The Pittsburgh Penguins were humbled on Thursday night and the Columbus Blue Jackets by a score of 7-1. This was arguably the biggest game Columbus has played since they lost Game 6 to the Penguins in first round the 2014 playoffs. The Blue Jackets got exactly the result they wanted. It goes to show how well the Blue Jackets have been playing when this was the Penguins first regulation loss in the month of December and it cost the team first place in the division. Columbus has now won 11 in a row.
On the Pittsburgh side of things if you want to go with the glass half full approach it would be that this game is just one of 82. It isn’t good to get clobbered like they did, but this group knows to keep things in perspective and move past it.
The lone bright spot was another Sidney Crosby goal. He continues to make special plays on a nightly basis. Here he is batting yet another puck out of the air for a goal.
Sidney Crosby is on pace for 62 goals this year.
Happy Festivus. Probably not for Derrick Pouliot who is scheduled to go up against Mike Sullivan in the Feats of Strength later this evening.
The worst part of the game for the Penguins was the play of Derrick Pouliot. This was likely his worst game in the NHL. Losing big in the regular season happens to every team in the league. Having a player who should be pushing for a roster spot play like Pouliot did last night is disappointing. He played in his own zone a lot and when he was there he made more glaring mistakes. Being burned by Scott Hartnell is not something you want to see happen if you are fighting for an NHL spot.
Pouliot is not a weak skater so to see Hartnell breeze by him there was bad.
That said, I would keep playing Pouliot for as long as Letang and Daley are out. Give him a chance and see how he responds to this terrible game. Whatever short term gain there is to playing Olesky and Ruhwedel (I don’t think there is one) over him isn’t worth it. Pittsburgh should think big picture and just give him this stretch of games even if they are bad. It’s about that time where they commit to him being a part of the franchise or move him. The current situation isn’t tenable and has gone on long enough.
After really bad games it is always nice to get back into game action. The Penguins will do just that against the New Jersey Devils.
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I spoke with Matt Gajtka from DK on Pittsburgh Sports the other night about the Penguins where we talked about the Blue Jackets, Chris Kunitz, Patric Hornqvist, and Derrick Pouliot
Yesterday's #Pens Overtime with @MattGajtka and guest @GunnerStaal!https://t.co/3ErTejh83W
— The River's Edge (@RiversEdgePGH) December 21, 2016
Thanks for reading!