Pens Points: Playoff Preview?

If Tuesday night was any indication, a playoff series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Rangers could go down as one of the best ever between the two sides. Both teams battled for 60 minutes on Tuesday, the Rangers escaping with a 3-2 victory despite a frenetic last ditch effort from the Penguins. The win pushes the Rangers one point ahead of the Penguins in the standings for the time being. [Pensburgh]

It’s a midweek morning and Pens Points is here to wake you up...

Prior to puck drop on Tuesday night, the Penguins honored former Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger. Players wore special jerseys during warmups and Roethlisberger dropped the ceremonial opening face-off. [Trib Live]

Shredding the Detroit Red Wings was all fun and good for the Penguins but there are still bigger fish to fry ahead of them. That began tonight with a showdown against the Rangers who were the ones doing a the shredding last week when they met. [Trib Live]

One of the big names on the trade block before the deadline was Marc-Andre Fleury and one of the teams looking for a goaltender was the Washington Capitals. The Capitals inquired about Fleury, but the veteran netminders turned down the offer. [Pensburgh]

There is a ton of great talent in the NHL right now, but the old guard is not going down without a fight. While the likes of Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews are endless fun, they still have a a ways to go before reaching Crosby/Malkin heights. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

College free agent season is picking up as more teams bow out of contention and enter the offseason. Western Michigan was one of those teams over the weekend and the Penguins snagged up forward Ty Glover from the Broncos. [Penguins]

News and notes from around the NHL...

After the Tampa Bay Lightning made waves last season with what opposing fans called cap manipulation for their handling of Nikita Kucherov, the controversy calmed to a simmer but Gary Bettman still put in his two cents on the issue. [ESPN]

Another topic Bettman touched on at the GM meetings was the future of the Ottawa Senators ownership. Longtime owner Eugene Melnyk passed away on Monday and now ownership of the teams transfers to his daughters. [Sportsnet]