Dan’s Daily: Penguins Reset Defense, Singing Fleury

Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan reset his personnel at practice on Tuesday, and Louis Domingue appears ready to jump back into NHL action. The Florida Panthers are unbeatable, the Vancouver Canucks late-season charge picked up another point as the LA Kings grabbed two, the Evander Kane grievance hearing is dragging on, the New York Islanders honored Mike Bossy, and Marc-Andre Fleury wants to play at least one more season.

And Marc-Andre was busted singing along to the arena music.

Pittsburgh Hockey Now: Head coach Mike Sullivan pushed the reset button on the defense pairings while giving us a glimpse of his playoff lines. Pittsburgh Penguins practice.

Nathan Beaulieu is the Penguins defenseman you don’t know. He hasn’t played a game for the team and perhaps won’t, but GM Ron Hextall acquired him at the NHL trade deadline. He’s getting healthy and joined the team for the first time. Also, more on the Penguins playoff streak and being the first NHL team to sell jersey space. Penguins Notebook

PHN+: Louis Domingue. You and I have talked about his candid, almost emotional training camp interview. We’ve talked about the lost opportunity at mid-season when it appeared he could supplant Casey DeSmith as the backup. Domingue is back in an NHL sweater, and confidence is not a problem. Louis Domingue is ready.

NHL News & National Hockey Now:

*NYI: It was Mike Bossy night. The team and fans honored their hero, friend, and Hall of Fame player. New York Islanders tribute.

Sportsnet: Fleury is having fun. He wants to keep going. In Montreal, he told reporters he feels good “most days.”  Marc-Andre Fleury will return.

And for a laugh… Hey, who hasn’t done it?

i strive to be as unbothered as him pic.twitter.com/YcJEhMuX5p

— kasper! (@spookybeez) April 16, 2022

TSN: The Evander Kane grievance hearing didn’t fit into one day. The highly unusual circumstance forced both sides into Day 2, but the second day will need to be scheduled…later. Here’s the whole story.

Philly Hockey Now: In the words of John Fogerty, I wanna know, have you ever seen the Flyers win the Cup? The end can’t come soon enough as embarrassing losses are piling up for the Philadelphia Flyers.

Florida Hockey Now: You can’t stop the Panthers. You can’t even contain them. Careening toward the 2022 NHL Stanley Cup playoffs, the Panthers have won 11 in a row. A Sasha Barkov hat trick was all Florida needed to win over the Islanders. Florida Panthers are rolling.

I think Pittsburgh Penguins fans need to keep an eye on Florida. Let’s put the chances of a Penguins-Panthers Round One series at about…50%?

And to that end, top defenseman Aaron Ekblad resumed skating with the team, too.

Boston Hockey Now: For a Panthers-Penguins series, the Bruins have to win a few more games, too. Or Boston will face the Florida sun in May. The Bruins did just that and ended the St. Louis Blues’ nine-game winning streak. Keep up with the B’s — Boston Bruins win.

Detroit: You have to love Darren McCarty. Penguins fans will remember him from the 2008 playoffs, but he’s a staunch teammate defender. Some fans were laying the lumber to captain Dylan Larkin, who is now out for the season.

“I can’t do anything to protect the kid on the ice. But I will crack a skull off the ice in two seconds,” McCarty smiled as he defended Larkin. Detroit Red Wings news.

Colorado: Opposing jerseys continue to be an eyesore at home games. (Lack of) crowd noise is also an issue for the Colorado Avalanche.