Kovacevic: Johnston best win one of next two

Brief and to the Point ...

Mike Johnston's job isn't in immediate jeopardy, but the Penguins won't wait long to make a move if the Ws don't come mighty soon.

As in this week.

The Senators are on tap Thursday at Consol Energy Center, and they're 3-1 with an NHL-high 16 goals. It might not qualify as a crime to lose to this opponent, even if Ottawa played the previous night in Columbus and should be tired.

But the same can't -- and undoubtedly won't -- be said if the Penguins lose this one and the next one Saturday when the completely rebuilding Maple Leafs visit. They're 0-2-1 and expected to be one of the league's worst teams, if not the worst. There won't be many uglier ignominies here or anywhere in 2015-16 than losing to Toronto.



If that happens ... well, let's just remind that it was only four games into the 2001-02 season that Mario Lemieux, then a resurrected player, had Ivan Hlinka fired. Mario's never had any regrets or reservations about shoving coaches out the door, and be very sure that his ongoing process of trying to sell his portion of the franchise at top dollar won't bring any dramatic change in that stance.

The Penguins need to be good right now because they're in what might be the best division in hockey.

The Penguins also need to be entertaining right now because potential buyers are watching.

• Johnston's a smart man. Not even his most ardent critics would deny that. So what in the name of Pierre Creamer was he thinking to suddenly scrap a summer-long plan -- stated by everyone from the top down and practiced all through the preseason -- of pairing Kris Letang and Olli Maatta?

And to do so two days before the puck dropped in Dallas?

With all the attention being paid to the forwards and the power play for scoring three goals in as many games, the underlying problem is being largely ignored: There's precious little puck support on the rush.

The defense can't do that with all of their men, of course, but it would have a far better chance with a legit shutdown pairing, as well as scratching Rob Scuderi in favor of Adam Clendening.

• Admit it: The only thing you heard in that previous item was the part about scratching Scuderi. I see how you are.

• The Steelers' MVP to date: David DeCastro. And not just because of this extraordinary block Monday in San Diego that came off a hard pull ...



He's been eating up the man across from him from the first snap in Foxborough, and he hasn't relented in the slightest. It takes even great offensive linemen a little longer, given the intricacies of the position, but this one is backing up the faith of Kevin Colbert and Mike Tomlin in a monstrous way this year.

Next stop: Alan Faneca.

"Oh, wow, no, please," DeCastro came back when I brought up that name. "I've got a lot of work ahead, a long way to go."

• Tomlin isn't to blame for those 18 seconds ticking off the clock. Obviously.

But he's going to hear -- and deserve -- all the clock management questions he faces every week until he and/or the Rooneys catch up in this essential area. Most NFL teams already are employing clock management specialists, even right down on the sideline. And the Steelers aren't even watching the thing.

Pay the towel boy an extra few bucks or something.

• By the time the National League Championship Series begins Saturday night in New York or Los Angeles, the senior circuit's postseason will have included seven full days in which no games were played.

Seven!

But the wild card can't possibly be more than one game without shortening the regular season, right?

• Something to ponder if you're one of those people who watch baseball playoffs after the local team is out: The Pirates were a combined 11-1 against the Mets and Dodgers.

• Now that the Wild Card angst has mostly died down around town, let's with a clear head put the blame for defeat squarely where it belongs: Milwaukee.

If the Pirates don't lose those final six games at Miller Park, if they somehow were able to overcome that singular decade-long psychological hurdle -- and don't doubt that for a second -- they'd have kept PNC Park's visiting clubhouse from being stained by champagne not once but twice in a week.

• Three players you will see in Bradenton next spring: J.A. Happ, Neil Walker, Travis Snider.

• Not be even remotely negative about Pitt's 4-1 start, but man, it's just got to kill the Panthers' faithful to see this Pat Narduzzi defense as well as Nate Peterman's emergence at quarterback, then wonder what could have been with a healthy James Conner. It's a fun conference slate ahead, Notre Dame sprinkled in and ... oh, just enjoy.

• The spread on Penn State's visit to Columbus this weekend is 17 in favor of No. 1 Ohio State. I'm not suggesting the Nittany Lions and Buckeyes are comparable across the board, but I'm quite comfortable suggesting the gap wouldn't be nearly as large if Christian Hackenberg were still being coached rather than held back by James Franklin.

Hack will make a fine Houston Texan someday soon.

• West Virginia's outlook is even more ominous, with No. 2 Baylor getting 21.5 at home.

Gee, can't imagine why: Could be that Baylor has scored 66, 63, 70, 66 and 56 points in winning all five of its games.

When I was in Texas last week, a friend of mine observed this about the high-flying Bears: "You give me a good Baylor football game over any of that NFL any day of the week, I'll take it. Those boys are havin' fun!"

• The Pirates did not sell out any of their final 18 regular-season games, four of which were with the Cubs, three with the Cardinals. That was nearly a quarter of their schedule. The last sellout was Aug. 22, a Saturday fireworks night.

I don't have an opinion on that, of course. Can't talk about Fight Club.

• The Penguins on this night will record their 379th consecutive sellout, a span in which they've sold 6,766,344 tickets at by far the highest prices in town. The average Penguins ticket costs $73.59, highest among all U.S.-based NHL teams and nearly quadruple the cost of Pirates tickets at $19.99.

Despite this, you'll still hear those in town who will never accept hockey mock the Penguins' sellout streak, in part because of the Student Rush program and other discounts for weeknight games such as tonight's. Well, Student Rush tickets cost $25, or about five bucks more than the average ticket at PNC. The other discounts in place actually cost much more than Student Rush.

So tell me again how Student Rush somehow diminishes the validity of the sellout streak?

OK, thought so.

• If Ben Roethlisberger somehow plays Sunday -- and I'll believe that when I see it -- Tomlin and Todd Haley had better be prepared to march up and down the field in two-tight-end sets. Because there can't be so much as a solitary Arizona finger squeaking through that offensive line.

• Wait, the NFL hunts down Cam Heyward for an innocent tribute to his late father but Greg Hardy is playing in Dallas?

Oh, my. Take it away, No. 12 ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mzX1fbiHYzs

• I could go on all day with this format, and this isn't even touching Major League Baseball's pathetic double-standard for second base slides, now that a New York team was affected.

Beginning next Tuesday, I'll be doing one of these kinds of columns every week called Tuesday Takes. Hope you enjoyed reading as much as I did writing!