Rutger McGroarty makes Penguins preseason debut in lopsided loss to Sabres

The Pittsburgh Penguins made it clear how highly they thought of Rutger McGroarty by being willing to part with their top prospect, Brayden Yager, to acquire him from the Winnipeg Jets in late August.

McGroarty, whom Penguins management and fans have their eye on during preseason camp as a strong candidate to crack the NHL roster, is showing his new organization what he’s about.

“I love the game, and I always compete every day,” he said. “Showing (coaches) my compete level — I feel like I have a pretty good hockey IQ, as well. Showing that I can make plays in tight areas, get pucks around the net and make the right plays.

“Off the ice, same thing — I come to work every single day. I love hockey, it’s my life and I surround everything around it. I come into the rink every single day with the same energy. I seriously just come to work every single day. Hopefully I leave a good impression in that aspect.”

The 20-year-old winger got his first opportunity to make an impression outside of a practice setting Saturday night, as the Penguins took on the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center to begin their slate of six preseason games.

In a 7-3 defeat, McGroarty skated for 16 minutes, 24 seconds, including 1:31 on the power play, recording an assist in the third period.

Goalie prospect Joel Blomqvist started, making 18 saves on 24 shots while taking the loss.

He was pulled at 5:24 of the second period after allowing his sixth goal of the game, five of which came in the second period, with Filip Larsson taking over in net.

Larsson went on to make 18 saves on 19 shots.

Jesse Puljujarvi was the Penguins’ star of the game, scoring a hat trick in the defeat, accounting for all of the club’s goals.

Buffalo’s JJ Peterka also recorded a hat trick.

Ville Koivunen and Tristan Broz assisted on Puljujarvi’s first goal of the game 68 seconds into the opening period on the power play.

Puljujarvi scored again on the power play at 8:33 of the final frame, assisted by McGroarty and Drew O’Connor.

Only 19 seconds later, he had his hat trick, with Avery Hayes and Broz assisting.

Saturday’s preseason contest featured two contrasting lineups in terms of experience.

Of 18 dressed skaters, Buffalo had 12 who played in at least 50 NHL games last season.

By comparison, the Penguins had only three players — defenseman Ryan Graves plus forwards Emil Bemstrom and O’Connor — who met that threshold.

If not evidenced by the final score, the discrepancy in NHL experience was illustrated further by Buffalo’s 43-18 edge in shots on goal.

Only a year ago, O’Connor was looking to earn a role with the Penguins coming out of the preseason.

In a testament to his on-ice growth since then, O’Connor centered the Penguins’ top line Saturday, flanked by McGroarty and former No. 6 overall draft pick (Vegas Golden Knights, 2017) Cody Glass.

McGroarty and O’Connor skating together continues a trend seen in the handful of Penguins practices leading into Saturday.

“I really love his game,” McGroarty said of O’Connor. “He’s a really good hockey player, and he can fly out there. I feel like I can learn a lot from him watching and picking up little things.”

Saturday offered coach Mike Sullivan his first look at McGroarty against hostile competition.

In terms of what it’ll take for players such as McGroarty and fellow forward prospects Vasily Ponomarev and Koivunen to secure spots with the Penguins, Sullivan has been clear.

“The expectation is, if you become a Pittsburgh Penguin that you’re going to be a fierce competitor,” Sullivan said. “That manifests itself in a number of different ways on the ice. It’s in one-on-one battles, puck battles along the wall, wall play, net-front play. Can you play when you’re tired or do you just give in?

“There’s lots of ways that you can show or display how competitive you are on the ice. Those are the things we’re going to look for in all of our players.”

Notes: The Penguins made their first cuts of the preseason before hitting the road for Buffalo, trimming their training camp roster to 64 players. Forwards Justin Cloutier (Soo Greyhounds) and Cooper Foster (Ottawa 67’s), defensemen Caeden Carlisle (Soo Greyhounds), Donovan McCoy (Sudbury Wolves) and Emil Pieniniemi (Kingston Frontenacs) plus goalie Charlie Schenkel (Soo Greyhounds) were reassigned to their OHL clubs. … Defenseman Erik Karlsson, who has yet to partake in practice this preseason because of an unspecified upper-body injury, skated Saturday as part of his rehab program.