The Pittsburgh Penguins played nice for a few minutes after the game, speaking with the media, but they didn’t hide their true feelings for long, and the team was otherwise furious with themselves for letting a big win slip away. The team will also thin the herd of the organization’s goaltending depth.
Elsewhere in the Daily, it seems teams are backing away from an Artemi Panarin trade, the first Olympic replacements due to injury are being made, there’s more noise around the Edmonton Oilers after an ugly homestand … and I’m still somewhere in the Finger Lakes region.
I might never cover a game at UBS Arena again. I’m late publishing the Daily because of ridiculous travel limitations. I left the arena at 11 p.m., didn’t get to my car in Secaucus until 1 a.m., tried to snag a hotel when I got tired around 3 a.m., only to find both hotels on I-81 in Wilkes-Barre were closed up for the night. So I drove on.
UBS is a nightmare. Fans are intense (but they treat Penguins fans well, in a good-natured way), but getting there and out just sucks. I won’t even bother telling you where I slept. Sometimes, this job…
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: You don’t want the losing recap as the Penguins fell to the Islanders 5-4 in OT, so we’ll skip right to the report card–Inside the intense frustration after a Penguins big win slips away.
Shelly was minding the store, and thankfully, she was–Filip Larsson finally had enough of being the third goalie in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and asked out. He’s on waivers today, and the Penguins will terminate his contract.
TSN: No takers for Panarin under his current demands, and the New York Rangers ask. Uh oh. Gee, perhaps $50 million for a soon-to-be 35-year-old was too much, eh?
Sportsnet: I find the Edmonton Oilers an endlessly fascinating team. Two straight Final losses, the weight of the world on Connor McDavid, and yet their biggest move this season was acquiring Tristan Jarry. Mark Spector put it bluntly: They no longer look like contenders.
Philly Hockey Now: Rick Tocchet was also blunt in discussing why he’s not playing electric young player Matvei Michkov. Fans are angry that he’s not, despite the good reason. The Flyers president seemed to disagree with Tocchet, and now general manager Daniel Briere held a little press conference before fans chanted “Fire Tocchet.” We’ve got ourselves a mess with the Philadelphia Flyers.
Sportsnet video: Anthony Cirelli out, Sam Bennett in for Team Canada, but more injuries are unresolved, and all eyes are on who could be replacements and who will need to be replaced for Canada.
The Athletic ($): Tough decisions in Columbus. They’ve won nine of 10 games and are making a run back into the playoff hunt. But they’re not there yet, and have three big free agents. Do they start trading away their pending UFAs?
Detroit Hockey Now: You remember Olli Maatta. He’s carved out a nice second act in his career after winning two Stanley Cups with the Penguins, but things are not going well right now. It’s been a Mammoth disappointment this season, so what’s up with Olli Maatta?
Categorized:Links NHL Trade Rumors
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