“Elmo is just checking in! How is everybody doing?”

The Guins are continuing their West Coast bender, like a drunk dad out for cigarettes. Pittsburgh picked up a much-needed 5–2 win over the Kings, giving us a brief episode of hope. Then the Ducks handed us a 5–2 loss. That puts us at an ugly 2–7–1. Defensive breakdowns, inconsistent scoring, and an inability to put together a complete 60 minutes have created a nice warm spot on your bed.

Now, let’s talk about San Jose.

Sidney will be checking on another love child of his, Macklin Celebrini. The Sharks are sitting at 8–11–1; They recently went through a four-game losing streak, dropping games to Calgary, Los Angeles, Minnesota, and Dallas. So, they’re coming into this looking to feast on a wounded animal. The likely thrones will be Celebrini; he’ll likely be auditioning to carry Sid’s sac. There’s Ivar Stenberg who already has six goals for the season. Also there’s Will Smith

The likely goaltender will be Yaroslav Askarov. There’s a silver lining here in that his play has been inconsistent, which could give the Penguins an opportunity to capitalize.

Let’s build on the win against LA, put the Anaheim game behind us, and get something going on this road trip.

LGP