Pens Points: Things to Fix, Things to Build On

PENS

The season is here, the first game was played, and it didn't go all that well. Pens got shut out in Dallas despite outshooting the Stars. Here are your recaps:

• Molinari - PPG

• Mackey - Trib

• Three impressions from Sam Kassan

• Recap with gifs from Penguins Sauce

The first game has been hit-and-miss, but all signs point to the Crosby-Kessel partnership being a good and promising one. [PPG]

Are they really going to separate Crosby and Malkin on the PP? Again, one of the things you always think makes sense in theory, then you see it implemented on the ice and you wish it was the other way around. [Chipped Ice]

Penguins will face a really tough challenge in the Metropolitan Division this year. Quite a few good teams, and a few others on the rise. [PPG]

NHL

In the end only 5 players drafted in June 2015 made their respective teams' opening-night rosters, showing patience with the young players and their development. [Canadian Press]

The top two who did remain, McDavid and Eichel, showed us some flashes of brilliance and some real PP prowess. They will delight us for years to come. [TSN]

The Sabres got Eichel, but lost Lehner, and it doesn't look like a short-term injury either. What are their options for replacing him? [Die By The Blade]

Add Derek Roy to the list of notable veterans squeezed out of the league, as he headed overseas to play in the Swiss league. [Pro Hockey Talk]

Hockey writers voted and the results are in: the Ducks are most people's early picks to win the Stanley Cup, and the Pens are most likely to disappoint. [PPG]

*I want to really highlight this article because it's beautifully written, but also because it underscores some really important points when we talk about why we root for the Penguins and what our expectations are. It's fantastic to read and think, or re-think, what is so attractive to us about the team we love. [Medium]