Pens Points: So Far, So Good

Three games into their annual Western Canada road trip and the Penguins have collected all six points available to them. Following a wild victory in Winnipeg, the Pens claimed a frantic 3-2 shootout win over the Edmonton Oilers on Friday night and a 3-0 shutout of the Vancouver Canucks on Saturday night. If you missed the games (or parts because you fell asleep) you can check out our recaps for Edmonton here and Vancouver here.

Monday night will close out the team’s tour of Western Canada when the Pens pay a visit to the Calgary Flames at the legendary Saddledome Arena. Consider an after work nap because game time is scheduled for 9:00 PM and will be broadcast on ROOT Sports.

Similar to two seasons ago, the Pens may find themselves in some roster trouble for the remainder of the season due to injuries and ill timed player recalls. [Pensburgh]

A really good story here that came to light over the weekend. A Pens fan had an extra ticket to the Pens-Lightning game on March 3rd and instead of trying to sell the ticket, offered it to a homeless man instead. The two attended the game together and a new friendship was born over Penguins hockey. [Penguins]

There is a lot of discussion regarding shot blocking in today’s NHL. Many see limiting the strategy as a way to increase scoring. Whatever the future holds shot blocking is an art that must be perfected to avoid a painful price. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

That painful price mentioned above will be paid in full by forward Carl Hagelin who will miss the next four weeks with a lower body injury as a result of blocking a shot against the Oilers on Friday night. [Yahoo! Sports]

Last Wednesday the Pens made headlines for all the wrong reasons after their game against the Jets. Violence marred the first period which culminated in the ejection of Tom Sestito and his subsequent suspension. Should the NHL begin to look at ways to legislate players like Sestito out of the game? Is something like that even possible? [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

Safe to say Sidney Crosby v. Connor McDavid Part 2 exceeded the sky high expectations set when the two met on Friday night in Edmonton. [Sportsnet]

News and notes from around the NHL...

The Washington Capitals will be without prized trade deadline acquisition Kevin Shattenkirk for the next two games after the defenseman was suspended for charging Kevin Gravel of the Los Angeles Kings. [Puck Daddy]

A year after seven Canadian teams missed the playoffs the country is experiencing a resurgence with five of the franchises sitting in a playoff spot at the moment. [The Athletic]

New York Rangers’ goaltender Henrik Lundqvist will miss the next 2-3 weeks with a stained hip muscle. [NHL]