Pittsburgh Penguins

Monday planner: On a whim to Ottawa

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BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

CINCINNATI — A look at the week ahead on the site …

• Monday: The 129th opener of the Pittsburgh Baseball Club. Column to follow.

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• Tuesday: There will be no Tuesday 12 Qs this week. I hate to miss any regular feature, but I’ll be driving back to Pittsburgh overnight from Cincinnati, then flying in the morning up to Ottawa. Needless to say, this trip was unscheduled, but when the hockey team appears hellbent on missing the Stanley Cup playoffs and this lines up as the most pivotal game of the season, duty calls. I’ll file a column from Canada’s capital after the game.

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News/views: Penguins’ picture darkens

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Pittsburgh Penguins v Philadelphia Flyers

Steve Mason keeps the puck out of the Flyers’ net Sunday at Wells Fargo Center. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

News: Flyers 4, Penguins 1.

Views: Oh, boy.

If yesterday represented dusk, now it’s flat-out dark. The Senators, ninth in the Eastern Conference, are only three points back, and they face the miserable Maple Leafs tonight in Toronto. That would present a one-point gap before the Penguins and Senators meet Tuesday in Canada’s capital.

I’m not going to comment on a game I didn’t cover — I’m in Cincinnati in advance of the Pirates’ opener here tomorrow — but effort certainly didn’t appear to be a problem this time, judging from the hotel TV and the 47-20 advantage in shots. On the other hand, focus, the other vexing shortcoming I cited in yesterday’s column from Columbus, looked as lousy as ever.

Either way … wow.

Column: Do these Penguins even care?

by • Columns •

Pittsburgh Penguins v Columbus Blue Jackets

The Blue Jackets’ Nick Foligno fires from center ice into an open net to complete his hat trick today. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

COLUMBUS, Ohio — There is so much that can be so easily explained, even excused about the Penguins’ current crunch or collapse or whatever you’d choose to call it.

They’re missing Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, two titanic NHL talents.

They’ve been banged up and beaten down, short-handed on the bench because of cap issues.

They’ve run into rotten luck, from bad bounces to an unsustainably low shooting percentage.

And yeah, the refs are out to get them.

No, really, maybe they are. I genuinely can’t dismiss that concept anymore. Not after all that’s been witnessed these past couple weeks and again this afternoon in the 5-3 loss to the Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena. Referees Greg Kimmerly and Brian Pochmara were beyond awful in missing a dangerous boarding by Columbus’ Cody Goloubef on Blake Comeau and much else, including infractions by the Penguins.

But the cold fact remains that the Penguins’ 3-7-1 slide has suddenly, stunningly imperiled their Stanley Cup playoff position — the ninth-place Senators are just five points back in the Eastern Conference — and the one component that can’t can’t be explained or excused, one that can’t be justified in any way, is plain old not giving a damn.

And this team, or at least three-quarters of it, appears not to give a damn.

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Podcast: A full, ranting show on 105.9 the X

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BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

Here’s the podcast of my ranting and mostly ridiculous show on 105.9 the X in place of Mark Madden. Mostly Penguins, a good bit of Pirates, a little Steelers.

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Friday Insider: Ref giving silent treatment?

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Referee Wes McCauley, second from left, confers with the crew last month in Buffalo. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

Roundup of a lot of randomness from a lot of time around our teams …

• Wes McCauley is, by every measurable account, a rising star in the ranks of NHL referees. Now in his 13th season, the son of the late former ref and director of officiating John McCauley has been chosen to work each of the two Stanley Cup finals and was mic’d up by NBC for the recent Stadium Series game at Yankee Stadium.

This doesn’t happen by accident. Such assignments, ideally, are made on merit.

Turner's

On March 15 at Consol Energy Center, McCauley issued the Penguins 62 penalty minutes, including misconducts to Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang. I’m no admirer of McCauley’s temperament in general, but I had absolutely no problem with his actions that day. The Penguins behaved like petulant toddlers. They had it coming.

But my emphasis there regarding McCauley is on that day.

He was right to handle the Penguins the way he did that day.

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Podcast: All pucks on Penguins 24/7 with Metzer

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BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

Here’s the podcast of my weekly appearance on Penguins Radio 24/7, the team’s online HD station, with host Brian Metzer, covering the local team’s many issues as well as the NHL’s hilarious four-game suspension of the Jets’ Dustin Byfuglien.

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Column: Penguins tiring out the D … why exactly?

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The Flyers’ Chris VandeVelde checks Patric Hornqvist closely at Steve Mason’s crease Wednesday. — GETTY

BY DEJAN KOVACEVIC

No doubt, there was a whole lot to hate about the Penguins’ flat-lined 4-1 loss to the are-they-really-rivals-if-they-always-win Flyers last night at Consol Energy Center. The forwards were soft and lazy. The defensemen were soft and loose. Marc-Andre Fleury gave up a soft rebound and lost his focus against this particular opponent for seemingly the umpteenth time.

And did I mention they were bad?

That’s OK. The captain, on the occasion of his 300th NHL goal, took care of that through an expression that was anything but celebratory.

“We were bad,” Sidney Crosby was saying at his stall. “We didn’t give ourselves a chance, to be honest with you. I don’t think they did anything different than what we expected. We were bad from start to finish.”

Wonderful. So let us all, in the spirit of Philadelphia, hold all those truths to be self-evident.

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