Wilson, Fleury clip Blackhawks, 1-0
Scott Wilson continued his strong preseason and Marc-Andre Fleury made up for a shaky performance his previous time out, as the Penguins slipped past the Chicago Blackhawks, 1-0, Friday night at Consol Energy Center.
The Penguins improved to 2-1 in the preseason. Fleury and Tristan Jarry have combined for consecutive shutouts.
Wilson corralled a Conor Sheary pass with his skate and flipped a shot past Chicago goaltender Lars Johansson 25 seconds into the second period.
With Bryan Rust yet to practice because of a broken finger suffered in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup Final, there could be a job opening among the Penguins’ forwards. By playing a solid net-front game that coach Mike Sullivan compared to that of Chris Kunitz Friday morning, Wilson has stated his case.
Fleury said Tuesday in Detroit that he certainly had felt more comfortable in goal than he did while allowing three goals on 19 shots. Things went much more smoothly Friday. He made 23 saves.
One involved stopping Tyler Motte on a two-on-none break after the Penguins coughed up the puck on a second-period power play. Earlier, he smartly poke-checked a puck away from Motte.
Now, it’s a crowd
The Penguins dressing room became more crowded Friday when several players returned from injuries or absences due to the World Cup of Hockey.
Evgeni Malkin, Matt Cullen and Patric Hornqvist skated with the nongame group after the morning skate at Consol Energy Center. None of the three have participated in the team portions of training camp.
Malkin and Hornqvist were at the World Cup of Hockey in Toronto, skating for Russia and Sweden, respectively. Cullen has been nursing a lingering injury sustained while training over the summer. Swede Carl Hagelin is back, too, but did not skate with the non-game group.
Oskar Sundqvist, likely pegged for Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton duty because of the resigning of Cullen, also skated with the group. He, too, has not taken part in any of training camp because of an undisclosed injury.
‘Young Kunitz’
One of the standouts of camp thus far has been Scott Wilson, who scored five goals in 24 games last season before sustaining a season-ending ankle/foot injury that required surgery. The rub on him goes something like this: He’s a natural goal-scorer with a nose for the net.
Friday, Sullivan made an intriguing comparison.
“He’s kind of like a young Chris Kunitz,” Sullivan said. “He plays with an edge. He has a physical element to his game. He can really shoot the puck. He has pretty good instincts as far as getting to areas of ice to make himself available to shoot the puck. I like his overall game.”
Other injuries
Sullivan said defensemen Lukas Bengsston and Tim Erixon have been dealing with illnesses the past week. Erixon skated with the nongame group Friday; Bengsston did not.
Roster move
The Penguins reassigned goaltender Doug Carr to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
That leaves them with five goaltenders, four of them healthy with Matt Murray out with a broken hand.