Penguins Mount Comeback To Defeat Blue Jackets In First Of

For the second time this week, a prospect-heavy Penguins’ lineup bested an NHL lineup.

On Wednesday, Pittsburgh was down early but mounted a second-half comeback to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-1. Valtteri Puustinen and Jonathan Gruden scored for the Penguins, and Kevin Hayes added an empty-net goal at the end to secure the victory.

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Goaltender Tristan Jarry stood tall as well, stopping 33 of 34 Columbus shots.

“I would say that it was a great team effort tonight,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. I thought the guys competed really hard. I thought we got better as the game went on… but I thought we settled in.”

Here are a few thoughts and observations from the Penguins’ victory over the Blue Jackets:

– For the first half of the night, Columbus was the better team. It was an early onslaught for Jarry, who allowed a goal to Blue Jackets’ forward Cole Sillinger in the first half of the first period.

But a large part of the reason the Penguins were able to come back in this game is because Jarry settled in. He didn’t allow another Columbus goal for the remainder of the game, and he made a few nice saves when Columbus was pressuring heavily.

This was Jarry’s final preseason appearance before the regular season begins on Oct. 9 against the New York Rangers, and it was a good primer.

– The first line of Rutger McGroarty, Hayes, and Jesse Puljujarvi was very good in this game.

They didn’t have anything to show for it until the end, but they were creating chances for much of the second half of the game. Puljujarvi and McGroarty looked especially dangerous on the forecheck and in the offensive zone, trading chances and pressuring Columbus on the attack.

Related: Penguins’ Top Prospect McGroarty Carving Out New Role

Even the empty net goal was the result of hard work from the line. McGroarty made a nice play in his own zone to get the puck to Puljujarvi in the neutral zone, who then carried it into the attacking zone and made a…