Monday's Catch Up & Lunch Links 9/15

Photo credit: Michelle T. (@adikted).

It was a good weekend for the Pittsburgh Penguins prospects participating in the rookie tournament in London, Ontario as the Penguins went 2-0 in their first two games against the Ottawa Senators and Chicago Blackhawks. They'll look to go for the clean sweep in their final match of the tournament against the Toronto Maple Leafs this Tuesday afternoon at 2 p.m. ET.

Several players stood out during the weekend, and in contrast to past years it was some of the forwards grabbing the spotlight.

You have to start with Jean-Sebastien Dea, who last year at this time had just worked his way from a development camp invite to an NHL contract Pittsburgh Penguins organization. Dea scored the game-winning goal and two assists in the Pens' come-from-behind win over the Ottawa to open the rookie tournament Saturday. He followed that up with another goal, an assist and a shootout goal in the Pens' shootout win over Chicago on Sunday. His five points (two goals, three assists) lead the Pens in scoring through two of three games at this year's rookie tournament.

Another promising forward in the Penguins pipeline who stood out was Anton Zlobin. Zlobin became more consistent at the end of his rookie season in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and was one of the Penguins best forwards in the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs. He's continued to improve over the off-season and is arguably the most dangerous weapon on the Pens' rookie camp roster. Zlobin opened the scoring in Saturday's game and gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead in Sunday's game. Two goals in two games and creating offense on a regular basis among his peers, Zlobin looks to play a top six role in the AHL in the fall.

Another forward who scored a goal in each game was Josh Archibald, who twice took a feed from linemate Oskar Sundqvist and finished off the play with a nice goal. Archibald was the Hobey Baker runner up to Johnny Gaudreau last year after a 29-goal season with the University of Nebraska-Omaha.

Matia Marcantuoni and Tom Kuhnhackl were also noticeable in both games. Marcantuoni's blazing speed and penalty killing ability over the weekend has drawn comparisons to that of Brian Gibbons. Kuhnhackl is no stranger to these rookie camps and tallied a third period goal to start Saturday's comeback against Ottawa and netted two assists and the game-winning shootout goal in Sunday's 5-4 win over Chicago.

It was a busy week here at Highland Park Hockey. If you missed our coverage of the rookie tournament and the previews leading up to it, there's plenty of articles below for you to read and catch up on what transpired last week.

• I broke down the Penguins 22-man rookie camp roster in two parts, separating the players by postition.

• Part 1 - Goalies/Defense
• Part 2 - Forwards

•  Here's the recap of each game of the rookie tournament, complete with insights and analysis on who stood out for the Penguins.

• Penguins Open Rookie Tournament With Come-From-Behind Win Over Ottawa
• Penguins Outlast Blackhawks in the Shootout

• The Highland Park Hockey Summer Feature Series concluded this past week with our last two features on forwards Bryan Rust and local product Patrick McGrath (Shavertown Pa. native).

• (Bryan) Rust Never Sleeps
• McGrath: A Man on a Mission

• If you missed any of our summer features on incoming WBS Penguin hopefuls, they are all linked below:

• Conor Sheary Aims to Make an Impression
• Harrison Ruopp Fighting for an AHL Role
• Matt Murray Looks to Make the Most of his Rookie Season
• Clark Seymour Takes a Step in the Right Direction
• Josh Archibald Looking to Translate Collegiate Success to the Pros
• Reid McNeill A Rare Breed Amongst Penguins Defensemen