And down they went, one after the other after the other after the other:
NHL
I rubbed my eyes so often they might as well have bled. All through this Tuesday evening that just might've put Pittsburgh's beloved NHL franchise back into the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2022, all these annoying Eastern teams that'd been doing nothing but win, seemingly for months now, kept losing. And in regulation, too. No overtimes. No shootouts. No freebie points.
Which left this wonderful scene in its wake:
NHL
So yeah, there it is.
I'm not booking playoff travel yet, and you'd better believe no one on the inside's planning for anything beyond the next game Thursday night in Tampa, Fla. But if we're keeping this real, the Islanders aren't catching the Penguins at three points back with the Penguins holding a game in hand, the Blue Jackets aren't doing so from four points back, and none of the Senators, Flyers or these Red Wings who had to be scraped off the PPG Paints Arena ice last night ... they're not catching the Penguins from six points back.
I'll save most of what I have to see about this once the asterisk's officially affixed. But for now, please, allow me at least to acknowledge -- no, applaud -- the extraordinary approach and execution of everyone involved, top to bottom, from Kyle Dubas and staff near-perfect roster execution, to Dan Muse and staff for Jack Adams-worthy work at rink level, to the three first-ballot Hall of Famers Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson, to ... yeah, that'd be a long list, so I'll stop here.
It's not done. But then, that's the beauty of it, right?
• Once more with gusto: Stuart Skinner's the No. 1 goaltender here. Not Arturs Silovs. Pretending otherwise serves no purpose beyond dodging an actual decision, one that'll have to be made by Muse sooner rather than later, anyway.
I'd still get Sergei Murashov up here, if only to further his readiness if needed in the playoffs, but all else notwithstanding, Skinner's the guy.
• Elmer Soderblom is ... something. Can't imagine what the Red Wings were thinking in giving him away for a third-round pick, but then Steve Yzerman hasn't had anywhere near the impact on the Detroit franchise in the front office that he once had as a player.
There's so much raw power to this kid's game. A trait that can't be coached or concocted.
I can attest firsthand that Dubas and staff are committed to maximizing that. They see everything we're seeing, and they love him.
• Process this: With their season on the line and missing some of their top talent to varying degrees, the Penguins on back-to-back nights absolutely annihilated the desperate Islanders and the even more desperate Red Wings by an aggregate score of 13-4.
They didn't just defeat those teams. They drained them.
• I'd make the world's worst GM, but I've still got to admit: I'd approach Anthony Mantha's agent with pretty much a blank check, and then sweat the consequences some other year.
Tough to fathom that he could be lost as a free agent this summer, isn't it?
• The Pirates hit the heck out of the ball last night in Cincinnati, a welcome departure from only everything they'd been doing in the series I covered in New York. Of greater relevance, I'd say, they got two home runs from Oneil Cruz, one from Bryan Reynolds, and it wasn't just the new bats doing the booming for once. (Though Ryan O'Hearn did go deep again, as well.)
Until I'm Clint Hurdle-level purple in the face, I'll keep saying that this team goes nowhere without getting the best -- or at least a lot better -- from the guys who'd been here previously.
• Seeing all three of Carmen Mlodzinski, Braxton Ashcraft and now Bubba Chandler open 2026 with strong starts makes me appreciate all the more the fun bond those three have formed. They're not Paul Skenes. They know that. But they also carry themselves with pride over who they are and what they can, both individually and collectively.
• Art Rooney set an actual deadline for Aaron Rodgers?
Wait, I read that right?
I'm not even sure what to think of that. Just legit stunned. Never thought it'd happen.
• Consider me a little put off anytime anyone inside the Steelers praisesWill Howard in excess, in this case Mike McCarthy. Not that I don't believe in the young man myself. Rather, it's that, if they believed even half of what they say about him, they wouldn't be waiting on Rodgers to clean the sand from between his toes and make up his mind.
• Thanks for reading my stuff. I'll be back at the Double Shots desk this afternoon.
THE ASYLUM
DK: And on one magical night ...
