Pens Points: Pens Wake Up, Beat Sabres

Good morning one and all,

The Pens had to dig themselves out of a 3-0 hole last night. Almost as if they don't take certain teams and matchups seriously.

At any rate, all's well that ends well. Also, shorthanded goals are awesome. Also, Matt Cullen is great. Also, lines #1, #2, #3 are playing good hockey. [Penguins]

Have Norris voters really ever snubbed Drew Doughty? I swear there are people who think he should win it every year.  [Down Goes Brown]

More on the Norris debate and this is actually hilarious. Karlsson and Doughty camps argue, and in the end a guy in a Pens jersey tries to talk to them about Kris Letang and gets yelled at in unison. Whatever, if I had my pick of elite defensemen, I'd pick #58 every day and twice on Sunday. [Vice Sports]

Speaking of Kris Letang, five questions with him and hoo boy read the part where under Mike Johnston guys had no clue who was supposed to do what. [NHL.com]

Highly touted college prospect and Harvard grad Jimmy Vesey (whose camp says the Preds knew of his decision before the trade deadline) will sign with the Boston Bruins after the Preds 4-year hold on his rights expires. [Sportsnet]

Eric Staal pens a special farewell to the Carolina Hurricanes. I was never exactly a Staal family fan (though I did like Jordan while he played here, I just got tired of the brother spiel), but the letter did leave me a bit misty-eyed. [The Players' Tribune]

Do Atlantic teams actually WANT to go to the playoffs? The Red Wings lost (again) and didn't capitalize on the Bruins cratering completely. The Islanders and the Flyers seem comfortably seated in WC spots, but the Atlantic #3 spot is still very much up for grabs. [NHL.com]

Canucks GM Jim Benning can't stomach his team's miserable, losing season. There are lost of jokes here because this is Vancouver after all, I just wish someone could rescue Henrik and Daniel. [Sportsnet]

Are there ever going to be female coaches in the NHL? Seems a question of when, not if. [Sportsnet]

Very timely look at the inner workings of the NHL Department of Player Safety, the most hilariously named outfit in the world. [Yahoo Sports]

For example, what will they do with douchebag extraordinaire Duncan Keith, who showed the ugly side of his character again last night by taking this vicious slash on Charlie Coyle's face last night and got tossed in a 4-1 loss to the Wild. [USA Today]

Listen to the latest episode of Lyle and Andy's Garage League Podcast, in which Lyle and Andy discuss the Pens recent surge, are Kessel and Hornqvist living up to expectations, and is Pouliot being mismatched. [SoundCloud]

About Kessel ... I was watching In The Room last night after the game and Geno was mic'd up in one sequence. My ears perked up because Geno is always awesome to hear; I thought the interesting part was his telling Kessel to "skate behind me" around 18:30. Not sure best use of Kessel is slogging behind Geno. Have a listen and discuss.