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The Penguins prospects are one game into their annual tournament in London, Ontario and so far so good. The Penguins were the better team the entire afternoon despite the close score
The Penguins may have won and winning is nice, but it doesn't mean anything. The point of these tournaments is to evaluate players on an individual basis. Most of these players will never become NHL regulars. The focus is trying to figure out which ones will.
That said, the best player on the ice yesterday for either team was Brian Dumoulin. He was excellent. Dumoulin isn't in an easy situation here either. He is the captain, he is one of the older players there, and has a fairly decent sample size of professional hockey now. He is expected to do well, anything less is failure. I liken Dumoulin's situation in this tournament to that of a major college football program playing an early season game against a lightweight. Everybody expects you to do well, if you do well nobody cares, if you fall short it is big news. Brian Dumoulin put forth a 70-0 effort. He deserves to be praised.
Dumoulin controlled the flow of the game when he was on the ice. He was fluid and combined his big frame with his hockey mind and puck skills to have a mistake free day.
Dumoulin did a great job on the power play and was not afraid to let the rubber fly. Dumoulin frequently shot and consistently got the puck through.
I was very encouraged by what I saw and I do think it is probable that the third most valuable piece from the Jordan Staal trade will end up being Brandon Sutter.
If Dumoulin can have a strong training camp it will be hard to deny him a job at the NHL level. This is a good thing and potentially gives the Penguins options, specifically trade options (Despres, Bortuzzo, or Dumoulin himself).
Dumoulin wasn't the only player who did well, Anton Zlobin had a pretty nice showing too. Zlobin showcased his hands as well as his skating ability throughout the game. He opened up the scoring just 1:20 into the game.
Zlobin has an uphill battle to make the NHL roster right now but he certainly has the ceiling that could eventually give him that opportunity.
Jean-Sebastien Dea also had a strong showing. Dea was decent at even strength but he really shined when on the power play. He finished with one goal and two assists, including the game winner.
Here is some of that power play work in action:
This next clip is the game winning goal, worth noting that once again it was Dumoulin who got the puck towards the net so that the team had potential to make a play.
Lastly, I don't want to put the cart before the horse but something I noticed on a regular basis throughout the game was the Penguin players deliberately making plays where their teammates would have full possession of the puck. Whether that was tape to tape passes or chip plays into space for teammate to skate into, the effort was made. This happened in all three zones. That is an encouraging sign. I would imagine that the prospects will be taught a similar way to play as the NHL squad.
Top Senators prospect Curtis Lazar channeled his inner Mario Lemieux (1997 last home game goal) to beat Matt Murray on a shorthanded mini breakaway. Really nice pass to spring him as well.
Penguins lace them up again today at 2 PM against the Blackhawks
****
What a week for the Buffalo Bills. They earn an upset road victory in their first game, Jim Kelly is cancer free, and the Pegula family has purchased the team and will keep them in Western New York for the long term.
There has been a lot of bad press in sports lately, the Bills are one of the positives. Jim Kelly will lead the team out of the tunnel today.
There will not be a better venue in the NFL this week than Ralph Wilson Stadium. It will be must see TV.
Go Bills.
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