Mike Sullivan encouraged by nature of Penguins’ Valtteri Puustinen’s goal vs. Rangers
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For the majority of Valtteri Puustinen’s time with the Pittsburgh Penguins this season, there’s been one overarching storyline.
Puustinen’s potential has impressed coach Mike Sullivan and his staff, but ultimately, sustained offensive contributions have not been forthcoming for the 24-year-old rookie Finn.
Entering Saturday afternoon’s game against the New York Rangers, Puustinen had navigated droughts of seven, 14 and most recently, 12 games without scoring a goal.
Puustinen ended his dry spell in the third period of Saturday’s 7-4 loss, firing a missile past Rangers goalie Jonathan Quick with 12 minutes, 37 seconds left in the game for his third goal of the season through 36 games. He also has 11 assists.
Pittsburgh goal!
Scored by Valtteri Puustinen with 12:37 remaining in the 3rd period.
Assisted by Reilly Smith and Lars Eller.
Pittsburgh: 4
New York: 6#NYRvsPIT #LetsGoPens #NYR pic.twitter.com/umI6D9mCs3— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 16, 2024
In 10:11 of ice time Saturday, he had two shots.
“I think he has the ability to score, and hopefully, a goal like that will give him a boost of confidence and some belief in himself and his own shooting capability,” Sullivan said.
The play that led to Puustinen’s goal started on the opposite end of the ice.
In a diving attempt to keep the puck in the Penguins’ zone, New York defenseman Adam Fox instead put it onto the stick of Lars Eller, who promptly fed it up ice to Reilly Smith.
By then, Eller, Puustinen and Smith had the Rangers’ Ryan Lindgren caught in a three-on-one.
As all three Penguins closed in on the net, Smith tossed the puck to Puustinen, who pulled the trigger immediately, beating the sliding Quick.
“I see a Rangers D-man poke (the puck) out, and we go first a two-on-one, but Reilly and Lars came and we go three-on-one,” Puustinen said. “Nice pass and play.
“ … I have a good feeling playing with Lars and Reilly because (they’re) really smart hockey players, and they know what they’re doing. They play simple hockey.”
Sullivan found the manner in which Puustinen scored Saturday — firing the puck on Quick without hesitation after linemate Smith sent a cross-ice pass his way — to be particularly encouraging.
“It’s a great goal,” Sullivan said. “It’s a shot off the pass — terrific pass by Reilly. It’s a good play all around. I think to score in this league, your ability to shoot off the pass and the release is an adjustment process for young players to understand that’s how you can beat goalies. If your release is deliberate, goaltenders are quick enough that they’re going to get to their spot and make the save.
“We’ve been working with (Puustinen) to try to get him to shoot off the pass a little bit more, so goalies don’t have an opportunity to get set and square up. That was an example of it. I thought it was a terrific play all around, just a real good goal by him.”
A failure to produce this season has played a role in the downfall of players such as Radim Zohorna and Vinnie Hinostroza who have been inserted into the lineup, particularly the bottom six.
While Puustinen is not putting up eye-popping numbers, Sullivan is pleased with his overall trajectory.
“I think (Puustinen’s) game is getting better and better with every game that he plays,” Sullivan said. “That seems to be, for me, probably the biggest hurdle, just his finishing ability. We believe he’s capable. We’re just going to work with him and stay with it here, but he’s a good hockey player, he has good offensive instincts (and) it’s great to see him score tonight.”