Pens Points: Capital Punishment

Two games in North American capital cities end in two ugly losses for the Pittsburgh Penguins over the weekend. After an ugly showing against the Ottawa Senators on Saturday night, the Penguins followed it up a listless showing against the Washington Capitals and were blown out 6-1 by their rivals. [Pensburgh]

Bad weekend hopefully made better by Pens Points...

Ottawa was the Penguins first stop on their weekend tour through national capitals and an ugly second period let to an eventual 6-3 rout to the Senators. If you missed the game and want to catch up you can do so with our game recap. [Pensburgh]

While the Penguins may not be leading in the standings, they are leading the league in hits at the moment. While the definition of a hit can vary depending on who is keeping stats, right now the Penguins are sitting tops in the league. [Pensburgh]

More reprieve arrived for the Penguins on Sunday in Washington with the return of Sidney Crosby and Brian Dumoulin to the lineup and Mike Sullivan behind the bench. All three just went through COVID protocols after testing positive. [Penguins]

It wasn’t only Crosby and Dumoulin coming out of COVID protocols to join the Penguins on Sunday. Defensemen Chad Ruhwedel and Marcus Pettersson were also activated, bringing more much needed reinforcements back to the lineup. [Pensburgh]

Evan Rodrigues has been keeping the Penguins afloat during this early part of the season but not even he is without fault. Rodrigues was fined $2,000 by the NHL for a tripping infraction against the Senators on Saturday. [Trib Live]

Mike Sullivan doesn’t watching from the sidelines as his team plays, but he had no other option after testing positive for COVID. Despite the result on Sunday, Sullivan is just happy to be back behind the bench and calling the shots. [Pittsburgh Post-Gazette]

News and notes from around the NHL...

After playing only one game for the New York Islanders this season, forward Leo Komarov has left the team (and the entire league) to play in the KHL. Komarov announced on Instagram that he is joining SKA immediately. [NHL]