Last season, Anthony Beauvillier spent time with Chicago, Nashville and Vancouver, bouncing from team to team and struggling on the ice as he tried to find a place to stick.
Now, he’s skating on Sidney Crosby’s wing.
Such is life for a journeyman in the NHL.
But Beauvillier hopes his future looks nothing like his past year.
“As a player — just as a person in general — you want to have stability in your life and be somewhere for a long time,” Beauvillier said. “That’s my goal obviously. I wanna have success here and hopefully stick here for quite some time.”
Beauvillier made a great early impression Thursday night in the Penguins’ second game of the season, a 6-3 bounce-back victory in Detroit, as the 5-foot-11, 180-pound forward scored the team’s first two goals of the campaign.
Late in the first period, already down a goal, Beauvillier pressured Red Wings defenseman Erik Gustafsson on the forecheck. Jesse Puljujarvi pounced on the loose puck, which made its way to Crosby along the right-side boards. Crosby passed to Beauvillier, who shot from a tight angle to Ville Husso’s right, and the puck bounded off Red Wings blue-liner Ben Chiarot and into the net for the Penguins’ first tally of the season.
Beauvillier added to his ledger just 2:55 into the second stanza, as well, which involved a little less luck. Crosby won a faceoff against Detroit captain Dylan Larkin and chipped the puck back to Marcus Pettersson. Pettersson foisted the puck toward the net, and Beauvillier got his stick down to the ice just in time to tuck the rebound home.
“I think it’s a huge boost for him,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said after Thursday’s win in Detroit. “ ... When you play in the top six of any team, there’s pressure to play there. And obviously when you’re playing with a guy like Sidney Crosby, I think there’s another level to that. So I think Sid and Beau have established some chemistry. He brings that speed element that I think Sid likes on his line so he can hunt pucks and force turnovers, and to get rewarded tonight with a couple of goals will be a huge boost of confidence for him.”
Beauvillier didn’t only impress in Thursday’s win, though.
There weren’t many positives to take from Wednesday’s 6-0 season-opening beatdown at the hands of the Rangers, but if you’re looking for one, Beauvillier would be a decent choice.
The winger from Sorel-Tracy, Quebec — the hometown of Marc-Andre Fleury — performed well in his first outing in black and gold. Of the Penguins’ 2.00 expected goals, 0.43 came from Beauvillier, the highest on the team. Beauvillier also paced the Penguins with three shots on net from the slot and three scoring chances off the cycle, per Sportlogiq.
Beauvillier’s best chance Wednesday, though, is probably one he wants back.
Just 10 seconds into the contest, Beauvillier pushed the puck into the zone toward Crosby. Crosby made a drop pass right back to Beauvillier, who waltzed down the slot and got a shot off on New York goalie Igor Shesterkin. The Rangers’ Vezina candidate turned the shot aside, but one could argue the Penguins didn’t create a better chance in the 59:50 that followed.
The Penguins, of course, would go on to lose 6-0 — but if Beauvillier buries that one, maybe the game goes differently.
Beauvillier almost certainly won’t feature on Crosby’s line once Bryan Rust returns from his lower-body injury, but the former Islander is trying to make the most of his time there — next to one of his idols.
Beauvillier grew up cheering for the Penguins because of his hometown ties to Fleury, but Crosby in particular received some admiration from Beauvillier on social media way back in 2012.
Happy Birthday Sid ! #inspiration #<3
— Anthony Beauvillier (@titobeauvi21) August 7, 2012
Now, he’s trying to soak up as much information from Crosby as possible.
“Definitely comfortable there,” Beauvillier said. “It’s a great opportunity for me — and obviously a privilege to play with [Crosby]. It’s been great. I’ve learned so much from him already, just little details of where he wants you and what he thinks on the ice in terms of positioning when we do have the puck and how to get it back when we don’t. So it’s been good. We’re building on something here, and hopefully, that trends in the right direction.”
If the Penguins want to avoid the early-season slumps to which they’ve fallen victim in the past few seasons — and not be required to go on a torrid stretch at the end of the year for a chance to make the playoffs — production on Crosby’s line without Rust will be crucial. That responsibility — for now, at least — could fall on the shoulders of Beauvillier and either Drew O’Connor or Rickard Rakell.
“I think he’s a smart player. I think he sees the ice well, and I think he does everything pretty well,” O’Connor said of Beauvillier. “He’s got a lot of good puck skills. He’s been fun to play with. I think he’ll be a good addition to our group.”
A time will come, though, when Beauvillier will most likely move down the lineup, potentially into the bottom six.
Top six, bottom six, power play, penalty kill — Beauvillier doesn’t mind either way. He’s just looking for a team to call home, any way he can get it.
“It’s something I’ve done anywhere I’ve gone really — I’ve played center, right wing, left wing,” Beauvillier said. “I feel comfortable anywhere. I can move up and down the lineup whenever’s needed. ...
“We’re competitors in this room. It’s a group that’s gone deep in the playoffs before. There are a bunch of winners in here. The goal is to make the playoffs and go from there.”
First Published: October 11, 2024, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: October 11, 2024, 8:25 p.m.
