Pens Points: Winds of change

The times, they are A-Changin

By now you’ve likely heard that the salary cap will remain the same in the NHL for the next two seasons, which will be a big deal for the entire league. But rumors are swirling that the Penguins are going to be looking to reach new lows when it comes to salaries for next season. [PensBurgh]

Change is inevitable from season to season in the NHL. And when G.M. Jim Rutherford says changes will be coming, nobody should feel safe in the Penguins organization. How much change is enough? [PensBurgh]

One name that seems to have circled back to the Penguins is none-other than Canadiens forward Max Domi. Could the Penguins make it happen? [PensBurgh]

Mike Sullivan mentioned moving forward multiple times since the Penguins were defeated by the Canadiens in four games. Tim Benz from Trib Live ponders whether moving forward for Pittsburgh will be with or without Sullivan. [Trib Live]

Penguins News

It wasn’t a secret that Jack Johnson wasn’t going to be a good fit in Pittsburgh when he signed two years ago. But now it seems like that massive problem has become too costly to fix. [$The Athletic$]

Equally controversial Penguins radio host, Mark Madden, chimed in with his 2¢ on Jack Johnson. Like most things with Madden, it had a large amount of wittiness and sarcasm, and probably isn’t what most people want to hear. [Trib Live]

The PPG gave out it’s grade for all 27 Penguins players who suited up for eight or more games last season for regular season and playoffs. There were two F’s. Who do you think were the recipients of those? [PPG]

NHL Playoffs

The Canadiens, fresh off their victory against the western PA team, curb stomped the Flyers yesterday with their 5-0 smack down yesterday afternoon. They were clicking at all facets of the game in this one to even the series at one victory each. [Habs EOTP]

Alex Ovechkin scored two goals for the Capitals yesterday, but the Islanders answered his second goal 15 seconds later with their second goal and ran away with the game in the end in their 5-2 victory over the Capitals and find themselves ahead in the series 2-0. [Lighthouse Hockey]

The Blues have yet to win a game in the restart (0-4-1) and are now down 2-0 in their series after falling to the Canucks in OT yesterday 4-3. [NHL]

NHL News

The Canadiens may have easily taken care of the Flyers yesterday, but their head coach, Claude Julien, found himself in the hospital and needed surgery to place a stent in his heart. Needless to say, he will not be joining the team again in the bubble for the time being. [NHL]

That unexpected development opened the door for assistant coach Kirk Muller to take control, and the Habs responded in a big way. [The Hockey News]

I’m going for the hat trick of controversial figures today. I already mentioned Jack Johnson and Mark Madden so I may as well sprinkle a little Mike Milbury in to complete the hat trick. Milbury should just stay away from the Twitter machine as his recent tweet was not only the wrong landmark (he confused the Space Needle in Seattle with the CN Tower in Toronto), but he also advocates for 3vs3 or {gasps} a shootout to decide playoff games instead of five overtimes like the recent Lightning victory over the Blue Jackets. [yahoo!]