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Some news, notes, and comments regarding last night’s big win over the Rangers:
Coach Sullivan on Letang: "He is being evaluated right now for a lower-body injury."
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 31, 2021
—You can set your watch to Sullivan saying “Player X being evaluated for ____ body injury” when he goes down in a game. Not a great sign that Letang left in the first period and wasn’t seen again. The Pens play Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday next week, so any time he might be out is going to be very painful for the team, with a ton of games in the near future based on the schedule.
Crosby on Joseph: "It's all the details... He makes a lot of good reads. He's gaining confidence with every game. With every game he's gotten better and better. You could see that tonight. He was great defensively and offensively as well."
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 31, 2021
—Crosby looking to play the puck with Joseph and keying in on him shows a lot from the captain, and the youngster more than held up his end of the bargain with almost 26 minutes on the ice and recording 3 assists in the game. Never a good thing with all the injuries on the Pens’ blueline, but Joseph is certainly making the most of his opportunity and providing much needed steady play for Pittsburgh in a very encouraging development.
The love kept coming for the young defenseman from the coach:
Playing in just his fifth career NHL game, P.O Joseph stepped up and stood out. The 21-year-old finished with three primary assists and got some pretty nice compliments from Coach Sullivan.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) January 31, 2021
Read more: https://t.co/wjrQfSazHd pic.twitter.com/9XFwgjgxNh
Final numbers for Cody Ceci tonight against NYR:
— Jesse Marshall (@jmarshfof) January 31, 2021
20:16 TOI
80.58% expected-goals for
60.53% shot-attempts for
Top forward opponents: Lafreniere, Di Guiseppe, Zibanejad
—Add in total ice time (Jesse referenced 5v5 above) and Ceci played 24:41 last night. Ceci isn’t without a few hiccups and bumps in the road with his performance, but he’s also been — dare it be said — pretty positive and steady play for the Pens so far.
Coach Sullivan on the situation with the blue line: "We just talked to the guys about simplifying the game and helping one another in all three zones. We did a much better job of that as the game went on."
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) January 31, 2021
This is a true story, the Pens rallied in the third period to tie the game and controlled the play late. Somehow they found a way to get stronger as the game wore on, despite having obvious disadvantages. Via Natural Stat Trick:
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Some talk about the Pens’ GM search. [Sportsnet (video)]
Game recaps:
- From the [Tribune-Review]
- And [Post-Gazette]
- And also: [The Pensblog]
- And our SBN counter-parts check in with a NYR perspective [Blueshirt Banter]
- Canada also gives their two cents [TSN]
And from around the league..
Montreal defenseman Victor Mete has no hope of getting into the lineup and has requested a trade. Given the Pens’ injuries, a fit right now is natural, but Mete (in Canada) would have to quarantine and injuries to Mike Matheson, Brian Dumoulin and Marcus Pettersson on the left side won’t last forever...To say nothing of the emergence of Joseph. At this point, it’s tough to completely ignore, but a long-term match might not be there. [Twitter]
The Devils have been in a tailspin without Nico Hischier. [All About the Jersey]
It was a magical moment last night when Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby and Connor McDavid all scored OT goals for their respective teams within a few minutes of one another. [NHL on NBC - Gretz]
Despite scoring 8 points in 8 games this season, the Flyers are unhappy with Travis Konecny’s work and effort and made a healthy scratch out of the forward last night in a message. [NBC Philadelphia]