Penguins/NHL
PENGUINS 4 – SENATORS 1
Goal Scorers
1. Jaden Lindo
2. J.S. Dea
3. Matia Marcantuoni
4. Anton Zlobin
Goaltender
Tristan Jarry stopped 34 of 35 shots
Lines
FORWARDS
Rust – Dea – Sprong
Sheary – Simon – Loney
Zlobin – Kielly – Archibald
Krause – Marcantuoni – Lindo
DEFENSEMEN
Murphy – Seymour
Beauregard – Ruopp
Liberati – Halbert
Recap
The Penguins are off to a 2-0 start to the Rookie Tournament. Notable players who sat out today included Derrick Pouliot, Scott Wilson and Oskar Sundqvist.
2014 6th round pick Jaden Lindo opened the scoring for the Penguins in the first period. In the second period, J.S. Dea and Matia Marcantuoni scored 32 seconds apart. Both had strong games.
Anton Zlobin added a goal in the third period.
— Player Observations —
— 2012 4th round pick Matia Marcantuoni was among the standouts today for the Penguins. An excellent skater, he set up Jaden Lindo for a first period goal and then in the second period got the puck in the neutral zone using his blazing speed to the outside and scoring down the right side. Marcantuoni was also used by Mike Sullivan as the Penguins top penalty killer today among forwards.
Scouts have always felt there was more offensive upside to Marcantuoni’s game but it’s never transpired as he’s put up low numbers in the minors so far and his highest scoring season in juniors was a 15 goal season in 2013-2014.
— Bryan Rust who appeared in 14 NHL games last season, was inserted into the lineup today, replacing Scott Wilson as the top-line left winger. Rust plays a north-south game and creates a lot of his offense in around the net. Was very effective today as a net-front presence, creating a screen on J.S. Dea’s power play goal and Rust also drew a penalty. Pretty good day for him which is what should be expected for someone that’s a candidate for NHL time.
— A name getting a lot of buzz in the organization is Dominik Simon. The Penguins had a high third round grade on Simon when they landed him in the 5th round of the 2015 draft. Simon is a skilled versatile forward with excellent hockey sense who can play center and wing.
“The ‘Simon’ kid is very advanced,” an amateur scout said of the 21 year old. “If he can handle the physicality of the American Hockey League, it’s not a stretch to say he could be playing in the National Hockey League by [hide] next season,” the scout said. “I’m not saying he will be [but] this one has a chance to be on the fast track.
“The hockey sense is evident. He’s someone coaches trust on the ice. We’re excited about him.”
Simon had 18 goals and 30 points in 52 games for Plzen HC of the Czech League last season.
— Big year coming up for Anton Zlobin who scored today. He’s had shoulder surgeries in back-to-back seasons but in his first pro season with the organization, 2013-2014, he had a great playoff run with Wilkes Barre in the 2014 AHL playoffs, scoring 6 goals and 10 points in 15 games. Zlobin was rising up the prospects board looking like a top-10 prospect but he’s not someone the organization is buzzing about much any more. [/hide]
