Pens Points: Familiar Feeling

Three period plus an extra five minutes was not enough time for the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders to settle their business on Tuesday night. Instead, the two Metro division rivals needed a shootout to determine a winner, a shootout which the Islanders only needed one goal to claim victory. Jake Guentzel scored twice in regulation to help the Penguins secure a point but Ilya Sorokin and the Kyle Palmieri came through in the skills competition to give the Islanders the edge. [Pensburgh]

Grab some coffee and enjoy some Pens Points this morning...

Losing Evgeni Malkin for the next four games is not what the Penguins needed at the moment but there may be a small silver lining. With Malkin suspended, it opens the door for the Penguins to give Rickard Rakell an extended look with Sidney Crosby. [Trib Live]

Four losses n a row before Sunday threw some doubt back into who the Penguins could see in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. While the most likely opponent remains the New York Rangers, is there another opponent who may be a better option? [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

No matter what the Penguins look like going into the playoffs, they won’t enter as a heavy favorite like they have in the past. Despite much working against them, simply writing the Penguins off in the hunt for Lord Stanley is a mistake. [The Hockey News]

Any health the Penguins can get this time of year is a good sign and they got better on that front Tuesday. Brock McGinn was activated from injured reserve after missing an extended period of time with an upper body ailment. [Trib Live]

News and notes from around the NHL...

Not too often do you see NHL games cancelled for weather, especially not as we approach mid-April, but not every place is Winnipeg and the NHL has to make the unusual move to postpone a game between the Jets and Kraken due to a winter storm. [NHL]