Gameday preview: Mike Sullivan breaks his silence on Erik Karlsson prior to tonight's game

The Pittsburgh Penguins traveled to Columbus last night and took on a very NHL-filled Blue Jackets lineup. The Penguins, comprised mainly of their young prospects, did not disappoint en route to a 3-1 win. Trailing after the first period, Valtteri Puustinen tied things up in the second. The star of the night was Jonathan Gruden, who scored an excellent between-the-legs goal in the third to give Pittsburgh their winning advantage. Kevin Hayes sealed it with an empty-netter.

Pittsburgh's Tristan Jarry was excellent between the pipes, stopping 33 of 34 shots. That was his final tune-up for the regular season and has been steady between the pipes all preseason for Pittsburgh as the team heads into the season in hopes of a successful year.

Head coach Mike Sullivan was all smiles with the outing from his young charges. He admitted to how difficult the prospects have been making it to complete the roster for next Wednesday's regular-season opener against the New York Rangers. Their effort, he noted, has brought some unexpected yet welcome challenges to the team's decision-making. Of the guys who impressed in training camp, Jesse Puljujarvi stood out. Sullivan mentioned his improvement, which is rather obvious, considering he's getting back into game form following double hip surgery after the 2022-23 season. The coach spoke about a number of other young stars in the Penguins' system, too, including Rutger McGroarty, Vasily Ponomarev, Ville Koivunen, and Harrison Brunicke. Mike Sullivan also spoke about Erik Karlsson today, providing the media and fans with an update as to whether he will see any game action soon enough, or whether he will be sidelined a lot longer.

The Penguins and Blue Jackets meet again tonight in Pittsburgh, wrapping up the preseason slate. With the regular season looming, the young players for Pittsburgh continue to give everyone plenty to be optimistic about. You can see the full lineup for tonight's game below.

Teams must submit their final rosters by 5 p.m. Monday, meaning any players who must go through waivers have to be waived by 2 p.m. Sunday or they count against the roster deadline. Friday is the final audition for highly-touted prospect Rutger McGroarty. With Bryan Rust still out, McGroarty will be in the lineup again as he tries to make his case. The team called Wednesday a maintenance day for Rust, but he hasn't appeared in the lineup since.