Mark Jankowski impresses in Penguins debut

The 26 year-old center opened the season with a goal and an assist against the Flyers.

Jim Rutherford is known for his reclamation projects, and while a one-game sample is simply one game, Mark Jankowski showed some up-side on Wednesday night against the Flyers that might give Penguins fans some hope.

Jankowski was one of the best players on the ice for Pittsburgh and kicked off his new chapter with the Penguins in a great way.

He and Brandon Tanev played great together, and on the opening goal of the game, Jankowski did a great job of finding a little soft spot in front of Carter Hart and putting himself in position for a nice feed and a smooth finish.

The Jankowski-Tanev combination wasn’t done yet either.

Heading up ice, it looked like Jankowski was fully blocked in by the defense of the Flyers, but managed to not only get a pass through on his backhand, but a perfect pass at that.

The goal for Tanev would tie the game at 3-3.

The problem for the Penguins was what followed, allowing the Flyers to go ahead 4-3 a few minutes later — and then allowing two more goals, twenty seconds apart just past the midway point of the 3rd period, going on to lose 6-3.

The two teams will meet again tomorrow night. It’ll be interesting to see if the chess match from coaches gets a little more in depth this season with the schedule format of playing back-to-back’s on a regular basis.