10 Thoughts: Blomqvist's rebound in loss to Sabres, St. Ivany solidifying spot

Joel Blomqvist's first game of the preseason was less-than-ideal, to put it kindly.

Blomqvist was the starting goaltender for the Penguins' preseason opener in Buffalo, N.Y. on Saturday, and the plan was for him to play the full 60 minutes ... until it wasn't. The Penguins sent a depth-heavy squad on the road to take on the Sabres' actual NHL lineup, and as a result Blomqvist was tested heavily. He handled it OK in the first period, stopping 15 of 16 shots, then just fell apart in the second. He stopped just three of eight shots to open the middle frame before being yanked. Even taking into account the discrepancy in rosters, he was uncharacteristically letting in some soft, long-range shots.

Blomqvist is better than that, and the Penguins know that. So they gave him another chance. The way he rebounded in the Penguins' 3-2 loss to the Sabres at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday was one of the biggest positive takeaways of the evening.

Alex Nedeljkovic started the game, but the plan all along was for him to only play half. He did fine, making 13 saves on 16 shots. Blomqvist came in midway through the second, and was perfect the rest of the way, stopping all 11 shots faced. It wasn't the heaviest workload in terms of shot quantity, but he had to make some tough saves -- high-danger, off rebounds -- along the way. 

"It was a great response from him," Mike Sullivan said of Blomqvist. "It was one of the reasons why we wanted to get him back in there. I thought he played a very calculated game. He has a calm demeanor. He was tracking pucks. He made a couple good saves for us. And I think that's a really good sign when a player has the ability to bounce back the way he did."

That demeanor is something Blomqvist has had as a strength of his for awhile. He's very even-keel. Last year then-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton head coach J.D. Forrest praised his "strong mentality," saying that Blomqvist "doesn't seem to get rattled at all," and that breeds confidence throughout the lineup. Even speaking with him after a pretty bad game in which he got pulled on Saturday, he sounded as level-headed as ever about it all, calling a "good experience" from which he could learn.

Just as Blomqvist doesn't get too low, he doesn't get too high. His attitude after the game on Tuesday after a good individual performance was identical to his attitude after Saturday's game.

"I mean, it still sucks that we didn't end up with a win," he shrugged when I asked about his rebound. "Like, that's always the goal. But sure, it was nice to go back at it so quick."

Asked what went differently for him in this game compared to his last one, he said that he just tried to trust himself.

For Blomqvist to rebound after a tough game in the preseason the way he did was an encouraging sign, if only because he really didn't do that too often last season in the AHL. That's not to say that he didn't bounce back well -- he really just rarely had tough games. In his 45 appearances, he only allowed more than three goals six times, and three of those instances came in a single rough three-game stretch starting in November. He had one shutout, and 17 games where he only allowed one goal.

Consistency is a strength of Blomqvist's. But if things do go haywire, he has the right attitude to not let things spiral.

"During the season, there's always going to be situations when things aren't going your way," he said of trying to stay level-headed. "This time wasn't any different than those times earlier. When things aren't going your way, you just need to learn from them and keep going. Yeah, it's easier to to go forward from a good game than a tougher game. Some things go tough. You just go through the game a little bit more and try to learn."

2. Is there any debate for Jack St. Ivany not winning the sixth defenseman spot? For one, he's one of the few natural righties, and the opening is on the right side. But even aside from that, he just looks like a natural at this level. Poised, makes good decisions with and without the puck, physical, and blocks shots. Offense hasn't ever been a big part of his game, but he attempted the second-most shots of any Penguin in this one, with two registering as shots on goal and five others being blocked. And of course, one of those shots on goal opened the scoring:

St. Ivany was again paired with Ryan Graves, as he has been for all camp. When the pairing was on the ice, they did more good as a unit than not. That's all you really want in a third pairing.

3. After St. Ivany, the defenseman who might be next in line in that fight for the spot is Sebastian Aho, who is a lefty but considers the right side his "natural" side. He really hasn't shown much yet to make a case for that spot, and this was a rough game for him. Didn't do much on either side of the puck and was on the ice for two goals against. He could end up making a fine seventh defenseman, especially with his versatility in playing either side of a pairing, but it's hard to justify making him the sixth defenseman over St. Ivany right now.

4. Kevin Hayes centered the Penguins' top line with Rutger McGroarty and Cody Glass, and he often looked so clearly like one of best players on the ice that it's hard to even make any meaningful assessments. He was an NHL veteran against a Sabres lineup of depth players and prospects, and that's how it looked. The Penguins often had possession when he was on the ice, and that's in part because Hayes was dominating in faceoffs -- he won 16 of 21 draws. He recorded two shots on four attempts, and scored the Penguins' second goal:

With the NHL Sabres players heading to Germany for the start of the Global Series today, their lineup in this game featured a lot of the young prospects who were left behind. And while speed isn't ever going to be considered a strength of Hayes' game, he didn't look too out of place in terms of his skating while out there with a bunch of young guys, either.

"I'm definitely not the prettiest skater," Hayes said. "I think it looks lazy. It's not. I think I just use my body positioning more to gain some steps."

