Habs Goalie Swoon; Full Nordiques; Ridiculous Penguins Loss

Where to begin with such divergent news today? The Pittsburgh Penguins blew another late lead, and it is becoming an epidemic both in the third period and their obvious deficiencies in the shootout. We have the inside coverage and detailed breakdown on all of it. We also have the story of the Penguins’ Kids Line talking about each other.

Elsewhere in the Daily, Chris Tanev is facing a serious decision regarding his future. The Montreal Canadiens’ goaltending has collapsed, and they’re turning to a 21-year-old, but otherwise could be on the trade market for a ‘tendy. The Colorado Avalanche will treat hockey fans to a spectacular Nordiques vs. Canadiens game, and Team USA doesn’t care about short ice.

The Daily is a tad late today. It was a 20-hour day Tuesday, and I can’t wait to show you the new subscriber platform. If all goes well, next week will be the soft launch.

Today at 1:05, we’ll do a Live Chat. And here’s the late-night Penguins postgame video from the arena with a little mid-vid camera adjustment. Make sure to like the YouTube channel so you get notified of the Chats and video premieres.

Pittsburgh Penguins

PHN+: Let’s start with a story I liked to write. We got the Kids Line talking about … each other. They have been the Penguins’ most consistent line for the last few games, and there’s something special clicking. They sure were good last night, too. So, we took subscribers inside the Penguins locker room.

And on Tuesday, the Penguins made a flurry of moves. Evgeni Malkin has gone from maintenance to IR. Blake Lizotte is out, too. Players were called up, and Rickard Rakell took a step forward in his recovery. There was a lot of Penguins news.

Now then, to the unforgiving moments Tuesday night.

For the nuts and bolts and a total story rewrite in a mere few minutes, the Penguins wasted another very good performance when they yielded a terrible goal with 0.1 seconds remaining. Brutal. Here’s the Penguins game recap.

OK, let’s dig into this headfirst. The players and coaches were disgusted. Both made big mistakes, and we dissected the late decision to have Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang on the ice, as well as the players’ decisions. There were also plenty of good player grades to deliver, so here’s the complete picture in the Penguins report card.

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

Colorado Hockey Now: An original Nordique, Joe Sakic has asked the NHL’s permission for the Avalanche to wear Quebec Nordiques sweaters when they play the Montreal Canadiens. Full details, and–thank you, Colorado Avalanche!

If you weren’t alive in the 1980s, the Nordiques-Habs games were unlike anything you’ve ever seen. Line brawls before the opening faceoff. Beautiful hockey. Brutality. Fans at full throat for 60 minutes, and the players were, too. The rivalry dwarfed Penguins-Capitals.

Montreal Hockey Now: Goaltending has been their biggest problem, and Montreal isn’t waiting any longer to recall their top goaltending prospect. It’s risky, but could have a high reward, and it could put them on the trade block, too. Here comes Jacob Fowler.

Sportsnet: Nick Kypreos has heard a few things. First, there is the serious decision facing Chris Tanev that could affect his playing days and the rest of his life. There are also some teams keeping tabs on Artemi Panarin and Philip Danault on the trade market.

NHLtraderumors.me: Sound off, boys. The Tkachuk brothers used their podcast to skip past pleasantries and get right to how little they care about the ice problems in Milan. Dave Littman picked the right clip and succinct story from the Tkachuks’ podcast.

I love that the players do the podcast, but it is also weird having players on rival teams do a podcast together, eh?

TSN: Craig Button was asked the simple question–SHOULD Vancouver trade Quinn Hughes?

New Jersey Hockey Now: And James Nichols puts a new spin on the explosive trade chatter by laying out the New Jersey Devils’ advantage in those talks.

Sportsnaut NHL: And we’ll wrap up the Daily today with Sportsnaut’s (our partner) latest PWHL power rankings.

Tags: nhl trade nordiques Pittsburgh Penguins