Penguins
Dan’s Daily: Murray Snubs Fleury, Penguins Own the Flyers
The Pittsburgh Penguins and Sidney Crosby extended their dominance of the Philadelphia Flyers with an all-encompassing win, including a Marcus Pettersson fight with a heavyweight. We have full coverage from Philly and the Penguins’ locker room. Matt Murray is drawing praise in Toronto but snubbed Marc-Andre Fleury on Friday night. Sean Monohan is becoming a popular name in the NHL trade rumors, Kirby Dach gave a little what-for to Chicago, and the Washington Capitals finally won a game.
It’s a soap opera Daily, eh? I have some thoughts on the Murray-Fleury thing, and I’m curious about your reaction (as if I don’t already know).
Pittsburgh Penguins / Steelers, Pirates
Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins absolutely pasted the Flyers 4-1 at Wells Fargo Center. Sidney Crosby has now scored more goals against the Flyers than anyone else in NHL history. Here is the always entertaining, if not a little sarcastic and perfectly written, Dave Molinari Penguins recap.
Marcus Pettersson stuck up for Kris Letang after Nicolas Deslauriers caught Letang with a questionable hit. It was almost boarding, almost charging, but not quite kosher, either. So, Pettersson fought perhaps the toughest hombre in the NHL. See the fight, get Petterson’s reaction, and see Mike Sullivan’s admiration from the Pittsburgh Penguins locker room.
PHN+: Plenty of great performances, including the fourth line that scored three (three?!) goals, Ryan Poehling had a hat trick on his stick in the closing minute. But not all players earned high marks. The full Penguins analysis.
Steelers Now: Matt Canada broke down the Steeler’s struggles in the second half against the Bengals. Umm, yeah. Check it out–here’s what Canada said about the Steelers offense.
Pittsburgh Baseball Now: Hey now! The Pirates signed 1B Carlos Santana. Smooth! That was the biggest but not only Pittsburgh Pirates news.
The Pirates also flipped Hoy Park to the Red Sox. Get the deets on the Pirates trade.
NHL Trade Talk, News & National Hockey Now:
TSN video: Mike Johnston, who was between the boards for the Minnesota Wild vs. Toronto Maple Leafs on Friday, told the story. Marc-Andre Fleury skated over to Matt Murray during warmups. Fleury offered a greeting. None was returned. Murray snubbed Fleury.
Murray can be a surly guy. I always appreciated that bit of honesty. It also means Murray is probably getting dialed into his old form — that laser-focused, mentally tough goalie who won a couple of Stanley Cups for the Pittsburgh Penguins and to hell with everyone else. That’s the guy Mike Sullivan loved.
Montreal Hockey Now: The NHL trade rumors are percolating — an affordable, serviceable guy who is playing better than expected on an expiring contract. Montreal Canadiens forward Sean Monahan is drawing a lot of interest in NHL trade chatter.
Sportsnet Video: Watch Logan Cooley score a Michigan goal against the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Washington Hockey Now: The Capitals beat the Flames at the Capital One Arena. Are the Washington Capitals about to turn the corner?
Vegas Hockey Now: With American Thanksgiving marking the quarter mark of the NHL season, here are some notable/surprising statistics from the Vegas Golden Knights
And since I haven’t done a daily in a couple of days, I did not get to report the passing of Borje Salming. We can be honest, most American fans had no clue about Salming until he was included in the Top 100 players of All Time. His inclusion and Evgeni Malkin’s exclusion were hotly debated topics. But no one who witnessed the Hall of Fame tribute to Salming will forget it. He passed this week, just a couple of weeks after being honored. And the Maple Leafs paid proper tribute. A Swede assisted on every Maple Leafs’ goal, and William Nylander dedicated his game-winner on Friday to Salming.