Dan’s Daily: Fight at Sabres Practice; Penguins Heroes & Goats

We’re about to shove off from Montreal after the Pittsburgh Penguins won their road trip by beating the Montreal Canadiens 6-3. It was a solid rebound for the Penguins, who were a disaster in the second period but pulled it together in the third. The Penguins are off today, but we’ll have additional coverage because, of course, we will. We also did a stock up and stock down on the Penguins start.

Elsewhere, the Buffalo Sabres have had enough of each other and dropped the mitts at practice. It was no joke as tempers flared. The Washington Capitals are moving Alex Ovechkin around the lineup, trying to find something that works. The New York Islanders squashed the Colorado Avalanche for coach Patrick Roy, and the Edmonton Oilers are groggy from their Stanley Cup Final hangover.

I do believe I’ve eaten more spicy Asian food in the last three days than a human should. Montreal is quite an eclectic city; it’s not the strip club party bus that it was a generation ago, but there are no fewer than three languages spoken here on the regular. However, hockey is still the galvanizing central focus. That arena was electric last night.

I went to a noodles place on St. Catherines St. Sunday night. It wasn’t an expensive, trendy place. It was a small, narrow shop–my kind of place. The little 4-foot-8 or so older Asian woman came over to take my order. There were chopsticks already on the table, but she looked at me, “Do you want a fork?”

Hell no! After she asked, I didn’t care if I had to use my hands, it’s on! She also assumed I wanted lower spice … Pffff. She had no idea who she was dealing with. Perhaps next summer, I’ll get to spend a few days here without running to the rink. Who knows, maybe I’ll even find the party bus strip club side of the city fun, too. Thanks for another enjoyable little roadie, Canada.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: After a sluggish start, whose stock is up and whose stock is down? One of our stock-down players had a great game on Monday, but it holds true- the Penguins analysis.

Coach Mike Sullivan made a couple of lineup changes, sitting Rutger McGroarty in favor of Jesse Puljujarvi and Jack St. Ivany in favor of Ryan Shea. It would seem like getting Puljujarvi in the lineup was a good idea. He, along with Lars Eller, played a big role in the Penguins’ comeback win. So, too, did Evgeni Malkin. Here’s the Penguins postgame.

PHN+: The report card. Oh my, there were a couple of ghastly performances, but there were a handful of great outings. I spoke with a prominent media figure in Montreal who expressed shock at Erik Karlsson’s game. It was already in the report. Here’s the full analysis of what the Penguins did right, what they did wrong, and the poor performances. Penguins report card.

The PHN+ flash sale expires in 24 hours. So, here’s your last chance to get PHN+ for half price. So far, 41 folks have jumped on the sale. Our goal was 75–so here we go. Use code: HALF. Click here–JOIN PHN+!

NHL News, Notes, and National Hockey Now

Buffalo Hockey Now: Fight! Fight! Except you’re not supposed to fight your teammates, especially on the ice at practice. However, after a 1-3-0 start, tempers flared, and the boys got after each other. Here is the story and some video, too, from the Buffalo Sabres practice.

Colorado Hockey Now: Oh, it was a brutal beatdown that left the home team angry and nearly speechless. In Patrick Roy’s return to Colorado, the New York Islanders just hammered the Colorado Avalanche.

Philly Hockey Now: There was quite a bit of intrigue this summer that extended to training camp over prospect goalie Alexei Kolosov. He wasn’t happy and felt isolated in Allentown (Lehigh Valley of the AHL), so he went back to Russia, only to return on the eve of training camp. He’s pretty, pretty good, too. Now, there’s a big opportunity for the Philadelphia Flyers prospect.

New Jersey Hockey Now: I love what James Nichols is doing on coverage in New Jersey. Side note: He’s become THE guy there as the newspapers have essentially pulled out or put rookies on the beat. Check-in with James now and then on X. To the Devils coverage, a rookie defenseman is continuing to force coach Sheldon Keefe to keep him in the lineup, and the Utah Flying Elvises were no match for the New Jersey Devils.

TSN: The Columbus Blue Jackets also invited Johnny Gaudreau’s father onto the ice at practice Monday. He made the boys skate a couple of extra laps, and nobody seemed to mind one bit.