we're down 4-3, we should be able to build off that," Currie said. "We took a penalty and it just kind of gets scrambled around, then they get a shot and a rebound, we just can't seem to touch it and get the whistle."
The Devils sealed the win with an empty net goal in the final minute.
There were a lot of penalties called in this game, with the Devils getting five power plays and the Penguins getting eight. With the added stoppages and infrequent five-on-five play, it can be hard for a team to find its rhythm in the game, and the Devils were just able to handle that better.
"For some guys that aren't playing a lot of special teams, it's really tough," Forrest said. "But that's part of it. You have to find a way to stay in it. It's a little choppy, then some of the power plays turn into 4-on-4s. It's just a lot of different scenarios. But that's just the way the game is, you have to be prepared for any of those situations."
"It's just all part of the game," Currie said of the flow. "You just have to be ready and ready to play with whoever you're up with. You can't think about your line and who you're playing with, you just have to go out and do your job and help the guy next to you."
WBS PENGUINS
Tommy Nappier
MORE FROM THE GAME
• The Penguins were originally supposed to play the Phantoms in this game, but the opponent was switched due to COVID protocols affecting the Phantoms.
• Binghamtons's goalie Mareks Mitens (elite-level goalie name, really) was also making his pro debut and had a number of big, timely saves, stopping 33 of 36 shots he faced
• A third of the Penguins' total shots came from Currie and Schaller, who recorded six each.
• Loved this moment in the second period where one of the Devils attempted to hit Robert when Robert was carrying the puck up ice along the boards, then just bounces right off the 5-foot-9, 180-pound Robert like he ran into a wall. Robert is stronger on his feet than a lot of other players his size are:
THE ESSENTIALS
• Boxscore
• Video highlights
• AHL scoreboard
• Standings
• Statistics
THE THREE STARS
As selected at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza
1. Nate Schnarr, Devils
2. Josh Currie, Penguins
3. Mareks Mitens, Devils
THE INJURIES
• Defenseman Jesper Lindgren left the first preseason game after sliding into the boards and underwent successful shoulder surgery. He's out for the rest of the season.
• Defenseman Zach Trotman left last Saturday's game with a lower-body injury and is day-to-day.
THE LINEUPS
Forrest’s lines and pairings:
Drew O'Connor-Josh Currie-Jan Drozg
Tim Schaller-Jordy Bellerive-Nick Schilkey
Felix Robert-Jonathan Gruden-Kyle Olson
Justin Almeida-Chase Berger-Sam Miletic
P.O Joseph-Will Reilly
Jon Lizotte-Billy Sweezey
Kevin Czuczman-Josh Maniscalco
And for Mark Dennehy's Devils:
A.J. Greer-Ryan Schmelzer-Danick Martel
Travis St. Denis-Aarne Talvitie-Graeme Clarke
Brett Seney-Nate Schnarr-Fabian Zetterlund
Ben Thomson-Cameron Darcy-Miles Koules
Kevin Bahl-Connor Carrick
Michael Vukojevic-Colton White
Matt Hellickson-Reilly Walsh
THE SCHEDULE
The Penguins will play the Crunch Saturday evening on the road. Syracuse is a team that's given Wilkes-Barre a lot of trouble in recent meetings.
THE CONTENT
Visit our team page for everything.
