Jesse Puljujärvi wild in his first match

Pittsburgh Penguins Jesse Puljujärvi was in great shape as the Penguins opened practice games with an ugly 3-7 loss against the Buffalo Sabres.

Puljujärvi, 26, cannot be blamed too much for the loss, as the winger scored all three of his team’s goals.

The first hit was created with superiority, when Puljujärvi directed the puck from the corner of the goal into the net. Ville Koivunen got an assist in the goal. The hit gave the Penguins a 1–0 lead, but the joys ended there for a long time.

The Sabers jumped out to a 7-1 lead before Puljujärvi first scored his second goal of the night by floating the puck into the goal from a drive-through and then completed his hat trick with a sharp wrist shot as Pittsburgh played with the upper hand.

Puljujärvi shot three times in the match, i.e. the success rate was a full hundred. The plus-minus statistic was two goals below freezing, so there was still room for improvement.

Buffalo’s Henri Jokiharju scored 1+2. In Buffalo’s goal Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen blocked 15 shots.