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The Pittsburgh Penguins took part in a game last night that did not mean anything to them in the standings. They played like it did not mean anything to them in the standings. The Wild played like their game did mean something and it did. Minnesota was rewarded with a 4-0 victory.
This is not a game to overreact to, it was what it was and the team will move on from it, that is how it works.
The only thing that is upsetting to me is that they gave such a lame effort in a Western Conference building. The Penguins only play once a year in these places and I think the fans deserve an honest effort. A Saturday night in Minnesota is a lot different than a Tuesday evening on Long Island.
The only thing that matters right now is the overall health of the roster. Get players back in the lineup and keep them healthy. If the Penguins aren’t healthy they literally have zero chance in the playoffs. Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jussi Jokinen, Olli Maatta, and Marcel Goc need to be healthy. A clunker in Minnesota doesn’t mean anything, getting those players back means everything.
Here are some of the player injury updates:
To recap: Maatta is day-to-day, Jokinen is day-to-day, Vitale was sent back to Pittsburgh, Malkin may or may not be ready for the playoffs.
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_Trib) April 6, 2014
Pens have recalled Adam Payerl. Don't believe anyone was hurt last night. Players will be given rests this week.
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_Trib) April 6, 2014
Don’t read too much into Malkin’s playoff status yet. I would still fully expect him to be ready for Game 1 of the 1st round.
The Penguins are going to start resting players who are dinged up, the quality of the on ice product may suffer because of it. It doesn’t make the games fun to watch but health trumps wins right now.
Adam Payerl being called up from WB/S would not happen if the Penguins were 100% focused on the game results. They are in roster management mode, tough to blame them for that approach right now.
Having said that, congratulations to Adam Payerl on his first ever call-up in the NHL, great moment for him and a nice tangible reward for all the hard work that he has put into his hockey career.
Penguins will take on Colorado tonight, I would be surprised if it was a total clunker like the Minnesota game, but if it is, oh well. This weekend has literally no impact on how the Penguins will play in the playoffs (sans potential injury).
Beau Bennett makes his return to Denver, it is where he played his collegiate hockey.
Here are the results from the Matt Cooke poll:
If interested, I recorded a podcast with Matthew Coller of Hockey Prospectus, we talked exclusively about the Penguins. You can find the podcast here.
Matthew is one of my favorite follows on Twitter, he does a great job with his analysis. Give him a follow.
Thanks for reading!
Follow me on twitter Follow @GunnerStaal