There are some days when this job is an absolute blast. Sunday was one of those days, as the emotion in the building and the emotion on the bench was palpable. I am a fan of you, and to see a sellout barn going bonkers while the team caught a wave of momentum like Kelly Slater catching a perfect pipeline was a chocolate-covered treat. We\u2019ve got full coverage, analysis, and the big picture ramifications from the arena. <\/p>\n
Elsewhere in the Daily, the Buffalo Sabres and Tampa Bay Lightning went to war, and the penalty boxes were standing room only. The New Jersey Devils missed out on a couple of attempted trades, and so, too, did the Ottawa Senators miss out on a couple of targets they badly wanted. We\u2019ll post the picture of Gabriel Landeskog\u2019s cup, or rather, the remnants of it, after a direct hit. And the Montreal Canadiens couldn\u2019t complete a blockbuster trade, but got very close, and hope to revisit the deal in a few months. <\/p>\n
I\u2019ve got a hefty column brewing for today. I hope I\u2019ll be able to finish it before travel time because I think I\u2019ve cracked the Dubas Code. <\/p>\n
How\u2019s that for a teaser?<\/p>\n
We\u2019re off to Raleigh later today. Since there\u2019s nowhere in Raleigh to hang out and work, I\u2019m flying out later. There is a Waffle House by the bank of hotels near the airport. However, the city didn\u2019t see fit to add crosswalks or sidewalks that extend to the nearby restaurants, so you have to walk through the grass embankment and then dead sprint across six lanes to get food. <\/p>\n
As god as my witness, Waffle House ranks just behind White Castle and just ahead of In-N-Out Burger on my list of greasy grub awesomeness. I will get all three on this road trip, but then I will soon end my consecutive games streak somewhere around 225 or so. We\u2019re at 216 and counting. <\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Penguins<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Let\u2019s start with the news. Justin Brazeau\u2013injured. Sidney Crosby\u2013?? He very well could be on the road trip. Here\u2019s the Penguins update<\/a>.<\/p>\n A 5-4 OT win, including coming back from 3-0. You read that right. Anthony Mantha had a pair of goals. Tommy Novak had the winner. Here\u2019s Vince Comunale\u2019s Penguins postgame recap<\/a>.<\/p>\n Since Vince did the postgame, I was able to sink my teeth into a deeper report card. The And Kris Letang and Sam Girard should never, ever \u2026 ever play together again. Ever. <\/p>\n NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now<\/p>\n New Jersey Hockey Now: So, uh, what? The New Jersey Devils dangled a young defenseman on the market, but didn\u2019t trade him. Dangled a right-handed defenseman on the market, but \u2026 didn\u2019t trade him. So, what gives? The New Jersey Devils stood pat at the NHL trade deadline<\/a>.<\/p>\n Montreal Hockey Now: Our buddy Marc Dumont collected all of the data and read all of the tea leaves. The Montreal Canadiens were close on a major trade, and hope to revive it after the season. So, was it Vincent Trocheck? Or was it Robert Thomas? The Canadiens almost pulled it off<\/a>.<\/p>\n Yes, Elliotte Friedman mentioned the Penguins called about Thomas, but I didn\u2019t think it was much of a story. Of course, they did. If Kyle Dubas didn\u2019t call about a 26-year-old top-six center, he should be dismissed with prejudice, but there are no reports that the Penguins got very far after they heard the astronimical price tag. <\/p>\n Thomas for a No. 1, a Rutger, and Ben? Yeah, no.<\/p>\n Ottawa Sun: Bruce Garrioch reports the Ottawa Senators were chasing MacKenzie Weegar before the Utah Mammoth snatched him up. So, the Senators\u2013who are chasing the wild card\u2013also stood pat<\/a>.<\/p>\n TSN: I think the highlights of this one are just a good morning watch if you have a terrible boss, traffic is bad, and the coffee is cold. Buffalo showed Tampa Bay that they\u2019re for real and weren\u2019t going to back down\u2013and Buffalo won<\/a> 8-7?!<\/p>\n Probably the best game of the year and the first game with 15 goals and that many penalties since 1994. Glorious.<\/p>\n Gabriel Landeskog is OK, but he\u2019ll be out week-to-week as he heals up from this near legacy ender. Cup check:<\/p>\n Vegas Hockey Now: A battle of the Western titans. Vegas-Edmonton. It\u2019s becoming the Penguins-Capitals of the West. This time, it was the Edmonton Oilers who exposed the Vegas Golden Knights<\/a>.<\/p>\n I\u2019m not a big believer in the Golden Knights this season. They\u2019re missing \u2026 something.<\/p>\n Detroit Hockey Now: Should be fine. That\u2019s the word out of Detroit after Detroit Red Wings goalie John Gibson was injured<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: Buffalo Sabres<\/a> nhl trade<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> sabres lightning fight<\/a> Tampa Bay Lightning<\/a> <\/p>\n Categorized:Links<\/a> NHL Trade Rumors<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There are some days when this job is an absolute blast. Sunday was one of those days, as…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":495136,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[229,5,4,4433,100,58617,92],"class_list":{"0":"post-495135","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nhl","8":"tag-buffalo-sabres","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl","11":"tag-nhl-trade","12":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","13":"tag-sabres-lightning-fight","14":"tag-tampa-bay-lightning"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116200673709487862","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=495135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/495135\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/495136"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=495135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=495135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=495135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\u201cWhat\u201d and \u201cWho\u201d are the simple parts. The hows and whys are why we do the report card. From the vastly improved defensive corps to some standout performances, including a rookie, we went inside the big win in the Penguins report card<\/a>.<\/p>\n