NHL Kostopoulos works hard for Penguins roster spot

The 24-year-old right wing has worked hard in the off-season.
CANONSBURG, Pa. (AP) -- Putting up gaudy offensive numbers has never been a problem for Tom Kostopoulos. The 24-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins right wing has been doing that in the minors, and since his junior hockey days in London, Ontario.
To get scouts to look past his skating and give him a real shot in the National Hockey League has been the challenge.
"They think I need to get it going and pick up my stride quicker," the 6-foot-2, 200-pound Kostopoulos said. "I've done power skating and I've been working on my legs to make them stronger and quicker."
So far, it appears to have worked. Kostopoulos played in two of the Penguins first three preseason games and had two points, including one of the team's three goals.
Didn't make Bruins trip
Kostopoulos didn't go with the team to Halifax, Nova Scotia, to play in the Penguins' 3-2 win over the Boston Bruins, but it was a trip he wasn't scheduled to make and won't hurt his chances of making the team.
"He's played very well," Penguins coach Eddie Olczyk said. "I thought T.K. came on really strong at the end of the intrasquad games. It comes down to fitting in and chemistry, but Tommy's done everything we wanted."
Kostopoulos has only 19 NHL games under his belt, but played well for Pittsburgh's American Hockey League affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
In 71 games last season Kostopoulos had 21 goals and a team-record 42 assists, finishing second in scoring on the team.
The one thing he hasn't done is show he can produce in the NHL. In 19 games over two seasons in Pittsburgh, Kostopoulos has one goal and four points.
"I'd love to try and have the chance to score in the NHL, but you never know what they want," Kostopoulos said.
Three more preseason games
Pittsburgh (1-3) has three games remaining in the preseason before the Oct. 10 season opener at Mellon Arena against Los Angeles.
The Penguins play host to Columbus on Friday, then plays Washington Saturday in Portland, Maine. On Sunday they'll play Columbus again at Nationwide Arena.
With 12 days off from the end of the exhibition schedule to the start of the regular season, players on the bubble like Kostopoulos have little time to make their shifts count.
"He's a quiet individual, but actions speak louder than words," Olczyk said.
Then there's that skating problem. Luckily, Kostopoulos has a key person in his corner on that particular issue.
"He's deceptive and I have a soft spot for guys that continue to get knocked for their skating," said Olczyk, who scored 342 goals in 16 years in the NHL. "That was something that happened with me in my whole career."
Roster moves
Forward Tomas Surovy, who scored four goals in 26 games with Pittsburgh last season, was among seven players assigned Wednesday by the Penguins to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Also moved were forwards Guillaume Lefebvre, Michal Sivek, Toby Petersen, Shane Endicott and Matt Hussey and defenseman Brendan Buckley.
Defenseman Paul Bissonnette, a fourth-round pick in the June draft, was returned to Saginaw of the Ontario Hockey League.