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ANAHEIM, Calif. — The Pittsburgh Penguins were frustrated Sunday night as the Anaheim Ducks made them look old and slow while the young Anaheim stars whizzed around the ice for sparkling scoring chances. We’ve got the full coverage from Anaheim, including the locker room conversations that were indeed insightful.
Elsewhere in the Daily, the NHL trade chatter, there’s more buzz surrounding St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington. The Chicago Blackhawks are feeling the heat and may start to (finally) make moves. And, inexplicably, the New Jersey Devils are blocking Connor Hellebuyck from his expected start in Winnipeg for an absolutely ridiculous reason.
I’m late today. It’s only 5:30 a.m. here, but ol’ Dan just passed out last night before setting the alarm. Living in two time zones for a week isn’t easy.
Pittsburgh Penguins
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Here’s the recap and essentially who to blame for the goals. Despite the late comeback, it was a rough night for the Penguins.
The Penguins’ report card is a tale of being outclassed. Age isn’t a determining factor until it is. The Anaheim Ducks’ young stars whirred around the ice while the Penguins were in second gear. Tactically, we broke down the maddening refusal to adopt their best game, and defenseman Kris Letang said it out loud. Check out the Penguins Report Card.
And in the Penguins notebook, Sergei Murashov wanted to send a public message. The players are dealing with the trade talk and Evgeni Malkin’s climb in the record book.
As a note, Ville Koivunen is injured and out day-to-day. The Penguins recalled Rutger McGroarty Sunday. There was some social media fuss about McGroarty not being in the lineup, but as someone from the Penguins reminded us, McGroarty played back-to-back games with Wilkes-Barre Friday and Saturday and hopped a commercial flight to LA Sunday. Three in three under those circumstances would be a bit much, eh?
NHL Trade Talk, News, & NHN
Chicago Hockey Now: The rebuild is stuck. No improvement this season, and the people are getting angry. The players are getting frustrated. Oh, and Bo Byram seems at odds with team doctors over his injury. Fun times. The Blackhawks trade talk has started.
NHLtraderumors.me: Jordan Binnington is a big-money goalie but not very good in the regular season. Joel Hofer took the No. 1 spot in St. Louis, and now those pesky NHL trade rumors are percolating under the Arch.
New Jersey Hockey Now: The New Jersey Devils won’t let Connor Hellebuyck make his expected start in Winnipeg. Hellebuyck wants to and even called it his responsibility, but New Jersey gave one of the most cockamamie reasons ever. However, our James Nichols actually made sense and wrote what the Devils should have said. Still, no Hellebuyck in Winnipeg.
Sometimes the Game is bigger than the games. New Jersey is making a mistake. The fans are going to be all over Hellebuyck anyway. Let him face it and get his say with his play. Unforced error for the Game.
TSN Video: Brian Hayes at TSN trashed Hellebuyck and the Devils. He ripped into New Jersey.
And…NO supplemental discipline for Tom Wilson after another dirty hit Saturday against Florida. Both former players on Hockey Night said it was a bad hit and he should be suspended, but the NHL Department of Player Safety remains undefeated in decisions that make you say…What?!