Wednesday Grab Bag 2.13

Happy Wednesday, Grab Bag readers.

Since our last meeting, the Penguins managed to scrap a point out of a largely uninspired performance in Sunrise, they battled their asses off in Tampa Bay despite missing several key pieces and then walked into Philadelphia and broke their hearts as has become tradition in the Crosby-era.

Three out of a possible six points isn’t ideal, but what’re ya gonna do? Malkin also was served a one-game suspension which will be applied to tonight’s matchup with Edmonton. Olli Maatta’s shoulder separated in Philly and here we are.

Let’s get going.

Links

The Good

The Florida Panthers actually have a famous fan of consequence! Ariana Grande went to Panthers games as a child with her parents and got hit by a puck not once, but twice.

As a beer league player myself, I sincerely hope if I have a doctor on my team or on my opponent’s team if some shit like this happens. Unreal story out of North Carolina where a doctor saved a teammate’s life when he collapsed during a game.

If you’re around my age (or older) you grew up with Blades of Steel and so many other iconic video game covers. Well, Puck Junk talked to Tom DuBois, the guy responsible for the Blades of Steel artwork.

The NHL’s original Iron Man passed away last week. It’s in the good because this guy truly was the original Iron Man and that’s why we talk about it today.

The Bad

Not only did Sprong never get a chance here, he didn’t get to go to Kennywood!!!

I got $20 that says Pastranak’s “fall” when getting into the car after the sponsorship event was absolutely because he was boozing.

Edmonton, guys…please get this kid some help.

The Ugly

The Ducks fired Randy Carlyle, good! They replaced him with Bob Murray, very bad!!

Numbers

Standings

Now that we are into 2019, this section now includes the wild card races. In the interest of fairness (and my sanity) the four teams in the race for wild card will be included. Full standings can be found here.

metropolitian

Atlantic

Wild card – eastern conference

Central

pacific

wild card – western conference

Player Statistics

Points

Save percentage

What These Numbers Tell Us: We gotta talk about Dallas, man. Sure, they’re third in the Central, but with St. Louis and Minnesota nipping at their heels by two and four points respectively, that is not good. When your goaltending tandem is tossing up .927 and .924 save percentages and you’re not firmly atop your division or at least creating separation from those chasing you…something is off. Their offense is failing them. In a year where goaltending is averaging in the .905 range and you’re getting goaltending that’s well above it, the onus shifts to your offense to hold up their end of the bargain. They aren’t.

Speaking of the Central Division (and Western Conference overall, actually) St. Louis now holding the first wild card is something. Two months ago it looked like they both in the tank and open for business. Luckily for them, none of their big dogs were sold off and now they have a shot at making the postseason. This conference will not allow bad teams to be bad.

Patrick Kane is single-handedly keeping the Blackhawks from re-tooling with a high pick. They sit four points out of the second wild card in the west and his recent ascension up the scoring race has coincided with their “turnaround.” Although, I’m sure the Coyotes or some middling team in the east will throw them a bone because that’s just how this goes. That or Seabrook will suddenly become allergic to ice.

The Week Ahead

Tonight, the Penguins welcome in Connor McDavid and his merry band of losers. Edmonton is basically the Penguins in the Dan Bylsma-Ray Shero era. There’s 3-4 good players surrounded with a whole lot of bad. Try to minimize the damage McDavid can do and you should get a win.

Know Your Enemy: The Copper & Blue

Saturday, one of the west’s best teams and surprises come to town. The Calgary Flames currently sit one point behind San Jose for the top spot in the Pacific and have been good all year long, despite in 2019, the Flames are 2-3-0 in games Mike Smith appears in. They’re 7-0-2 in Dave Rittich appearances. They’re good.

Know Your Enemy: Matchsticks & Gasoline

Sunday afternoon it’s right back at it against the Rangers. They’re definitely a deadline seller and aside from a couple of bright spots, they are absolutely in the midst of a rebuilding/retooling season. Also, Henrik Lundqvist poops himself when he comes to Pittsburgh so, wouldn’t be surprised to see him on the bench for this one.

Know Your Enemy: Blue Line Station

Finally, the week rounds out with another rebuilding Metro team in New Jersey. Yes, I know we should think that’s a win and they’re even selling off assets and calling this season a wash, but the Pens haven’t beaten them yet!

Know Your Enemy: All About the Jersey

Well, it’s going to be an interesting week. We’re about a week and a half off of the trade deadline and two of this week’s four opponents are definitely sellers, so they could look different when they come to town. However, we’ve seen the Penguins play down to their competition all season long so who knows. We’re officially in the stretch run and moral victories are done. We need actual victories.

Thanks for reading, follow me (or tell me how bad this was) on Twitter @SynonymForWet.