Friday Pens Points: No, Not a Masterpiece

The Pens lost a 6-5 shootout to the Montreal Canadiens. Here is Dave Molinari's recap at the PPG. I knew that going to Extra Skater for numbers would be a bad idea, but I didn't know how bad. In terms of CF-CA, looking at pairings and lines, Niskanen-Maatta were 35-17; Scuderi-Bortuzzo 14-24; Orpik-Engelland 15-31; Kunitz-Crosby-Gibbons 31-33; Jokinen-Malkin-Neal 52-29; Glass-Sutter-Kobasew 5-27; Pyatt-Vitale-Adams 8-19. Yipes.

Thinking fondly of the days when most of our angst was centered around Eric Tangradi not being able to keep up with Malkin and Neal and photoshopping Geno and Lazy propping up lifeless Tangradi, Weekend at Bernie's-style.

For the first time since suffering a season-ending injury in Ottawa on December 23 (it scares me that I didn't have to look up the date he got injured), Pascal Dupuis spoke to the media following the Pens morning skate. The recovery window is 6-8 months and considering the delayed surgery it could cut into the season, but Duper is optimistic he'll be on the shorter end as well as back at 100% speed-wise. He intends to be a string locker room presence during the home stretch.

Kris Letang revealed the scary details behind his stroke yesterday. It was tough having to listen to it, so just imagine going through it. His uncertainty was palpable, but somewhere in there was a dedication and determination to persevere, and we wish him all the best.

The latest two episodes of NHL Revealed shed some light behind the scenes in Sochi. First one aired last night. They're pretty well done so far, and clearly feature a healthy dose of superstars. Also, Olli Maatta and his mom were in last night's episode; good job, Olli's mom.

The Penguins won't have any representatives at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference, a large, yearly meeting in Boston.

Tim Thomas fell on his rear last night during the worst time- while Mike Green was bearing down on a breakaway. Then, against all odds, Thomas made the save when Green shot the puck directly into his glove.

After Phil Kessel took some heat in Toronto, how hard should each player practice every day? An interesting look at a breakdown of how this sorts out.

The 2014 NHL Stadium Series continues tomorrow with the Pens set to enjoy some frigid temperatures at Soldier Field. Here is the official fan guide with all the reminders.