PULJUJARVI PULLS HIS WEIGHT
Big forward has contributed — with his `relentless' game if not his scoring touch
When you're on an Edmonton Oilers team with Connor Mcdavid and Leon Draisaitl, they're almost always the main event storyline, so Jesse Puljujarvi's seven shots in only 11 minutes Thursday against the Vancouver Canucks was just a footnote.
But, Puljujarvi's game today — straight lines, going to the net and staying there, using his 6-4, 205-pound frame to advantage along the wall, backchecking, forechecking — doesn't resemble the OTHER JESSE: The one who went back to his home team in Finland for a year and a few months, totally bummed by how he was playing and where he was playing, and, maybe because he wanted to be a big fish in a small pond once again.
But, his work against Vancouver on Thursday might have been his most complete in his 141 Oilers games, even if he didn't get a point in his 14 shifts. You noticed him on every shift with Kyle Turris and Josh Archibald on the Oilers third line. He wasn't this busy player who was skating around with not much happening like in his first time here.
“Seven shots? Is that true?” Puljujarvi said, with Mcdavid
getting nine and Ryan Nugent-hopkins eight against Canucks goalie Thatcher Demko. Five of Puljujarvi's shots were at even strength.
“Skating, shooting and when you do that, some will go in.
“There's lots and lots of upside here,” Oilers coach Dave Tippett said. “He's a big strong kid. He protects the puck well, shoots the puck well. He was over here for a bit and he's come back. We forget these are first two North American games he's played in a long time.
“He's still finding his way out there, but he's relentless. He works. He's heavy on the puck. He wants the puck all the time. I think he's going to keep trending in the right direction. He looks like he's having fun out there, and he's committed to playing really hard and trying to do the things we want to do structurally.”
Puljujarvi had glimpses of
offence the first time when he had 37 points in 139 games, but when you watched him in Game 2 against Vancouver, it was also easy to see why he was the fourth player taken in the 2016 draft. Size, ability and now, a desire to get his hands dirty, to do whatever it takes to contribute — all with a smile on his face, the ever-present tongue hanging out of his mouth.
“The first couple of years here I was young and now I have confidence ... I'm trying to play to my strengths now. Skate well, shoot and I think the first two games I did that pretty well. I'm happy for that,” said Puljujarvi, who is relishing playing with Turris and Archibald, two other right-shot guys.
“Three righties on one line ... this is first time for me. Little strange, but with three righties a thing that works is you can have one-timers. We're working on that.”
Turris is part centre/part instructor as he works with Puljujarvi, with Montreal on tap Saturday.
“He's looking to make plays. We just have to build some chemistry so you get a better feel and better read off each other so we can sustain offensive pressure and create more,” Turris said.
“Yeah, Kyle is helping me out,” Puljujarvi said. “He's a really good guy and we're talking about how he wants me to play. Learning lessons for me, like on faceoffs, he'll tell me what we can try.”
Tippett feels No. 13, who in a coincidental twist played 13:13 in his first game, is soaking up as much as he can.
“The thing with young players is you might want to chase the puck all over the place and you're not sure where you're supposed to be. Jesse is trying to do things the way we want them done; he's buying in and he's got the strength and the reach and he's been a pretty effective player for us so far,” Tippett said.
Going back to the big ice in Europe after playing on a smaller NHL rink might not have been all that beneficial because it's a different game for a forward. But, Puljujarvi has seemingly embraced the tighter confines here, once again.
“Of course it's a little more difficult, but it's a mental thing. Small ice, you need to do more stops and starts, but again it's mostly mental,” he said. “Of course I'd like to score three goals, but I'm just happy to be in the NHL again. I'm enjoying the game.”
He's also got some gravy power-play time, the last 30 seconds on the second unit, when Mcdavid, Draisaitl and Nugent-hopkins come off.
“Yeah, that's good . ... You know, baby steps,” he said. “Little steps, that's fine.”
Like his comeback.
This `n' that: The Montreal Canadiens are sniffing around Columbus centre Pierre-luc Dubois, who isn't happy there but the price would be steep in a trade. Habs general manager Marc Bergevin has already made one Blue Jackets deal to get Josh Anderson for Max Domi, but would they actually trade their best young forward, centre Nick Suzuki?