Dan’s Daily: McGroarty Gets 1st; UFA Rumors; Big LTIR Rule Change Coming?

ST. LOUIS — The Pittsburgh Penguins rallied from a two-goal third period deficit only to lose on a power-play goal. Popular rookie Rutger McGroarty netted his first point and his first goal on the late-third period tying goal. However, their OT loss and the victorious Montreal Canadiens shrunk the Penguins’ tragic number to just four. Elsewhere, a day after coach Islander Patrick Roy verbally pummeled Anthony Duclair’s performance, Duclair stepped away from the team. Sportsnet has the latest UFA rumors, and the NHL is talking with the NHLPA about finally clamping down on LTIR magic that several teams have used to exceed the salary cap in the playoffs greatly.

It’s been a rough 12 hours. The Enterprise Center boots media at 11 p.m., so PHN didn’t have much more than 35 minutes to get our work done. I didn’t publish the Report Card and postgame video until the wee hours (I mean, hell, who needs readers and profit? Absolutely bloody ridiculous. The clownshoes move killed our night readership). Then, some yahoo was doing donuts in the hotel parking lot for a solid 15 minutes, further delaying the postgame video. I got about 90 minutes of sleep and was off to the airport.

I feel like I’m hungover, but I haven’t had a drop! So far, the flight to Dallas has not been delayed, but we are taking a circuitous route. I kept the super early flight to catch the gap in storms. Did you see people posting pictures of the ping-pong-ball-sized hail in Dallas?!

I’m not filled with confidence right now. The pilot just completed his introduction: Uhhhhhhhhhh, good morning. The first mate and I are on minimal rest…

If you don’t hear from me again, please know that I really liked many of you. Well, some of you. I mean, a few of you. Really, like one or two of you. You meant a lot.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The postgame. It started well. It almost ended well. And it was a night a couple of rookies will never forget. The Penguins looked absolutely awful through the middle part of the game but rallied for OT. Here’s the Penguins recap.

We didn’t spare the rod or spoil the defensemen. They were brutal on Thursday night. In the report card, we did what the Blues forwards did to them in the game, but we also dug into one very good reason why McGroarty and Ville Koivunen are performing so well. It bodes well for their future. Check out the Penguins’ report card.

We also fell down a rabbit hole when we found the MoneyPuck.com advanced stats pages. The website has in-depth player stats and some telling—very telling—advanced stats on the Penguins. There’s one very ugly trend. Also, Sid’s new watch in the Penguins notebook.

The postgame video:

Steelers Now: Multiple sources and stories suggest that Aaron Rodgers is waiting on another team—that’s the holdup. Can you say Mason Rudolph is a starter? Boy, the Steelers have played this one as poorly as a team possibly could. Here’s the latest on Rodgers and Steelers news.

NHL Rumors, News, & National Hockey Now

Sportsnet: All righty, since yinz love the rumors and the possibilities, we’ll start with the NHL rumor mill regarding the top unrestricted free agents. There’s a gap to have some talks before the playoffs start, but no one seems to be moving closer to a deal.

Olé, Olé, Olé!

Montreal Hockey Now: One of my favorite Groucho Marx lines came when he and Marget Dumont were dancing. “Hold me closer, closer,” she said, to which he retorted with an eyebrow bounce, “Any closer, I’d be in back of you.” Those plucky kids from Montreal are indeed getting closer, closer to a playoff spot, and they thoroughly dominated the Bruins last night. Let’s adopt the kids for a playoff run- here’s the fun parts and the analysis of the Montreal Canadiens win.

This morning, I shot an elephant in my pajamas. How he got in my pajamas, I’ll never know.

NYI Hockey Now: Patrick Roy roasted Anthony Duclair Tuesday night. The forward to whom the Islanders dished a four-year contract to in July has been irrelevant this season. After a positive chat with Roy, Duclair is stepping away from the New York Islanders indefinitely.

Everything Lou Lamoriello has touched in the last two years has absolutely turned brown.

Philly Hockey Now: Our Will James was the first to tie the Flyers to David Carle. Actually, Will wanted to write the story in early February, but I told him it was too soon and to sheath that sword. He kept the column, and we published it just hours before Daniel Briere fired John Tortorella. Now, we know just what it will take for the Flyers to hire Carle.

TSN Video: After Tampa Bay had a nearly $90 million playoff roster en route to a Stanley Cup, and the Vegas Golden Knights had a similar playoff roster that blew past the salary cap, also en route to the Cup, it seems the NHL is finally willing to say something about roster stacking for the playoffs that takes advantage of LTIR.

Detroit Hockey Now: Detroit is hanging by a thread. They’re about to fall out of playoff contention. Top center Dylan Larkin needs to be better- much better- and he knows it. The Detroit Red Wings are in trouble.