The suffering continues.
Here are your Pens Points for this Wednesday morning…
Hooks used the term ‘spanked’ in his recap for Tuesday night’s Pittsburgh Penguins-Philadelphia Flyers meeting, which is hilarious. What’s not as hilarious is how badly the Penguins have been outplayed since returning from the 4 Nations break. [Recap]
The Penguins also received some positive injury news on Tuesday. Forward Bryan Rust was activated from injured reserve Tuesday afternoon before the game against the Flyers. [Trib Live]
The Penguins and Washington Capitals have been intertwined for the better part of two decades now with a Sidney Crosby-Alex Ovechkin rivalry that has propelled the NHL into the 21st century. With Crosby and Ovechkin closer to the end than the beginning, that feeling of longstanding animosity toward Ovechkin has (at least for me) morphed into respect for the greatest goalscorer of all time. As he sits 12 goals away from breaking Wayne Gretzky’s all-time mark of 894 at the time of writing, the Great 8’s chase for the top of a once-untouchable leaderboard has given Penguins fans a rooting interest in the back half of an otherwise dismal season. [Trib Live]
News and notes from around the NHL…
The NHL has unveiled some nifty renderings for the field design and entertainment plans for the upcoming Stadium Series game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Detroit Red Wings at Ohio Stadium on March 1. [NHL]
Canada won the inaugural 4 Nations Face-Off last week. Those lovely canucks are on a hockey high right now, but let’s take it one step further? Could they break… The Streak? Could a Canadian team win the country’s first Stanley Cup since 1993? [CBC]
Speaking of Ovechkin, he was in action Tuesday night and fittingly scored a goal. He didn’t get the record, but he has reached 30 goals in a season for the 19th time in his 20-year NHL career, beating the league record he set last season with his 18th. [AP]