NEW YORK \u2014 The Pittsburgh Penguins are one point behind the New York Islanders in the Metro Division but have one game in hand with nine games to go. The teams will slug it out Monday at UBS Arena, and the Penguins might have a pair of star players back, as both Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were full participants at practice. Everyone is holding their breath to see if the old lions will go against the Islanders, and Shelly Anderson has the latest from the Penguins Sunday practice.<\/p>\n
Elsewhere in the Daily, the Vegas Golden Knights dropped a bombshell and bounced coach Bruce Cassidy with just eight games to go. Not only did they can Cassidy, they added more shock value by hiring John Tortorella. The Penguins got a little bit of playoff help from the Boston Bruins. There\u2019s Hart Trophy voting controversy surrounding Nikita Kucherov, and I\u2019ll give you some input. And the Philadelphia Flyers dropped some news by signing their top prospect and then gaining two more points to get back into the playoff race. <\/p>\n
Greeting from New York City. I\u2019m staying here because I got a great hotel deal and because it beats Long Island. No one else made it to the city last night in time for dinner, so I had a little B-day dinner solo (the life of a traveler). <\/p>\n
I had a little dinner at Skirt Steak at 29th and 6th. I\u2019ve been there several times now. They serve skirt steak. And only skirt steak. I didn\u2019t want to be that guy in the trendy little spot taking pictures of his food, but it\u2019s pretty, pretty good. <\/p>\n
But then I made a rookie mistake in NYC. I went looking for a great bar with the right crowd\u2014not too big, but not three razor-fearing dudes in hoodies sitting there quietly watching basketball. After walking around for two hours, I had a Harp in an Irish pub and called it a night. I was comfy and happy at the restaurant. I chased a white whale. That never works. Rookie mistake.<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Penguins<\/p>\n
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: It\u2019s the question, and the only question for the Penguins today. Who will be healthy enough to face the New York Islanders? Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin practiced. Which Penguins will play tonight<\/a>?<\/p>\n Malkin\u2019s injuries have further clouded his future, haven\u2019t they? <\/p>\n Steelers Now: Art Rooney II gave a timeline for the team\u2019s wait on Aaron Rodgers<\/a>.<\/p>\n I wonder if that guy who did the State Farm commercials and screamed, \u201cRodgers!\u201d is on Cameo? Just wondering.<\/p>\n Pittsburgh Baseball Now: The Buccos got a much needed win in New York. Danny Demilio has you covered, like every day, with the Pittsburgh Pirates<\/a>.<\/p>\n NHL Rumors, News, & National Hockey Now<\/p>\n Vegas Hockey Now: I very much enjoyed covering Bruce Cassidy and the Vegas Golden Knights for the 2023 Cup run. It will forever be one of the biggest highlights of my career. Sunday, the Golden Knights pulled a shocker\u2013the late season coaching change. They canned Cassidy, then doubled the shock value by hiring John Tortorella<\/a>.<\/p>\n Cassidy was a treat to cover. After a couple of weeks of getting my bearings with the team, I asked him an Xs and Os question; I think it was about keeping the defensemen tight to the net against Edmonton. After a moment of considering how he should answer, he looked at me and replied, \u201cWell, the other teams have video, they know, eh,\u201d and gave a wonderfully detailed answer. He really added to the experience, and he\u2019ll be behind another bench soon.<\/p>\n Boston Hockey Now: A huge comeback. Jack Studley has all things Bruins\u2013The Columbus Blue Jackets led 3-0 in the second period, but in the waning moments, the Boston Bruins forced OT. Then the Bruins won the shootout<\/a>.<\/p>\n NHLtraderumors.me: Jeff Marek said that voters he\u2019s talked to are planning to leave Nikita Kucherov off their Hart Trophy ballot because while others were playing in the Olympics, he was at home resting. Controversy is brewing<\/a>.<\/p>\n I have again been submitted to vote on the awards. It\u2019s not guaranteed because there are so many writers in the East, but I cannot believe someone would penalize Kucherov for not being able to play in the Olympics. What he is doing is extraordinary, and he\u2019s scoring at a pace not seen since Mario. I don\u2019t know who my No. 1 choice would be, but Kucherov most certainly would be on my ballot without factoring in the Olympic break. Look, he even plays defense. He\u2019s an underrated best-ever. <\/p>\n TSN: Some young guns could totally reset the salary standard for restricted free agents as Connor Bedard, Adam Fantilli, and Leo Carlsson are up for a new deal. Also, the Ottawa Senators are inching closer to a downtown arena<\/a>.<\/p>\n You know, I\u2019ve never been to downtown Ottawa. <\/p>\n Florida Hockey Now: It made no sense to push. The Florida Panthers are out of the playoff chase after injuries absolutely wrecked their season, and coach Paul Maurice says Aleksander Barkov<\/a> is shutdown for the season.<\/p>\n New Jersey Hockey Now: It has been an achingly disappointing season in New Jersey, which could have rippling effects in the offseason and cost people their jobs. Carolina beat New Jersey Sunday night, but as Pat Pickets points out\u2013it has been the collapse of goalie Jacob Markstrom that has mired the New Jersey Devils<\/a> at the bottom this season.<\/p>\n Detroit Hockey Now: Simple question. Are the Detroit Red Wings<\/a> up for the playoff challenge?<\/p>\n Sportsnet: The very soft drumbeat has begun again. If Detroit misses the playoffs, should Steve Yzerman be on the hot seat<\/a>?<\/p>\n Philly Hockey Now: And lastly, but definitely not least, guess who has clawed their way back into the playoff hunt? The Philadelphia Flyers beat the Dallas Stars and are just two points behind Columbus for the second wild card. They\u2019re adopting an \u201cus against the world\u201d slogan, and the Flyers are hot<\/a>.<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: bruce cassidy<\/a> nhl news<\/a> Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> Sidney Crosby<\/a> <\/p>\n Categorized:Links<\/a> NHL News<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"NEW YORK \u2014 The Pittsburgh Penguins are one point behind the New York Islanders in the Metro Division…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":530935,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[377],"tags":[762,5,106,100,768],"class_list":{"0":"post-530934","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-hockey","8":"tag-bruce-cassidy","9":"tag-hockey","10":"tag-nhl-news","11":"tag-pittsburgh-penguins","12":"tag-sidney-crosby"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nhl\/116318058835933819","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530934","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=530934"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/530934\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/530935"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=530934"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=530934"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=530934"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}