Dan’s Daily: Marc-Andre Fleury for Vezina, Penguins Fans Dominate

The Pittsburgh Penguins have six comeback wins tied with the Nashville Predators for the NHL lead. However, there are comebacks, and then there are comebacks. The Toronto Maple Leafs led the lowly Ottawa Senators 5-1, then…lost. Also in the Daily, we’ll explore the early buzz around Marc-Andre Fleury for the Vezina Trophy, the cooling NHL trade talk around Sam Bennett, and the hook on which the Pittsburgh Penguins playoff hopes rest.

Marc-Andre Fleury for Vezina. He is absolutely having one of the best stretches of his career. Brilliant. And, Vezina buzz is following (Vegas Hockey Now)

If you’re into buying and selling trends, one–my Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Ehterium have been doing exceptionally well. Two, the Penguins cobbled together a winning record despite woeful, awful, pathetic special teams.

If the Pittsburgh Penguins could win with terrible special teams, buy low. Their special teams are the key to their playoff hopes (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

You’ll enjoy the video of the PP2 unit in the above story.

Penguins fans are rock stars. TV ratings this season are UP 50% and lead the NHL (Pittsburgh Hockey Now)

The latest Hockey Master Class podcast with coaches Jon Goyens and Darren Gill is up. This week’s guest is Scotty Bowman. The podcast is for under-18 minor league players and coaches. If you’re involved in hockey–must listen.

Apple: apple.co/3dwVrIZ   Spotify: spoti.fi/3535ZvD

The Toronto Maple Leafs were leading the Ottawa Senators 5-1. And then…they lost. Remarkable comeback by Ottawa (Ottawa Sun)

The NHL trade chatter around Sam Bennett has gone ice cold in the last two weeks. Bennett got the top-six tap. Was it to make Bennett happy or showcase him before a deal? (Calgary Sun)

And, GM Marc Bergevin declared Montreal Canadiens defenseman Victor Mete is off the NHL trade block, too (TSN)

Ottawa traded Alex Galchenyuk to Carolina. Then Carolina traded Galchenyuk to Toronto. Where in the world does he fit there? (Sportsnet)

If you’re keeping score, poor Alex has been traded to Pittsburgh, Minnesota, signed with Ottawa, traded to Carolina, and traded to Toronto in the past 18 months, including the pandemic pause. I liked Alex in my chats with him, but he struck me as a guy who has both lost his confidence and doesn’t want to admit it to himself.

National Hockey Now

The Boston Bruins are breaking up their brilliant top line?! Yikes (Boston Hockey Now)

The Penguins were tied with the New York Islanders for a playoff spot in the East Division, BUT — New York keeps winning. The whacked Buffalo on Monday (NYI Hockey Now)

Add one, subtract one. The Philadelphia Flyers COVID protocol list is still full (Philly Hockey Now)

The San Jose Sharks are also having trouble winning in regulation. They finally got one on Monday night (San Jose Hockey Now)

While one writer touts Fleury’s Vezina bonafides, another says stop the fight — Fleury is the No. 1 goalie in Vegas (Vegas Hockey Now)

You probably know Nathan MacKinnon has a cereal brand in local Denver stores. Here’s the story of how MacKinnon Crunch came to be (Colorado Hockey Now)