Penguins Wrap: Crash Landing; Prospect Check-in; 4 Nations News

It was all going so well for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Things were different in the locker room. Youth and new players were providing a spark. The team was winning. And then came a big reality check, with old habits rearing their ugly heads. We’ll see which was the anomaly and which is closer to the real Penguins.

Also in the past week, the team sent a struggling young defenseman back to the AHL and got a forward back from IR, and the Penguins found out they will get no additional players participating in the 4 Nations Face-Off, and, speaking of the AHL, PHN made a stop in Wilkes-Barre to provide some updates on Penguins prospects.

We think you’ll find the week in review interesting. Click the links below. Be sure to subscribe to PHN for ad-free reading and premium content. The half-off sale runs through midday Sunday.

Saturday: It was a strange incident the evening before during the Penguins’ game in Boston. The Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin got poked in the back by the Bruins’ Nikita Zadorov, who was on the bench. Malkin reacted by swinging his stick toward the Boston bench. Both got punished by the NHL.

A player who was on the trade block and had heavy interest finally got moved. However, defenseman David Jiricek got traded from the Columbus Blue Jackets to the Minnesota Wild, meaning the president of hockey operations/general manager Kyle Dubas and the Penguins missed out.

At the end of the season, this has to be up there among the top stops by a Penguins goaltender. See what Alex Nedeljkovic did against the Calgary Flames to make a stunning glove save.

Nedeljkovic and the Penguins power play came up big. That allowed the team to pound Calgary for its third win in a row.

It’s the wins. It’s also the way the Penguins were playing. It added up to the bad odor that had been coming from the Penguins finally lifting. They were beginning to believe. Check out the Penguins report card.

Sunday: It’s still a long climb, no doubt. But looking at how the Penguins are beginning to play and analyzing the schedule, perhaps it’s not so farfetched that the Penguins could make the playoffs.

Monday: What’s been going on during games has carried over into the locker room. Or vice versa. There is a different feeling in the locker room. Also, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan got a little dusty. It’s all in the Penguins practice report.

Newly acquired forward Phil Tomasino must be wondering what all the fuss about the Penguins’ woes was about. Since he arrived, he had seen nothing but wins. He believes this is a good team.

Tuesday: With the full rosters for the 4 Nations Face-Off due later in the week, PHN’s Dave Molinari made a strong case for one of the Penguins to be selected to play for Team USA. Here’s his push for Bryan Rust.

The tweaks to the Penguins roster continued. With forward Cody Glass ready to come off IR after recovering from a concussion, the team sent defenseman Jack St. Ivany to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. Find out what the moves mean.

Earlier in the season, blowing a big lead in the third period surely would have spelled doom for the Penguins. And against the defending Stanley Cup champion Florida Panthers? Well, the Penguins didn’t fold. They pulled out an overtime win.

Maybe it wasn’t their best game in terms of Xs and Os, but the Penguins were proud of the way they withstood Florida’s big push. See how it all sorted out in the Penguins report card.

Wednesday: The win over Florida lingered, in a good way for the Penguins. Here’s more analysis.

And then there was analysis from a different angle, this one relating to the big picture. The Penguins had won four games in a row, but what about Dubas’ plan?

When the rosters for Sweden and Finland for the 4 Nations Face-Off were announced, it was probably surprising for anyone who has watched the Penguins this season that one of their forwards, Rickard Rakell, got left off.

Apparently, Team USA, which has strong ties to the Penguins, does not listen to Molinari. When the rosters for Canada and the United States were announced hours after those of Sweden and Finland, there was no Bryan Rust.

Thursday: For most of this season, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has patiently answered questions about all the losses, all the blown leads, all the unforced errors that were plaguing the team. Now that the wins have started to come, we gave him a chance to talk about the new state of the team.

Rookie defenseman Owen Pickering has hit the ground running since he was promoted from WBS — to the point that he has pushed out Ryan Graves.

Speaking of WBS, PHN”s Dan Kingerski made a visit to Wilkes-Barre to check in on a some of the Penguins’ prospects. Here’s a look-in at Sam Poulin and Tristan Broz.

Also from WBS, a broader look at the prospect pool in this stock up, stock down.

Friday: The NHL trade deadline is a ways off. Still, as teams confront their lot with December here, trade reports are on the rise. For the Penguins that means there are reports involving Drew O’Connor and Nils Hoglander.

When the Penguins played in New York, Rangers captain Jacob Trouba was not in the lineup. After a stretch of uncomfortable time with it going public that Trouba was probably going to be on the move, the Rangers acted and sent him to the Anaheim Ducks in a newsworthy trade.

Well, that lasted only so long. The Penguins slipped into their bad habits in New York and had their winning streak snapped at four games with a loss to the Rangers.

There was no sugarcoating this one. Coach Mike Sullivan and defenseman Kris Letang gave an unvarnished assessment, and the team earned a failing grade after the bad loss to the Rangers in the Penguins report card.