Pittsburgh Penguins winger Anthony Beauvillier is off to a hot start with his new team.
After Friday’s game to the Columbus Blue Jackets – Beauvillier registered his sixth goal of the season during the 6-2 loss, tying Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell for the team lead – he is on pace for 26 goals this season, which would best his career high of 21 set with the New York Islanders in 2017-18.
“He brings a lot of speed, and I think he creates opportunities for his linemates because of that,” head coach Mike Sullivan said. “He’s showing an ability to score some goals, and that’s one of the things we’re looking for when we put a guy in that position.”
Sullivan added: “One of the reasons that attracted us to even consider him there right out of training camp – if you guys remember, we put him with Sid a lot – is we liked his speed and his puck pursuit game,” Sullivan said. “We thought that would help Sid’s line, in particular, in order to get the puck back and control puck possession. And I think that’s what Sid thrives in. So, having someone with speed is an important element of setting Sid’s line up for success, and that’s one the reasons we’ve tried Beau there.”
On this week’s episode of Pucks N’at, we discuss what has made Beauvillier so successful on Pittsburgh’s top line – as well as what his hot start could do for his value on the trade market.
