Dan’s Daily: Rakell Tops New Trade Boards; Penguins Big Heart

PHILADELPHIA — The Pittsburgh Penguins showed real moxy Saturday night and dominated the Philadelphia Flyers. The depth players who were thrust into prime roles in the absence of the Penguins star players also showed a lack of finish in a 3-2 loss. We’ve got full coverage from the barn, as well as a rolling script of Penguins news, including the termination of Jesse Puljujarvi’s contract. Elsewhere in the Daily, Rickard Rakell is the new name atop a couple of NHL trade bait lists, and Canada is debating Sidney Crosby and his status with the Four Nations tournament.

The Penguins missed a great chance Saturday night. Sure, they beat Philly pillar to post, but the teams the Penguins are chasing lost. If they had won Saturday, they’d be five points out of a playoff spot.

What about Puljujarvi has so captivated some Penguins fans to the point of delusion?

Lastly, I used to love visiting Philadelphia—the Reading Terminal Market, Pat’s, and the historical sites. However, the more I come here, the more visible the unsavory elements become. Last night’s subway ride was, umm, yeah. The Philly subway was already embarrassingly out-of-date and neglected, but I can’t keep a PG rating and describe the things I’ve seen on the last few rides. Philly is in rough shape, and it’s not improving.

I did have a wicked good cheesesteak in the market—Uncle Gus’s. It’s new—making up for Carmen’s Italian Hoagies closing—and they did it right, but they used a sesame bun instead of white bread. Interesting addition. Count me as a fan.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Penguins gave it a valiant effort but were heartbroken afterward. So close and yet so far in a 3-2 loss to the Philly Flyers. Here’s the Penguins recap.

“We worked our asses off.”

The report card had some colorful quotes from P.O Joseph and Anthony Beauviller, who played the game of his life with eight shots on goal. We really dug into the effort, the tactics, and what came up short. We also graded the players, the overachievers, and the few rough Penguins grades.

Philly Hockey Now: The flip side from our young Will James who’s getting his feet wet covering the Flyers. Here’s his take on the Flyers victory.

The shocking, bombshell, earth-shattering, franchise-altering, heartbreaking, say-it-ain’t-so news. Here’s the full story with general manager Kyle Dubas’s explanation–For the purposes of contract termination, the Penguins placed Jesse Puljujarvi on unconditional waivers.

Even Philadelphia city churches rang the bells to pay tribute.

We covered a lot of topics in the postgame video on the Pittsburgh Hockey Now YouTube page. Make sure you follow the page:

NHL Trade Talk, News, & National Hockey Now

TSN: Upheaval and some spicy possibilities. The new TSN trade bait list has plenty of new names, and the Penguins’ Rickard Rakell is at the top.

Hockey Night in Canada: Elliotte Friedman has a few new realistic names on the NHL trade block, including Brayden Schenn and Vladimir Tarsenko in the Headlines Segment.

Sportsnet: Nick Kypreos has an extra spicy new trade board that includes Rakell, Brad Marchand, and Erik Karlsson. I’ll let you decide if he’s big-game hunting or if it’s a pretty big overreach.

Quickie news: Drew Doughty was named to Team Canada in place of Alex Pietrangelo. Sidney Crosby will make his own decision if he’s able to play for Team Canada despite the arm injury.

NYI Hockey Now: Surprising news. A couple of national reporters broke the news that Matthew Barzal has a kneecap procedure. Here’s the New York Islanders injury news.

Detroit Hockey Now: Detroit was awful Saturday, but they still woke up Sunday in a playoff spot. The winged wheels began their Four Nations break a day too soon. Things looking up for the Detroit Red Wings.