Penguins rookie forward Valtteri Puustinen looks good to anyone watching

Valtteri Puustinen’s family isn’t getting much sleep these days.

At least not overnight.

With a seven-hour difference between Pittsburgh and his hometown of Kuopio, Finland, Puustinen’s loved ones have to wake up in the middle of the night to see him play on television (or streamed video).

“My whole family in Finland wakes up (at 2 a.m.) watching all games that I play here,” the rookie Penguins forward said Thursday. “I am so happy my family is watching my games.”

Bleary eyes notwithstanding, his relatives presumably have liked what they’ve seen. And Penguins’ management seems satisfied to some degree with what Puustinen has offered to this point. In seven games, he has four assists while averaging 14:53 of ice time per contest. And most of that has come while he has been skating on the second line as well as the top power-play unit.

Those assignments are presumably temporary as he has been thrust into the lineup due in part to an undisclosed injury that will keep incumbent veteran forward Bryan Rust sidelined until at least Jan. 2.

But Puustinen didn’t get placed in those roles simply because someone else was hobbled.

“He can think it on a high level very much like some of the guys that he’s playing with here,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “That’s one of the reasons why we had him on our first power-play (unit), for example. We really like his game. We think he’s getting better every day.”

The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ leading scorer each of the previous two seasons, Puustinen’s most regular linemates as of late — Evgeni Malkin and Reilly Smith — certainly recognize his acumen.

After all, he had the primary assists on each of their goals in a 4-3 home win against the Minnesota Wild on Dec. 18.

His second assist to set up Malkin for a score may have been the best representation of his skills.

Generating a two-on-one rush with Malkin against former Penguins defenseman Alex Goligoski, Puustinen faked a shot in the right circle by kicking out his left leg and jammed up goaltender Filip Gustavsson a bit. With Gustavsson out of sorts, Puustinen deftly distributed the puck to Malkin, trailing slightly in the left circle. With a wide open net, Malkin easily claimed his 11th goal of the season.

Puustinen was slightly at a loss for words in trying to detail the sequence.

“I don’t know,” Puustinen guffawed. “(Malkin came) with me. I can try to fake (shoot). He shoots and I pass.”

Malkin seems sated with what Puustinen can offer on his flank.

“This guy is really good,” Malkin said. “He’s growing so fast. He’s growing every game. We see he has more confidence right now.

“We had a breakaway and he passed to me. Maybe he (would) shoot and score. This guy (has) lots of skills, lots of vision.”

A seventh-round pick (No. 203 overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft, Puustinen was a long shot to reach the NHL. And he still has plenty of work to put in to stay in the NHL.

But he has certainly made a strong impression in his first substantive recall to the NHL roster in the eyes of anyone watching.

“It’s great to see him have almost instant success,” Smith said. “That’s tough to do in this league, especially when you’re kind of just jumping in. … He’s done a great job. He does have more confidence every game on the puck. That’s very noticeable.”

Note: The Penguins and the entire NHL are in the midst of a three-day break for the holidays. Team activities such as practice and travel are prohibited. The Penguins are scheduled to travel to Elmont, N.Y. on the day of of their next game, a contest against the New York Islanders on Wednesday.