Dan’s Daily: NHL Awards Off the Board, Penguins Goalie Debate

The Daily is all over the map. The Pittsburgh Penguins got a game-saving performance from goalie Casey DeSmith Sunday, but Dave Molinari took the position that the Penguins should ride Tristan Jarry for the rest of the season. My Monday column questioned the Penguins’ heart; perhaps Rickard Rakell’s goal was the spark. Tuesday’s big games are the Peguins at the Devils and the Buffalo Sabres at the Florida Panthers. And yinzer Logan Cooley is a Hobey Baker Award finalist.

The hockey news is not voluminous right now. The only things that matter are games and points.

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First,, amazing

Interesting. ⁦@betonline_ag⁩ has taken all the NHL awards offline because they consider them all runaways and are essentially calling all the winners. pic.twitter.com/ZHJ738gGow

— Shelly Anderson (@_ShellyAnderson) April 3, 2023

Pittsburgh Penguins:

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: This is sneaky news. Monday, the Penguins returned Alex Nylander to the WBS Penguins.

Sneaky because it could mean the Penguins activate a defenseman later today?

PHN+: Do the Penguins have enough heart? Honest question. We’ll find out but circle that goal by Rickard Rakell. It was reminiscent of another similar moment in the Penguins history that changed the course of the team. Did problems and solutions converge on Sunday? Penguins analysis.

Casey DeSmith was brilliant Sunday. Dave Molinari writes that it was great, but now the Penguins must ride Tristan Jarry.

NHL News & National Hockey Now:

Florida Hockey Now: Tonight is the big dance in Florida. They host the Buffalo Sabres. Penguins fans should root for Buffalo in regulation. Two teams enter, one team leaves? The Florida Panthers’ injuries include Sergei Bobrovsky and Sam Bennett.

Florida is getting a little bit excited. Four teams. Two spots. Here’s the breakdown from FLA on the Eastern Conference wild-card race.

Boston Hockey Now: The Penguins’ possible Round One opponent, the Bruins, are chasing history with their regular season record. Wayne Gretzky will be “mad” if the Boston Bruins don’t win the Stanley Cup.

Now, let’s race through National Hockey Now:

Montreal Hockey Now: Mailbag! Pierre-Luc Dubois has long been rumored to be on his way to the Canadiens. And other Canadiens trade targets.

Detroit Hockey Now: You hope this is the Penguins sooner than much …. MUCH later. The Red Wings’ future is on the ice now. They delivered and beat the Toronto Maple Leafs. Check out the future Detroit Red Wings.

Colorado Hockey Now: This is quietly a BIG deal. Injured players are joining the Avalanche on their road trip, including Gabriel Landeskog.

The defending champs are pretty good. Imagine them with Landeskog back in the lineup.

Vegas Hockey Now: Perhaps good news for the Penguins, though not really. The Vegas Golden Knights beat the Minnesota Wild Monday.

In the loss, Minnesota clinched a playoff berth. Will they be as amped on Thursday at PPG Paints Arena?

LA Hockey Now: Pheonix Copley or Jonas Korpisalo? Both are stopping pucks. There’s a good old-fashioned goalie controversy with the LA Kings.

Arizona Sports: The Hobey Baker award has incredibly talented finalists, including this year’s presumed No. 2 overall pick Adam Fantilli, and last year’s third-overall pick, and Pittsburgh native Logan Cooley.

Now, we just have to figure out how to get Logan or the Coyotes out of Arizona.