Pens Points: Concrete Jungle

Just as many feared, Tuesday night turned into a trap game for the Pittsburgh Penguins and they fell right into with a loss. Now they head to New York City looking for redemption as they begin a two-game road set against the New York Rangers tonight at Madison Square Garden. This will be the Penguins first visit to the famed arena since their Game 7 loss to the Rangers last season.

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

Pens Points...

Goaltending woes cost the Penguins dearly the last two seasons and those same woes may deal a death blow again this season. Right now, Tristan Jarry is not good enough, and his backup Casey DeSmith doesn’t inspire much confidence either. [Pensburgh]

After taking a leave of absence from hockey and stepping away from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in December, forward Sam Poulin announced he is ready to resume his hockey career and will be returning to the team. [Pensburgh]

Perhaps the most frustrating part about this Penguins team is how easily identifiable the issues are and how they keep repeatedly bubbling to the surface. The loss to Montreal was just the latest example of these issues. [Pensburgh]

Of the three players the Penguins brought over at the deadline, two are now expected to be out long term. Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov was placed on long term injured reserve on Wednesday with a lower-body injury. [The Hockey News]

Injuries have battered the Penguins blue line this season, and now with Kulikov going down, more changes will have to be made. A revolving door of bodies on the back end have taken its toll on the Penguins ability to play solid defense. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

News and notes from around the NHL...

Whether short term of long term, Daniel Briere is now tasked with rebuilding the Philadelphia Flyers. Briere is another example of a former player returning to manage his former club with past results being a mixed bag. [Broad Street Hockey]

Despite moving Dmitry Orlov at the trade deadline, the future of the Capitals blue line isn’t as bleak as one may think. A strong pipeline and players on friendly contracts could help the Capitals rebuild the unit quickly. [Japers Rink]

It’s been a race to the bottom of the NHL standings this season with Connor Bedard looming as the reward for the top overall pick. Who gets the prize will be determined at the NHL Draft lottery set for May 8th. [Second City Hockey]