Spring ahead, fall back, but it’s always time for refreshing sports notes! (I have no idea what time it is.)
• The Penguins’ 5-4 overtime win over Boston at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday felt like a season-saver. The Penguins showed maximum guts after trailing 3-0, igniting a furious comeback despite being minus injured Sidney Crosby and suspended Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins are 1-0-1 without both, 3-2-2 without Crosby, and aren’t flinching one bit. It’s a group that believes.
• Kyle Dubas did right by not forcing a costly, quick-fix deal at last Friday’s NHL trade deadline. The Penguins’ president of hockey ops/GM didn’t panic because of Malkin’s suspension, correctly seeing this season as continued transition despite being planted in a playoff spot. The timetable has to be organic and not based on a last hurrah for the core three.
• The acquisition of 6-foot-8 winger Elmer Soderblom from Detroit is in the vein of getting Egor Chinakhov from Columbus: The Penguins see something in Soderblom that the Red Wings didn’t. Soderblom is 24, so there’s time to develop. At least the Penguins have somebody to post up against Victor Wembanyama when they play San Antonio.
• The Penguins are 1-9 in shootouts. That could easily cost them the playoffs. Goalie Arturs Silovs had been the problem, going 1-6 and allowing 13 goals on 20 shots. But Stuart Skinner was in goal for Saturday’s shootout loss to visiting Philadelphia, and now the Penguins can’t score, netting just four of their last 25 tries. All three shooters — Anthony Mantha, Rickard Rakell and Chinakhov — missed meekly on Saturday. The Penguins are a lost cause in shootouts. They’re mentally blocked, have nobody that’s good at it, and it’s too late to practice more.
• After stumbling in his first two seasons with the Penguins, defenseman Erik Karlsson has upped his game dramatically, performing sensationally on both sides of the puck. Crosby is team MVP, proving that even more in absentia. But Karlsson is a close second. Karlsson is consistently a force, be it five-on-five, three-on-three OT, power play or penalty-kill. He just didn’t like playing for Mike Sullivan.
• Mantha had two goals Sunday, upping his season total to 23. He’s on a one-year deal and pricing himself out of Pittsburgh with his furious comeback from knee surgery. Mantha is 6-foot-5. He doesn’t play passively, nor does he play big. He’s like a no-check men’s league version of Kevin Stevens.
• Rookie Avery Hayes provides something the Penguins lack and need: He’s a rat. He aggravates. He’s drawn five penalties in his eight NHL games, been in two fights and approached Saturday’s game vs. Philadelphia like the rivalry it is.
• The Steelers need to sign a top-level wide receiver on the first day of free agency Wednesday, then draft another. New coach Mike McCarthy often uses three wideouts. Patchworking won’t cut it, especially if the quarterback is a 42-year-old who needs all the help he can get. Indianapolis’ Alec Pierce and Green Bay’s Romeo Doubs should be the Steelers’ obvious targets. (They won’t get either.)
• I met McCarthy at Saturday’s Penguins game. Every bit the good guy everybody says. More Pittsburgh than I imagined anybody could possibly be.
• Baltimore got Maxx Crosby. Cleveland still has Myles Garrett. Aaron Rodgers better find a fountain of youth, or a cloak of invisibility, or hire extra security. If Rodgers plays. (Cincinnati’s Joe Burrow is in even more trouble: He’s also got to deal with the Steelers’ T.J. Watt. But Burrow is 29 and can move. He’s dating 44-year-old actress Jessica Alba: A Bengal and a cougar.)
• The Steelers’ hidden weakness is inside linebacker: Payton Wilson is badly overrated. Patrick Queen isn’t nearly worth his $17.1 million cap hit.
• Ex-Steeler Le’Veon Bell tried unsuccessfully to engage influencer/WWE star Logan Paul in a showbiz fight, using the occasion to run his mouth non-stop for a guy who mercilessly sabotaged his own football career. Bell proclaimed that he would “throttle” any pro wrestler. OK, start with Kurt Angle or Brock Lesnar. Bell would tap out like he did in the 2016 AFC Championship Game.
• WWE told Paul he couldn’t fight Bell. But if Bell needs money — here’s betting he does — he could “fight” Paul in WWE, losing as scripted.
• Pat McAfee’s rambling, incoherent interview of Rodgers proved again that the punter is intimidated by the aura of the quarterback. A.J. Hawk resembles one of those giant heads on Easter Island, but at least asked direct questions. Which Rodgers didn’t answer.
• If the Pirates don’t begin the season with 19-year-old phenom Konnor Griffin at shortstop, priorities haven’t changed despite a few decent additions and a bit more money spent. It’s still about stringing the citizens along, not making a concerted effort to win. The Pittsburgh careers of Griffin and Paul Skenes will have a short overlap. Make the most of it.
• The Pirates will be better. But not like local optimists think. The outside world isn’t buying in. For example, TheBigLead.com doesn’t have the Pirates ranked among its top 20 teams in MLB. Starting pitchers Bubba Chandler and Braxton Ashcraft have pitched 101 big-league innings between them. If Griffin doesn’t stick, the bottom third of the order is a disaster. Potential problems abound.
• Including this one: The Pirates have a quartet of left-handed hitters expected to be among their top producers that could be badly compromised by left-handed pitching. Brandon Lowe’s lifetime average against lefties is .219. Ryan O’Hearn’s is .217. Spencer Horowitz is at .192. Oneil Cruz, .173.
• The U.S. is bombing Iran. Iran qualified for the World Cup, which starts June 11, and is scheduled for two games in Los Angeles and one in Seattle. That seems awkward. Although Iran could be considered the home team in Seattle.