It was a packed house for Friday’s Pittsburgh Penguins training camp practice since Marc-Andre Fleury made his triumphant return to the ice after signing a professional tryout contract with the team on September 12.
Fans wanted to see Fleury take the ice for one last practice with the Penguins before he plays in Saturday’s preseason game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, and they weren’t disappointed. Fleury took the ice to a bunch of cheers from all the fans in the stands and started taking shots from Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang before he got to participate in the full practice session.
Fleury got the crowd really excited when he made a stacked pad save on captain Sidney Crosby before Crosby batted the puck in from mid-air.
After that, he took some shots during numerous drills and even had nice conversations with fellow goaltenders Sergei Murashov and Filip Larsson. After practice, Fleury was asked what he told them and what advice he’d give them, and joked that he’s coming to take their spots before getting serious.
“You better try hard because I’m coming to take your spot,” Fleury said. “No, just try to get to know them a little bit. You know, they’re both really nice kids, and good goalies, obviously. Just chit-chat a bit, see how they’re doing, how camp is going, wished them the best for the upcoming season.”
Fleury will play part of Saturday’s preseason game against the Blue Jackets in front of a packed PPG Paints Arena before sailing off into the sunset.
Outside of Fleury, let’s look at a couple of other observations from this practice.
The power play gets some work
The Penguins have spent a lot of time doing even-strength drills during training camp, but that changed on Friday. They started doing a lot of special teams work and fans got to see the top power play in action.
Erik Karlsson, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell were on PP1 and were zipping the puck around the offensive zone against the penalty killers. Malkin was down by the goal line during a lot of the sequences as a backdoor option, while Crosby was doing some work in the right wing spot. To round out the group, Karlsson was running things at the point, Rakell was in the bumper spot, and Rust was in the left wing spot before sliding down closer to the net.
Kris Letang, Ville Koivunen, Anthony Mantha, Benjamin Kindel, and Justin Brazeau were on PP2. There was also a significant emphasis on movement during those drills, making things more challenging for the penalty killers.
Benjamin Kindel may get a big opportunity on Saturday
Kindel played in the Penguins’ first two preseason games and really impressed. His skating was on display in the first game before he showed the ability to create dangerous scoring chances out of nowhere in the second game.
He even had a mini breakaway during Wednesday’s game against the Blue Jackets and made a nice move, but couldn’t tuck the puck home.
Kindel skated on a line with Ville Koivunen and Rickard Rakell during Friday’s practice, a sign that he could be in Saturday’s lineup when it gets announced by the team. The lineup is expected to feature many veteran players, given that Fleury will be participating. Gaining this type of experience could be crucial for Kindel’s development before he returns to the WHL.
Saturday’s preseason tilt between the Blue Jackets and Penguins will start at 7 p.m. ET.
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