Pens Points: Friendly Confines

A much needed victory over the Arizona Coyotes on Sunday gave the Pittsburgh Penguins their first win since before Christmas and made sure the team was not returning home empty handed from their three game road trip. Now the Penguins are back in Pittsburgh where the Vancouver Canucks await with an opportunity to build off Sunday’ victory and start stacking wins once again.

Puck drop is scheduled for 7:00 PM and will be broadcast on AT&T Sports Network.

Before the game, catch up on everything with Pens Points...

Coming out of their second extended losing streak of the season, there are still more questions than answers surrounding this Penguins team. Are they good? Are they bad? Maybe both? No one seems to know for certain. [KDKA]

There has been a lot of heat on Mike Sullivan in recent weeks but the head coach can only do with the roster he was given. Intentional or not, it appears Sullivan is sending a message to the front office with his ice time decisions. [Pensburgh]

Tonight marks the start of a busy week for the Penguins that features two Canadian teams coming to town then another matchup with the division leading Carolina Hurricanes that is also the tail end of a back-to-back set. [Pensburgh]

Without Tristan Jarry, the Penguins success in goal now falls on the shoulder of Casey DeSmith. While he’s never been relied on as a No.1 netminder, his performance against the Coyotes shows DeSmith is capable of filling the role. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

It’s been a long road trip for the Penguins to open the new year, but before returning home to Pittsburgh, the team flew from Arizona to Montreal to be with teammate Kris Letang for the funeral of his recently deceased father. [The Athletic $$]

When the Penguins and Canucks meet later tonight it will be a reunion for a former Penguins but not one that will be on the ice. Current Canucks general manager Jim Rutherford will be looking to take down his former employer. [Trib Live]

News and notes from around the NHL...

Terrible power plays are becoming a theme in Pennsylvania apparently as the Phildelphia Flyers are struggling with the man advantage much like the Penguins. Lacking the weapons to fix it with pure skill, the Flyers will have to try another strategy. [Broad Street Hockey]

When there is smoke there is often fire and it seems a Bo Horvat trade is more likely than not given how much is billowing. Though a ton of teams will be interested, the Seattle Kraken making a move to acquire Horvat could ignite a major rivalry. [Nucks Misconduct]

Don’t look now but the Buffalo Sabres are getting hot and have played themselves back onto the playoff bubble. For them to get over the hump and into the dance, they will need some reinforcements at the deadline. [Die by the Blade]