5. The energy and tenacity that was promised in Anthony Beauvillier's game was on display here. His second line with Blake Lizotte and Noel Acciari did a lot of good for the Penguins' momentum, and a lot of that was from Beauvillier creating offense. The guy managed seven shots on goal on 11 attempts, plus two hits, a blocked shot and a takeaway. Given the Penguins' struggles in generating offense from the bottom-six the last couple years, Beauvillier could add some real life to the third line, but might also be the first guy up in the top six if a spot opens due to injury.

6. It's crazy that this was the first preseason game ever for Owen Pickering, since he was injured coming into the previous two camps since the Penguins drafted him in the first round. He was just happy to finally be out there in a Penguins jersey.

"It was pretty cool off the start," he told me. "Being able to play in this rink and represent the Penguins for the first time was super cool and definitely a privilege, but it's tough to reflect on it now. We didn't get the result we wanted. But I can still say that it was super cool, and starting the game was pretty special."

Pickering skated on a third pairing with Filip Kral, and they weren't super noticeable for good or bad. Which, really, is a good thing. Back in the Prospects Challenge in Buffalo, Pickering had a few turnovers or otherwise tough decisions with the puck. He looked better here against better opponents.

7. Avery Hayes has been really interesting to follow over the last few weeks. He was the Penguins' leading scorer in the Prospects Challenge earlier this month, racking up five goals and a handful of assists over the three games, including a hat trick in the final game. Hayes, a 21-year-old center and winger, was an AHL-contracted signing out of the OHL last summer. He had a relatively underwhelming rookie season, only because a long-term injury limited him to 29 AHL games, in which he scored six goals and three assists. 

Aside from that offense in the Prospects Challenge, Hayes was physical and seemed to enjoy getting involved when things got chippy, which led to his linemate Rutger McGroarty saying that he's "full of piss and vinegar." 

Even though Hayes is undrafted and not even on an NHL contract, he's dressed in each of the Penguins' first two preseason games. That's because Sullivan likes him and thinks he earned the playing time. Sullivan seemed to light up just talking about Hayes.

"Avery's had a really strong training camp, starting with the Prospects Challenge," Sullivan said. "One of the reasons why he played in these games is because we felt he'd earned them. He plays the game with a lot of moxie, and I think he's a guy that makes a lot of smart plays. He's got a good stick. He's got a long stick. He reminds me of Mats Zuccarello, that's what I told him. He sees the plays really well and he makes a lot of plays that guys don't make. You think a play's going to die, and all of a sudden he makes a play through his pair of skates, or under a stick, and all of a sudden something comes out of it. That's what I see in his game. He's a good hockey player. I think there's huge opportunity for growth being as young as he is. I think pace of play is one aspect of it, strength on the puck, things of that nature, that most young players are challenged with in making that jump to the next level. But he's another guy that I think has a real high hockey IQ." 

Hayes skated on the right wing of the third line with Sam Poulin and Jonathan Gruden and might have been the best player on that line tonight. Four shots on goal on six attempts and three hits. Just continuing what he started in the Prospects Tournament.

With Hayes being signed to an AHL deal with Wilkes-Barre, he's not technically Pittsburgh property. He can't be recalled, he can't play in regular-season NHL games. He'd have to be signed to an entry-level contract for that, and that might not come so quickly. The Penguins are at 49 of their allotted 50 contracts, and signing Hayes would put them at the max with no wiggle room. Since Hayes is coming off of a season in which he lost so much time, a more likely scenario is he plays out this season on that AHL deal, and gets rewarded with an NHL contract next summer if he keeps progressing.

8. There's maybe no better representation of who Acciari is than watching him dive and lay out to block a shot at an empty net late in a September exhibition game against Buffalo's AHL guys. You're not going to get a lot of speed out of him, probably not going to get much offense, but he can always be counted on doing whatever he physically can and sacrificing his body for the sake of defense. He eats pucks for a living, and his body (and nose) sometimes pays the price. 

9. The main goal of these things is to escape uninjured, but the Penguins had two players leave early. Gruden left sometime around the midway point of the third period and didn't return. It's not clear why, but earlier in the third he did get tripped up and crash hard into the boards, though finished his shift. Kral left later in the third period after going down awkwardly. He was down on the ice for some time and needed to be tended to by an athletic trainer, and hopped down the tunnel on his right foot afterward, not putting any weight on his left leg. It looked bad ... then he was in the locker room afterward smiling and looking like nothing happened.

"I went into a battle and the guy just pushed me," Kral explained to me. "I pretty much fell on my knees, and twisted a knee and sat on it. The first seconds I was like, 'That's fuc-- uhhhhh, I mean ... bad.' But every minute when I got to the dressing room it got better. We'll see if it'll be sore tomorrow. But it's all good."

I'll have more on Kral in a separate story later this week. Interesting defense prospect who isn't much of a long shot for seeing NHL time.

10. The Penguins had all the prospects left in camp -- from their own draft picks to their AHL-contracted guys -- come to the game to watch. Most sat down at the end of the press box in a group, but the Penguins had their three junior picks from this year -- Tanner Howe, Harrison Brunicke, Finn Harding -- sit and watch with development staff separately and talk about what was going on. Neat little opportunity.