Dan’s Daily: Rangers Drama Part 2; a Golden Age; Penguins Rookies Sparkle

The Pittsburgh Penguins not only cleansed their palate from a pair of absolutely brutal losses last week, but the first rays of hope for the future shined brightly as Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen shined in the Penguins’ 1-0 overtime win over the Ottawa Senators. We’ve got some good stories, including the full McGroarty story, which includes our shift-by-shift telling of his return to the NHL. Elsewhere in the Daily, get ready for the Rangers drama Part 2, as big-name trade rumors are starting. The Montreal Canadiens got more big-game heroics from Lane Hutson, and Alex Ovechkin lit the lamp to inch ever closer to Wayne Gretzky’s record.

Think back 20 years. Or even 18. Can you imagine telling yourself that Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin would be knocking down Gretzky records? Include Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Nick Backstrom, and Marc-Andre Fleury to realize how many Hall of Famers we were watching as the Penguins-Capitals rivalry renewed.

What a golden age of hockey those guys have written. As good as Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl are, there’s no rivalry or heat around them. Ovechkin built a legitimate fanbase in Washington, while Crosby rebuilt a league- and never got enough credit. He was annually snubbed for the Hart Trophy because he had Malkin. And Malkin was annually snubbed because of Crosby.

Yet McDavid and Draisaitl aren’t penalized in the same way. Anyway, what a ride it’s been…so far.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Tristan Jarry earned the shutout. Sidney Crosby scored the OT winner. And a pair of rookies stole the show. It was a pretty good night at PPG Paints Arena, and here is Dave Molinari’s Penguins recap.

Ottawa Hockey Now: From the flip side, our Danny McCloskey had the game from the Senators’ view.

Sunday was the beginning of a new era. They didn’t call up McGroarty and Koivunen to show them the facilities and let them watch. However, it’s only a first step, and there are many ups and downs ahead. There are four things you should know about the Penguins’ rebuild.

PHN+: Instead of a report card, I did a shift-by-shift breakdown as well as the full McGroarty story. You can see in the video that the kid was over the moon. He played on the top line, he played well, and he busted a skate at the worst possible time, yet kept going. The first half of the story is the locker room reaction, which is free for everyone; the thorough look at his shifts, combined with analysis, is for PHN+ subscribers. If you’re not one yet, use code Dan10 to save $10 on your first year. Read on- the full Rutger McGroarty.

Steelers Now: Day 21. The Steelers still don’t have a starting quarterback. They lost both guys who were here last season, and Terry Bradshaw is getting a bit too old to run the no-huddle. Yesterday, Mike Tomlin addressed the very public courtship of Aaron Rodgers and the worrisome Steelers’ quarterback situation.

NHL Trade Rumors, News & National Hockey Now

NY Post: You can count on Larry Brooks to stir the pot. It’s one of the reasons why I love the NY Post. His sharp-elbowed column blamed general manager Chris Drury for letting the Jacob Trouba situation fester, which fractured the team this season. He further posits Drury can’t make the same mistake twice and let Mika Zbinejad twist in the wind. It will be NYR Drama, Part 2, as trade rumors are already starting around the Blueshirts.

Zibanejad has been the subject of almost unquestioned criticism this season, that he’s lost a step or is one of the Rangers’ problems. I haven’t seen enough games, but a top-six center at $8.5 million who is only 31 should be alluring to a few GMs. One bad year won’t wreck the player. But I’m also done for some Rangers drama because no organization handles it worse.

TSN: Alex Ovechkin raised his arms, the goal light turned red, and the Capitals star notched goal No. 890. He’s just five away from the record.

Dead Lord, please let him break the record before the Capitals’ final game of the season in Pittsburgh. There are few things I despise more than the national media descending on the Penguins’ locker room, getting in our way, and asking banal questions as if they’ve just discovered the team. But I digress. Also, Linda Cohn and Mike Zeisberger are excluded from the above complaint.

Montreal Hockey Now: It was a hard-fought win over the Florida Panthers. It was also a necessary win. Lane Hutson dazzled, and Nick Suzuki did the dirty work to get the Montreal Canadiens into a playoff spot.

NYI Hockey Now: Five straight losses when they mattered the most. Russ Macias’s headline says it all: Drawing Dead. After a surge to get themselves back in it, another ugly loss has all but ended the New York Islanders’ season.