After coming off an historic 5-2 win against the Buffalo Sabres courtesy of goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic on Friday, the Pittsburgh Penguins will turn to their rookie goaltender against the league’s best team in the second game of a back-to-back.
And – fortunately for the Penguins and for him – this won’t be his first dance against that league-best team.
Rookie goaltender Joel Blomqvist – who was recalled from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS), Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate, after goaltender Tristan Jarry was waived on Wednesday – will get his second start against the Washington Capitals on Saturday.
“I’m really happy to be back with the team,” Blomqvist said. “I’m just gonna do my best up here and just take it one day at a time.”
His first start against the Caps was a stellar 34-save performance in a 4-2 win for the Penguins on Nov. 8, arguably his best start during a nine-game NHL stint to begin the season. Over those nine games, Blomqvist put up a .904 save percentage.
“I think just his athleticism, his competitiveness,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “He competes hard on pucks. He’s really athletic. His lateral mobility, his lateral agility, his ability to get post-to-post is exciting. He’s a good goaltender. He’s played extremely well in Wilkes, we thought he played well for us at the beginning of the year when he was here.”
Blomqvist may not register a goal and an assist to make NHL history like Nedeljkovic did on Friday, but he joked that he hopes to get that opportunity at some point.
“I mean, I’ve thought about it,” Blomqvist said. “Hopefully, I’ll be able to pull it off someday.”
The Penguins will be facing a Capitals team that is tops in the NHL at 30-10-5 with 65 points. They’re riding a three-game win streak and are 6-1-3 in their last 10 games.
Even more so than their success this season is the story of Alex Ovechkin, who is just 21 goals shy of breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time record.
Sullivan knows from experience how hard Ovechkin is to keep in check.
“He is one of the greatest goal scorers of all time,” Sullivan said of Ovechkin. “And when you play against players of his caliber, I don’t know that you’re ever going to keep them off the score sheet. It’s trying your best to deny as many opportunities as you can. He’s going to get some because he’s so talented. And that’s the challenge when we play against them. You have to know when he’s on the ice.”
Aside from their goaltender, the Penguins are deploying the same forward lineup from Friday’s game. On defense, Kris Letang – who missed Friday’s contest with an illness – is back in the lineup, while P.O Joseph is out of the lineup with an illness:
The Penguins have won just three games since the holiday break and sit three points out of a wild card spot at 19-20-8. This is their final game before heading off to the West coast to finish off the final five games of their long road trip.