And down they went, one after the other after the other after the other:
NHL
I rubbed my eyes so often they might as well have bled. All through this Tuesday evening that just might've put Pittsburgh's beloved NHL franchise back into the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since 2022, all these annoying Eastern teams that'd been doing nothing but win, seemingly for months now, kept losing. And in regulation, too. No overtimes. No shootouts. No freebie points.
Which left this wonderful scene in its wake:
NHL
So yeah, there it is.
I'm not booking playoff travel yet, and you'd better believe no one on the inside's planning for anything beyond the next game Thursday night in Tampa, Fla. But if we're keeping this real, the Islanders aren't catching the Penguins at three points back with the Penguins holding a game in hand, the Blue Jackets aren't doing so from four points back, and none of the Senators, Flyers or these Red Wings who had to be scraped off the PPG Paints Arena ice last night ... they're not catching the Penguins from six points back.
I'll save most of what I have to see about this once the asterisk's officially affixed. But for now, please, allow me at least to acknowledge -- no, applaud -- the extraordinary approach and execution of everyone involved, top to bottom, from Kyle Dubas and staff near-perfect roster execution, to Dan Muse and staff for Jack Adams-worthy work at rink level, to the three first-ballot Hall of Famers Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Erik Karlsson, to ... yeah, that'd be a long list, so I'll stop here.
It's not done. But then, that's the beauty of it, right?
• Once more with gusto: Stuart Skinner's the No. 1 goaltender here. Not Arturs Silovs. Pretending otherwise serves no purpose beyond dodging an actual decision, one that'll have to be made by Muse sooner rather than later, anyway.
I'd still get Sergei Murashov up here, if only to further his readiness if needed in the playoffs, but all else notwithstanding, Skinner's the guy.
• Elmer Soderblom is ... something. Can't imagine what the Red Wings were thinking in giving him away for a third-round pick, but then Steve Yzerman hasn't had anywhere near the impact on the Detroit franchise in the front office that he once had as a player.
There's so much raw power to this kid's game. A trait that can't be coached or concocted.
I can attest firsthand that Dubas and staff are committed to maximizing that. They see everything we're seeing, and they love him.
• Process this: With their season on the line and missing some of their top talent to varying degrees, the Penguins on back-to-back nights absolutely annihilated the desperate Islanders and the even more desperate Red Wings by an aggregate score of 13-4.
They didn't just defeat those teams. They drained them.
• I'd make the world's worst GM, but I've still got to admit: I'd approach Anthony Mantha's agent with pretty much a blank check, and then sweat the consequences some other year.
Tough to fathom that he could be lost as a free agent this summer, isn't it?
• The Pirates hit the heck out of the ball last night in Cincinnati, a welcome departure from only everything they'd been doing in the series I covered in New York. Of greater relevance, I'd say, they got two home runs from Oneil Cruz, one from Bryan Reynolds, and it wasn't just the new bats doing the booming for once. (Though Ryan O'Hearn did go deep again, as well.)
Until I'm Clint Hurdle-level purple in the face, I'll keep saying that this team goes nowhere without getting the best -- or at least a lot better -- from the guys who'd been here previously.
• Marcell Ozuna's off to a 1-for-16 start at DH.
Don't ... make ... me ... do ... this.
• Seeing all three of Carmen Mlodzinski, Braxton Ashcraft and now Bubba Chandler open 2026 with strong starts makes me appreciate all the more the fun bond those three have formed. They're not Paul Skenes. They know that. But they also carry themselves with pride over who they are and what they can, both individually and collectively.
• Art Rooney set an actual deadline for Aaron Rodgers?
Wait, I read that right?
I'm not even sure what to think of that. Just legit stunned. Never thought it'd happen.
• Consider me a little put off anytime anyone inside the Steelers praises Will Howard in excess, in this case Mike McCarthy. Not that I don't believe in the young man myself. Rather, it's that, if they believed even half of what they say about him, they wouldn't be waiting on Rodgers to clean the sand from between his toes and make up his mind.
• Thanks for reading my stuff. I'll be back at the Double Shots desk this afternoon.
Want to participate in our comments?
Want an ad-free experience?
Become a member, and enjoy premium benefits!
We’d love to have you!