Can Penguins forward Valtteri Puustinen help fill the void of Bryan Rust's absence?

Valtteri Puustinen didn’t quite know how to explain the moment.

But his body language spoke volumes.

On his first shot of the season, the shifty winger scored. And on the ensuing celebration, he lifted his left leg, pumped his right arm and looked more relieved than jubilant.

Power play goal for Pittsburgh!

Scored by Valtteri Puustinen with 08:24 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Matt Grzelcyk and Sidney Crosby.

Pittsburgh: 1
Minnesota: 0#MINvsPIT #LetsGoPens #mnwild pic.twitter.com/VKG99nwhO5

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) October 29, 2024

That scene unfolded during a 5-3 home loss to the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday as Puustinen opened the scoring. On Thursday, Puustinen explained the emotion of that moment as best as he could.

“Every game I play here is really, really big for me,” Puustinen said. “I am so excited every game day. Of course practice days (too) but game days, a little bit better. If I can contribute to the score, I don’t know what I say (about) the feeling of scoring but yeah, that happened.”

What hasn’t happened much to this point of the season is Puustinen’s name appearing in the lineup card. A healthy scratch for eight of the Penguins’ first nine games, he has skated in four of the past six contests.

And in the two most recent games, he has enjoyed an elevated role because of the absence of top-line right winger Bryan Rust, currently designated to injured reserve because of an undisclosed malady.

With Rust sidelined, Puustinen has skated on the right wing of the second line and as part of the second power-play unit, with which he scored Tuesday’s goal.

Lars Eller is serving as Puustinen’s center at the moment. And when Puustinen broke through as a full-time NHLer last season, Eller was his primary pivot.

“Last year, he established himself like a very capable NHL player,” Eller said. “This year, at the start of the year, we have a very deep team and he was just on the outside. I’m not surprised at all that he’s playing well when he gets the opportunity. I’ve always liked playing with him. He’s a solid player that skates well, wins loose pucks, wins battles, makes good reads, has that give-and-go game in him. He’s just a good, solid little player. I like playing with him.”

A seventh-round pick (No. 203 overall) in 2019, Puustinen (5-foot-10, 182 pounds) routinely has posted healthy goal totals at lower levels such as the American Hockey League or the Liiga in his native Finland. But that offensive acumen did not translate to the NHL last season. In 52 NHL games during 2023-24, he scored 20 points (five goals, 15 assists).

“A lot of it is maybe opportunity and chances,” Eller said. “He shoots when he’s got the chance. I don’t think he’s passing up shooting opportunities. … When he’s playing with me, he’s getting a lot of defensive zone starts, and maybe he’s just not getting that many looks. But I think the power play, his goal (in Tuesday’s) game was good. It wasn’t a high-percentage scoring chance but he took the shot. Sometimes, they go in. He’s played well.”

The Penguins are confident Puustinen is capable of contributing offensively. But management would like to see refinement on defense.

“He’s got to play on both sides of the puck,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He has the ability to make plays. He has good offensive instincts. The one aspect of his offensive game that he lacked last year was his ability to finish. He scored (Tuesday), which is a plus for us and him. Hopefully, he can build on that. That will help his confidence.

“But he’s got to continue to work at the defensive side of the game and help us be hard to play against.”

That message has been received.

“I can try to play a smart game (on) both sides,” Puustinen said. “If you play good (defense), after that, you have a chance to score. I can try doing that.”

For the moment, he’s going to try to maximize the opportunity he has with Rust sidelined.

“We are not happy that Rust isn’t here, but this is the (younger) guys’ chance to play a little bit more on the power play or (elsewhere),” Puustinen said. “We know how good (a) player he is, and he scores (a lot) here. We need to score.

“If I play, I can try my best and I can try to shoot a little bit more. I have now one (goal). If I shoot more, I think the goals are coming.”

Note: Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin was absent from a practice session Friday in Cranberry for what was termed as a “maintenance day.”

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