Pens Points: Oilers Game Day

Good morning one and all,

The Pens are in Edmonton getting ready to face the Oilers. The puck drops at 9 pm Eastern.

*Connor McDavid is on the shelf right now, so how will the Oilers make up for his offensive production in his absence? [Sportsnet]

For the time being, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins will be moved into McDavid's spot on the second line while Leon Draisatl was moved up to the top line. [Edmonton Sun]

Derrick Pouliot was a full participant in practice Thursday. He has owned up to the judgment error he made on Saturday and intends to put it behind him and focus on hockey. [Times Leader]

Despite the legal run-in, the team maintains his timeline hasn't changed and we still hope to see him back in Pittsburgh sooner rather than later. [Trib]

In some business news, US Steel has pulled out of the plan to build its new global headquarters at the former Civic Arena site. [NHL]

Following his much-publicized trade out of Boston, Tyler Seguin has grown into one of the biggest stars in the league. His 110 ES points since then are the most in the NHL aside from linemate Jamie Benn. Bruins president Cam Neely admitted yesterday that perhaps they could have handled things differently with Seguin. Duh. [The Score]

I swear James Neal is the dumbest person who ever walked this planet. He was playing like a complete idiot last night, charging people and running numbers. Among his other achievements was putting Zach Parise out of commission for a while. [Sporting News]

*Excellent article about Anton Stralman and the medical issues that he's had to overcome and come back to play the best hockey of his career. [ESPN]

Dave Lozo is writing again and it's a good one. Why he stopped caring about the New Jersey Devils, the team he loved above all. [Vice Sports]

I'm stuck on jury duty all day, and the Steve Dangle podcast has been a godsend. There's a pretty great Mario Lemieux story in there. Good stuff. [Sportsnet]

In the end and for some laughs, the Flyers are bad and so is their hand-eye coordination. Watch as Vinny Lecavalier tries to bat the puck out of the air and smacks Brayden Schenn in the face instead. [Sportsnet]