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Pens Points: Boo!

Blowouts starting to add up for Pens. Plenty of lessons to be had from early season struggles. Stanley Cup hangover very apparent. Schedule begins to lighten up when calendar flips. Jarry recalled to backup Murray; DeSmith send back to AHL.

By rjnaugle2

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NHL: Stanley Cup Playoffs-New York Rangers at Pittsburgh Penguins Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports

Happy Halloween, Pens fans! Still recovering from a rough weekend the Penguins have another off day to work on a few issues before kicking off the Western Canada swing tomorrow evening.

Here are your Pens Points for this Halloween Day...

Through the opening month of the season the Penguins are a respectable 7-5-1 and in a comfortable position in the Metropolitan division standing. What that record masks is the Pens losses have been ugly, blowout losses that show the glaring weaknesses of their roster. [The Hockey News]

It is no secret that the schedule does the Pens no favors this year with 19 back-to-back sets on the docket but it is something the Pens will have to learn to cope with if they hope to make a run at a third consecutive Stanley Cup. [Yahoo! Sports]

One silver lining to the Pens’ early season struggles is that they are just that, early. This gives the players and coaches plenty of time to sit down and iron out the issues before the real hockey starts. [USA Today]

A second thing the Pens can take away from their rough start is the reality that the schedule slows down a bit and they were able to produce wins to keep them in front of their division rivals. [Trib Live]

Coming off their 2016 championship the Pens showed very little signs of any Stanley Cup hangover. So far this season has been a different story as the Pens are showing significant signs of fatigue from another short summer. [Times Online]

After a long career in the minors, Casey DeSmith finally made his way to the NHL when he was called up following the departure of Antti Niemi. On Sunday night, DeSmith made his long awaited NHL debut in relief of Matt Murray after a disastrous first period. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Hopefully DeSmith enjoyed his first taste of NHL action because on Monday afternoon the Penguins returned him to the AHL and recalled goaltender Tristan Jarry to serve as the backup to Murray. [Penguins]

News and notes from around the NHL...

After being waived by the Montreal Canadiens, defenseman Mark Streit evaluated all the options for his future and decided to retire after 12 NHL seasons. [TSN]

If the NHL handed out an award for the best story in hockey every month, the Vegas Golden Knights would have been the runaway winner for October. The Golden Knights are off to a roaring start and set several records for expansion teams along the way. [ESPN]

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