It was an absolutely crazy day for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Fans woke up this morning to a statement by the team that the shipment of Jaromir Jagr bobbleheads, which the team was set to give away at tonight’s game, had been stolen en route to Pittsburgh.
This led to some of the greatest hockey humor you’ll ever see on Twitter/X, and the Penguins themselves leaned into it a bit when they posted a video with Jagr, now ready for his next job.
Yes my friends, Jagr Watch is officially on. He’s on the case, and if I’m being honest, there’s no one I’d rather send to find the stolen bobbles.
Despite some suspicions from fans (and noted wet blanket Keith Olbermann), the Penguins have maintained that the theft was in fact real and that fans who were hoping to get bobble heads would be given a voucher to redeem at a later date when the bobble heads arrive.
But even after all that, the Penguins still had a game to play tonight. With Detective Jagr once again in attendance, the Penguins we’re hosting the lowly San Jose Sharks.
Listen, anything other than a win tonight by the Penguins would have rightfully caused this fan base to erupt.
A Sharks team that had won six games on the road all season and is sporting a league-worst 16-42-7 record should not have defeated the Penguins (even if the Pens are also bad), and luckily for Pittsburgh, they didn’t.
Though the Sharks made it a competitive game for a majority of the night (the game was tied 3-3 after two periods), the Penguins pulled away convincingly in the third.
Three third period goals by John Ludvig, Rickard Rakell, and Bryan Rust (into an empty net) lifted the Penguins past the Sharks by a final score of 6-3. Somewhere in the crowd, detective Jaromir Jagr was smiling, having taken a night off from his new job of recovering stolen bobble heads to appreciate the Pens’ win.
In the midst of all this craziness, the Penguins finished the night now five points back of the final wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. It was just recently the Pens found themselves nearly ten points out.
The Tampa Bay Lightning currently hold the first wild card at 76 points, and a late season collapse by them is unlikely. In the second spot are the New York Islanders, currently at 72 points. The Islanders have had their ups and downs this season, but have been shutout in back to back games.
Of course, the problem for the Penguins is not so much the distance away from the wild card, but the volume of teams between the Pens and that second wild card.
Tied with the Islanders in points are the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit lost 4-1 to the Arizona Coyotes tonight and is a vulnerable team at the moment.
That loss in the desert was their seventh straight, and ironically the team has not won a game since introducing an advertising patch to their jerseys. (Yet another reason why jersey ads are one of the most despicable things on the planet).
There was also a scuffle in practice on Wednesday as frustrations have continued to boil in Detroit.
And then, between the 72-point teams stand three others before the Penguins appear.
The Washington Capitals, who have had a confusion season but are still hanging around, are lurking in the wild card hunt at 69 points. They are one of the lesser mentioned teams in the wild card race, but make no mistake they can pose a real threat.
Also at 69 points are the Buffalo Sabres, who are on a three-game winning streak after the trade deadline. The Sabres, who were involved in one of the NHL’s biggest trades at the deadline when they sent Casey Mittelstadt to the Colorado Avalanche for Bowen Byram.
Then at 68 points are the New Jersey Devils. Goaltending has absolutely killed the Devils this season, which prompted the team to get an entirely new goalie tandem at the deadline. The only question will be if it was too late for those moves to save the season. Despite that, New Jersey did record a convincing 6-2 win over the Dallas Stars.
And lastly at 67 point is the Penguins. They are by no means within striking distance, but being within five points is a lot closer than a lot of us expected after the deadline.
Of course, the Pens could be right back to seven or eight points back by the time the weekend is over, that’s just how this season has gone.
But…I guess, hypothetically, there is still a chance.
(Featured photo by Justin Berl/Getty Images)
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