Pens Points: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back

The Penguins seemingly took one step forward Friday night in Jersey with an OT win over the lowly Devils. On Sunday the hard truth hit - the best NHL teams like the Predators are playing considerably better at this juncture. Here are all the recaps if you're in the mood.

Three impressions from the game by Jason Botterill

PPG recap by Molinari

Trib recap by Josh Yohe

Gifcap from Penguins Sauce

Seth Rorabaugh's recap sums it up the best: in terms of how they want to play, this was rock bottom

James Neal gets a victory against his former team. He didn't register a point, but he was a dangerous presence for the Preds. [PPG]

Derrick Pouliot is heading west with the team, and Mike Johnston thinks he'll play at least some of the games in Western Canada. [Trib]

Geno is targeting return to the ice on Wednesday against Edmonton. He can't return soon enough. [Trib]

What do the Penguins need to change, fix, do differently? Suggestions are aplenty. [Trib]

The result of the game was ugly. Some argue that the play was even worse. [PPG]

Excellent read: 7 questions with Mike Colligan concerning Lapierre, Adams and other topics. [The Pensblog]

The Preds didn't need Pekka Rinne yesterday. The way the Pens "threatened", they'd have won with my mom in goal. But still, his absence only strenghtens his MVP candidacy, thinks Kevin Allen. [USA Today]

Freshly retired Martin Brodeur joined Elliotte Friedman to talk about the changes he thinks are needed in the game. Among other things, the thinks the trapezoid needs to go (video segment). [Sportsnet]

Brodeur, jersey ads, the magic of Don Cherry's Grapevine and more. It's everybody's favorite hockey column: the Grab Bag. [Grantland]

P.S. Just added this article on the state of the Penguins. A worthwhile read because there are some hard questions worth asking. One has to assume, hopefully, that folks in charge are asking those questions themselves. [HockeyBuzz]