PHN Postgame Q&A: So Many Mistakes; Move Malkin to Wing?

Try as they might Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins could not overcome themselves or the New York Islanders, losing in overtime 5-4 at PPG Paints Arena.

The Penguins’ second and third lines with Evgeni Malkin and Lars Eller, respectively, were especially good. However, the mistakes on defense were too much. The power play was 0-for-3 and yielded a breakaway goal to Matthew Barzal as his time in the penalty box expired.

The sloppy mistakes overcame the furious comeback attempt. The Penguins earned a point but lost ground to the Islanders in the playoff race.

We went through the game analysis before getting to the viewer and reader questions. Should the Penguins move Evgeni Malkin to the wing and Drew O’Connor to center (2:51), more questions on Malkin and should be media be more adversarial with the team (5:04), what would should Kyle Dubas do next and getting another chance for Sidney Crosby (7:14), Mike Sullivan’s future, roster construction and blue line construction (9:53).

One trade question is if role players like Eller could be on the block (12:39) and which players answered the bell.