The Penguins concluded one of their toughest road trips of the season last night with a 3-2 shootout loss to the Dallas Stars. Continuing the Penguins’ shootout struggles. The Pens were up 2-1 late in the third when Conor Dewar, who scored earlier in the game, iced the puck allowing for the Stars to pull their goalie and even the game against a tired group. After a wild overtime that could have seen either team win it, the game went to a shootout where the Penguins predictably lost. The shootout loss marks the fourth straight lose when the game proceeds to such a format. Jarry was excellent, again, and only allowed one goal to Mikko Rantanen in the shootout but the Penguins failed to score. I am typically against critiquing Sidney Crosby, but goddamn Sid let’s switch it up on the shootout and maybe throw a deke in there. Crosby has had two of the most famous shootout goals ever scored but ever since he snuck a five-hole goal past Ryan Miller in the Winter Classic we have seen the same approach over and over. Sid is blessed with some of the silkiest mitts in the league, as demonstrated by his other famous shootout winner versus the Canadiens, but he refuses to use them in shootouts.

Aside from the shootout, the Penguins were terrific in this game. After the game got tied at one early in the second, it seemed like the Penguins had control of the puck for the rest of the game. The Stars are likely the second-best team in the league and last night the Pens completely took it to them. Regulation ended with the Penguins outshooting them 26-18. What was most evident was how much faster the Penguins were, the Stars are gifted physically but don’t necessarily have the team speed that a team like Tampa Bay possesses. It seems that when the Pens can outskate their opponents, they can dominate games. For instance, the Penguins newly assembled “kid’s line” was not on the ice for a shot against while accounting for seven shots on net. That line in particular was all over the puck in every zone making even simple passes miserable for Dallas. The fourth line was finally reunited, and they too were exceptional. Yes, that line got stuck on the ice at the end of regulation, but it shouldn’t be discounted how good they were all night. No one would have thought that Noel Acciari returning to the lineup would be such a big deal, but his presence on that line cannot be overlooked as he was great all night and made a terrific play to set up Dewar’s game opening goal.

Due to Malkin being held out with an upper body injury, Hayes was moved to second line center and Tommy Novak was bumped up to play with Sid. This moves paid dividends as Novak scored a beautiful deflection goal and now have six points in his last five games.

All of the lines last night seemed to be humming. The second line with the Hayes as a patchwork center was dangerous all night, both Hayes and Mantha had several good looks in the offensive zone. The defensive group on the other hand looked relatively shaky. Every defenseman except Letang, of all people, was guilty at one point of an egregious turnover. Wotherspoon served up a pizza to Rantanen right in front of the net. Karlsson had a turnover that led to an early second period odd man chance. Graves and Dumba looked bad all night, Dumba also played a 2-on-1 terribly that allowed the Stars to score their first goal. Dumba completely overcommitted to Hintz, who was coming down for what would have been a bad angle shot, leaving open an easy cross-crease pass to Jamie Benn.

To be honest, I am happy with the point. It’s disappointing because the Penguins played so well in this game. However, leaving a Philadelphia-Tampa-Dallas road trip with 5 out of 6 points is really good. This game felt like an L going into it; Geno was out, guys were returning to action after over a month off against a good team, and it was the end of difficult trip. So, despite the way they played I think you can take solace in the fact they were able to get a point in this game, the past few seasons this would have likely been an ugly loss.

The bigger story of night was when Cam Robinson curiously tweeted out that Ben Kindel was being loaned to Team Canada for the World Juniors.

The Penguins lead beat reporter, Josh Yohe, quickly poured cold water on this report which led to Robinson spiraling saying he never got that confirmed but that Team Canada expects Kindel to be available.

On what planet would the Penguins make Kindel available? He is dominating his shifts on the third line; he is playing with the top power-play unit and recently has fared well penalty killing. Kindel has quickly become a very important piece to a teaTo be honest, I am happy with the point. It’s disappointing because the Penguins played so well in this game. However, leaving a Philadelphia-Tampa-Dallas road trip with 5 out of 6 points is really good. This game felt like an L going into it; Geno was out, guys were returning to action after over a month off against a good team, and it was the end of a difficult trip. So, despite the way they played I think you can take solace in the fact they were able to get a point in this game, the past few seasons this would have likely been an ugly loss.

The bigger story of night was when Cam Robinson curiously tweeted out that Ben Kindel was being loaned to Team Canada for the World Juniors. That looks like they will make the playoffs. Let’s say he were to be loaned, Dubas and the team would say it is a part of the development plan… there’s just no way anyone would buy that. I cannot imagine going back to play against junior level competition could be more beneficial than having extended on ice time with Sidney Crosby.

I think we all know, and expect, Bruincke to go play in the tournament. His play at the NHL level faltered and has aspects of his defensive game that he can work on, hence why he was sent to the AHL. Kindel on the other hand, has only continued to get better at the NHL level and has become every night play driver. I don’t know how anyone in their right mind could look at Crosby/Geno and say that they are giving away the team’s third line center during the busiest, and hardest, month of the season. It would be lunacy which would have me severely questioning Kyle Dubas for one of the first time’s since he decided to begin the re-tool.

After the original tweet from Robinson, and the subsequent response from Yohe, Robinson tweeted five seperate times about what he “heard” trying to get out in front of what seems to be a bogus rumor. His tweets included “that name was given with the others but has since been relayed the team remains hopeful but have not been given clarity on Pittsburgh’s plans.” “Was given names from a number of sources. I questioned his inclusion heavily and was told HC expected him to be made available. Have since been told they are hopeful but haven’t been told one way or another.”

This guy also tweeted a few days ago that the Kings were making a coaching change to bring in Pete DeBoer which just simply didn’t happen. I am not here to say that Robinson is making shit up, maybe he did hear from someone who was praying Kindel would come play for Canada, but it seemed like he took a hopeful remark and attempted to make it into fact. Just a few days ago, GM Kyle Dubas removed a Team Canada hat to speak about Will Horcoff (NCAA leading scorer) remarking “when it’s comes to the Pittsburgh Penguins, I don’t give a sh…BLEEP what country they play for – we want them to come here and play great for us”. Sending Kindel to Team Canada would completely contradict that statement and would almost be a spit in the face to the team that pays his salary. So, is Cam Robinson an idiot? It seems so, yes. Was it likely an honest mistake?> Also, yes. You can make honest mistakes and still be an idiot though.

If for some reason Kindel gets announced to Team Canada I will apologize to Mr. Robinson but for right now, I think we are all not to believe a single word his man says.

Over the weekend, an actual reliable source, Elliotte Friedman, touched on the Jarry to Edmonton rumors. Basically, there have been talks but Pittsburgh is not interest in retaining salary. I agree with this sentiment. Yes, a buyout would cost more than retaining half his salary but why retain over 2 million for 3 more seasons unless Edmonton is willing to really step-up their offer? Plus, Jarry has been great so far this season, he could turn back into a pumpkin at any moment, but for right now he is our best goaltending option. Edmonton could find a third party to take on half of Jarry’s salary but if I am the Penguins I would make an attempt to severely escalate the price to acquire and ultimately trade him with the retention. Link the conversation below:

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/video/saturday-headlines-nhlpa-more-concerned-about-quality-of-olympic-ice-than-size