The Pittsburgh Penguins kicked off their Preseason schedule this week and so far in the first two games a couple of themes have been prevalent in those contests.

The first being that both games have found their way into overtime.  Tuesday night the Pens lost on the first shift of OT when Buffalo Sabres star, Jack Eichel ended the game off of the rush.  Olli Maatta, Zach Aston-Reese, and Jay McClement scored for Pittsburgh, who held a late 3-2 lead in the third before Buffalo stormed back.

The Sabers used a lot of their top players for the game on the Penn State Campus, while the Pens went with a mix of veterans and prospects including Daniel Sprong, Teddy Blueger, Thomas Di Pauli, and Josh Archibald.  Derrick Poliout continued to struggle as he could not effectively lead the Pens power play on NUMEROUS occasions (more on the penalties in a minute) before being taken off of the first unit in favor of Maatta.  Poliout also struggled in decision-making with the puck and committed multiple turnovers.

Antti Niemi would play his first game in a Penguins sweater, taking up the net for the first 40 minutes and allowing two goals.

On Wednesday night, the Penguins returned to the PPG Paints Arena for the first time since last Spring as they hosted Trevor Daley and the Detroit Red Wings.  Once again the Pens could not hold a third period lead, late as the Wings would tie it at 5 with two minutes left in the game.  This time however it was Justin Schultz who played the hero in the three on three stanza.

It's just so beautiful. pic.twitter.com/2wqXLfYra8

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 21, 2017

Jake Guentzel would finish the night with a goal and four assists.  Playing with Connor Sheary the ‘Kids’ half of the Sid and the Kids line wreaked havoc all night long.  Along with Guentzel and Schultz, Sheary and Adam Johnson would be the Pens goal scorers on the night, with Johnson having two to his credit.

Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry split the goalie duties on the evening in their first appearances of the fall.

No Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin to speak of so far this pre-season.  With the Kraft Hockey-ville game upcoming, it is probably a safe bet you will see one, or both, that game.

Prospect Greg McKegg (beaut of a name, btw) was the only Pens player to play in both games as he is getting a quick, hard look by the coaching staff to filling a bottom six Center role.  Jay McClement also did very well for himself in that battle with his tip-in power play goal on Tuesday.

Look for Pens management to continue to exhaust the search internally and externally over the next 10 days or so.

The second constant of the pre-season so far is…..the referees are calling EVERYTHING.  With particular emphasis on slashing and face off violations.  Pittsburgh had NINE power plays in the Buffalo game and a whopping TEN in the Detroit game.

With so many penalties being called (16 total on Wednesday night between the two teams) it makes it hard to get a flow to the game, and to accurately judge a young prospect or training camp tryout on their overall abilities, or lack thereof.  It is preseason for the referees though and the directive from the NHL is clear, crack down on slashing and cheating on face-offs.  The likelihood of games being called this close in the regular season is small but the teams are getting the message early on.

The Pens made some roster cuts early on Thursday sending players to either the AHL Baby Pens or their Junior Teams.

ICYMI: The @penguins have assigned seven players to the #WBSPens. https://t.co/pjJjZNXGKv pic.twitter.com/e2PrMvOYLw

— WBS Penguins (@WBSPenguins) September 21, 2017

Starting tomorrow in Columbus, the Pens will play three games in four days.  I will be back on Tuesday with the latest developments, cuts, scores and news here at Pittsburgh Sports Castle!

Thanks for reading!!

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