Wednesday Pens Points: Pens Season-Sweep the Caps

The Pens have a day off today, and they've earned it. Two nights, two wins against the Caps. The second game was a lot better than the first one, and a shutout at that. Off we go.

Flower had his 5th shutout of the season, now trailing only Tuukka Rask with 6. His best work came in the third period in which the Caps fired 20 shots on goal.

Here are a couple of game recaps, one from Penguins Sauce, and another from Hockey Buzz, which also discusses some of the new positives we are beginning to see, like Goc strengthening the bottom 6 and Stempniak looking great on the top line.

Brooks Orpik looked good on the eye test last night, manhandling Ovechkin all night long. His underlying numbers still have ways to go, but his strength is his physical game and that was on full display in this mini-series.

Last night was even better after Jagr scored what turned out to be a game winner against the Flyers, who ended up losing on a disputed no-goal call after the refs decided Brodeur was interfered with (old Marty's been around that block a few times). We should laugh all to way up till the Devils start torturing us in the first round.

Kris Letang has resumed skating, but no return date or even a timetable have been set.

Bullet-proof man Tanner Glass talks about his training, diet, and his unique warmups. I recently watched a video of him blending a smoothie while carrying his new baby in a Baby Bjorn. All I kept thinking was "careful with the baby next to the blender!" My husband would've been shot dead.

Elliotte Friedman's 30 thoughts. Among them, Canucks brass must resist panic.

Tragedy strikes Saginaw Spirit, with the week-long search for missing player Terry Trafford's body discovered in his SUV, a victim of an apparent suicide. He is remembered as talented and hard-working. Terribly sad.

Dallas Stars have won one for ailing center Rich Peverley (doing OK at the hospital), handing Ryan Miller his first loss with the Blues (who are now a ridiculous 18-0-2 against their division this season). Here are some more details around the refs' protocols for postponing a hockey game.

There are a lot of What-If articles lately. What if the NHL played an 82-game season last year? What if a 3-point system was in place?

We've talked about this a lot lately, so here is some analysis on that: Is luck more important than puck possession?

It is clear that no major changes will come out of the GM meetings in Boca Raton. Meanwhile, hockey analytics were on tap at the Sloan Sports Analytics Conference.