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Puljujarvi’s other key play of the game was on a late 3rd Period Condors power play. With the Gulls up 3-1, Puljujarvi took a pass in the high slot, shifted around a sprawling San Diego defender, and deftly fed a wide-open Anton Lander at the side of the net for the 3-2 tap-in. Puljujarvi’s awareness in that situation, and the quickness with which he executed the play in cramped quarters showed genuine skill, as well as terrific patience. An assist with a capital-A.

It was not all roses for Puljujarvi, though. He committed not one but two give-aways at the offensive blue-line on the same sequence, as the Condors frittered away a 3rd period, 4-minute man advantage. The second of Puljujarvi’s defensive gaffs allowed a San Diego player to dart off on a short-handed break-away. Condors goalie Nick Ellis bailed his teammate out, as he was also forced to do numerous other times, during a long, porous night for the Condors blue-line.

In between those three notable sequences, Puljujarvi displayed his considerable speed, especially while heading up the wing with the puck on his stick on a number of occasions. Those rushes were more than a little de-ja-vu, for me, as the Oilers used to have a power winger not all that long ago that did the very thing on a regular basis. But I digress.

On the Power Play, Puljujarvi served on the 1st unit, on the left point, right where you would expect him to be. He wasn’t able to get much in the way of chances from there, however. Jordan Oesterle, on one shift, twice looked #9 (whose stick was cocked and ready, at the top of the circle) off in favor of Taylor Beck, who did nothing with it.