Pens Points: Fighting for Roster Space

Tuesday night was another chance for players to make an impression on the coaching staff of the Pittsburgh Penguins and a few skaters took advantage in a big way. Potential roster bubble players Drew O’Connor and Radim Zohorna showed out in a 5-4 shootout victory over the Buffalo Sabres. O’Connor notched a pair of goals while Zohorna potted one in the victory. Kasperi Kapanen continued his hot preseason with a tying goal late in regulation. [Pensburgh]

Pens Points is here to get your Wednesday started...

As the new NHL season slowly approaches, anyone and everyone uses this time to drop season previews for the league and all the teams. Most recently, The Athletic and NHL.com dropped how they think they Penguins will fare this season. [Pensburgh]

While it’s not the best news to have a player as important as Jake Guentzel in COVID protocols, there is some good news surrounding the situation. Even though Guentzel did test positive, it’s reported he is currently asymptomatic. [Trib Live]

More good news on Guentzel following his positive test came out on Tuesday. He, along with fellow protocol buddy Zach Aston-Reese, are progressing towards a return to the team. Both will play vital roles for the Penguins this season. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

EA Sports is preparing to release its latest iteration of its long running hockey video game series in the coming days. As part of the build up to release, EA dropped the ratings for the Top 50 players in the game, with Sidney Crosby coming in third overall. [Yahoo! Sports]

Franchise owner and icon Mario Lemieux turned 56 on Tuesday, giving local journalists a chance to share some Mario stories. This one from Rob Rossi details the experience of playing alongside one of the greatest players in hockey history. [The Athletic $$]

News and notes from around the NHL...

Sweden is the latest Olympic hockey participant to names three players to its initial Olympic roster. It will be Mike Zibanejad, Victor Hedman, and Gabriel Landeskog leading the way for Sweden when action begins in Beijing. [NHL]

Just a few days after spewing some heat on Twitter about potential medical malpractice going on around the NHL, Vegas Golden Knights goaltender Robin Lehner spoke with the NHL and NHLPA to discuss his accusations. [ESPN]