Last Night's Preseason Performers (Sep 24)

The Columbus Blue Jackets were able to welcome back Artemi Panarin to their lineup, as he sat for the first few preseason games with a neck problem, but his return wasn't enough for his side, as they got drubbed 5-1 at home by the St. Louis Blues on Sunday afternoon.

Rookie forward Robert Thomas made a strong case for a roster spot, leading the way for the Blues with 3 assists, while Samuel Blais had a couple of goals and Ville Husso made 15 saves for the win.

The Blues also had the return of Robby Fabbri to the lineup, after he was dealing with a sore back, but that return was limited, when he suffered a lower-body injury in the 1st period and wasn't able to return.  We'll try to have more on his status later on today.

There was another afternoon tilt on Sunday and it was in Pittsburgh, between the Red Wings and Penguins and a 3-goal 2nd period for the visiting team was the difference in this one, as Detroit came away with a 3-2 victory.  Detroit's 3rd string goalie, Harri Sateri, got the nod for this one and came out victorious in a complete game win, making 29 saves in the process.  He was the only notable Detroit player in this one.

Penguins prospects Ryan Haggerty and Thomas DiPauli were on both goals for their side in the loss, Haggerty scoring one of them.

The Penguins also saw the return of Derick Brassard to game action, coming back from feeling under the weather in this preseason.

The Winnipeg Jets finished off the weekend with a solid effort over the Edmonton Oilers on Sunday night, taking the game 5-3 on home ice.  The Jets were down briefly in this one, but they were dressing one of their strong lineups in this game, so they were able to claw their way back with a big 2nd period and coast to victory.

Mark Scheifele scored a pair of goals and added an assist, while Blake Wheeler scored a goal and had a couple of assists in the victory.  Dustin Byfuglien, Skyler McKenzie and Dennis Everberg each had 2 points on the scoresheet and Connor Hellebuyck got the whole game, making 38 saves for the win.

On the other side, forward Kailer Yamamoto continued to have a good camp, picking up a pair of goals and Matt Benning had a couple of assists in the loss as well.