Dan’s Daily: Fleury Tries to Fight Binnington, Penguins’ Poulin is Back

NEW YORK  — The Pittsburgh Penguins added salary cap space Thursday, allowing them to activate Ryan Poehling (presumably soon) and keep Alex Nylander on the NHL roster. Dave Molinari put the boots to Tristan Jarry. Marc-Andre Fleury tried to fight Jordan Binnington, the Washington Capitals grabbed two points but ceded one to the Buffalo Sabres, and the New York Islanders won, too.

If they have any hope of third place, the Penguins need two regulation wins against the New York Rangers in the next three days.

Oh boy, did I have a day Wednesday. En route to New York, American Express called. My small hotel, which was carefully curated months ago and selected for price (great) and location (perfect), decided to — get this — close for the season?! I was informed of my impending debacle at 1 p.m. To compound matters, the customer service agent called from a private AmEx number and tried to put me in a hotel with a 4/10 rating. Yeah, no. As I began to get angry, we were disconnected. When I called back, the next agent told me that number wasn’t from American Express! The new agent told me the hotel was still open. Then the original agent called back. I had a standoff on three-way calling between AmEx agents. Multiple supervisors later called.

It would have been hysterically funny if I wasn’t doing 75mph in aggressive Philly and New Jersey traffic whilst trying not to unleash a blood-boiling scolding so intensely angry that Mike Sullivan would have tipped his cap. Ok, it’s darkly funny.

It’s St. Patrick’s Day weekend, and the Pittsburgh Penguins are in town. Nearly every hotel in Manhattan or New Jersey was either full or $300 per night (plus NYC’s insane hotel taxes and fees). All’s well that ends well. After a few hours of dueling agents, we determined the hotel was closed, and I used Booking.com to find the very last room in an affordable place just as I arrived at Penn Station.

The funniest part was that I was hit with the cancellation fee since I had to cancel the prepaid reservations at the closed hotel or lose ALL of the money. The system couldn’t be overridden?! AmEx refunded the fee via voucher. Yay. After that nightmare, I treated myself. Surely I earned my Chicken parm and cannolis in Little Italy?

Anyhoo, to the pucks we go.

Pittsburgh Penguins:

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: First, the very good news. Sam Poulin announced he was returning to hockey and the WBS Penguins.

Opening salary cap space — Penguins moved Dmitry Kulikov to LTIR.

As Dave Molinari writes, the Penguins starting goalie must be better. Tristan Jarry can–and must–be better.

Penguins Playoffs, NHL News & National Hockey Now:

Sportsnet: Goalie fight–almost. Marc-Andre Fleury wanted to throw down with hothead St. Louis Blues goalie Jordan Binnington. The goalies charged. The linesmen stopped them. Check it out.

Washington Hockey Now: The Capitals shrunk their wild-card deficit by rallying to beat the Buffalo Sabres in a shootout. Tom Wilson scored with the extra attacker to force overtime, and it was a wild night at Cap One. Washington Capitals takeaways.

The Capitals are five points back of the Penguins with two more games played.

NYI Hockey Now: The Islanders beat the Ducks and caught the Penguins in points (but have three more games played). Stefen Rosner is on the road as the Islanders’ playoff push continues.

Sportsnet: It could be great news for GMs of cap-strapped teams. Gary Bettman opened the door to the salary cap rising by more than $1 million next season.

But there’s always a negotiating catch with Bettman.

Philly Hockey Now: I don’t know how to comment or respond to this story — Mercyhurst student and hockey player Carson Briere was involved in a horrible incident at an Erie bar. The son of the new Flyers GM tossed an empty wheelchair down the steps as the disabled person was carried to the bathroom. There’s video. Philadelphia Flyers news.

NHL.com: The NHL’s TV ratings on ESPN and TNT are growing.