• Everyone blamed themselves in the room blah blah. Chiefly Marcus Pettersson for the fourth goal. Hated letting Valeri Nichushkin by like that. 

• I asked Tristan Jarry about it. He said he played it “too aggressively” in going for the poke. 

• I asked Mike Sullivan about that fourth goal, and he stated the obvious in, “We just got beat,” but added, “There could’ve been back-pressure, too.” That’s an apparent reference to Rickard Rakell, which is why I’ve cited three skaters, not just Pettersson, for allowing that zone entry.

• Sullivan, asked if this represented a backward step for Jarry: “Yeah, I thought so.”

• Walking home to write and record. 

Just a reminder after tonight’s debacle that Jack St. Ivany won’t be available for any changes on D anytime soon. Mentioned this last Wilkes-Barre/Scranton game but he’s been out with an upper-body injury and is week-to-week.

Warmups have wound up. Still no official lineups, but Phil Tomasino was out there, which is certainly encouraging. Come on over to the LIVE FILE!

The Penguins will start Tristan Jarry in goal tonight vs. the Avalanche, and they’re considering Phil Tomasino a game-time decision, per Mike Sullivan.

Tomasino's been on the ice with the team two days in a row, including today's morning skate, coming off an upper-body injury sustained this past Friday in New York.

It's a crazy, crunched-up time of year, and today's timeline could be seen as typical: Hockey in the morning, the afternoon video show, the bulk of the afternoon at the HQ/shop, then a walk up to the arena for Penguins vs. Avalanche, then write and record all night.

My point: Come see us Downtown! Buy your Christmas gifts from us, where we can vouch for both the quality and value! We're here for you!

My other point: Buy a gift subscription! There's no deadline, no delivery, just the gift of everything our app/site offer for the sports fan in your life!

Since missing five games with a concussion in mid-November after taking a puck to the head for the second time this year, Blake Lizotte has been consistent for the Penguins. He's scored four goals and tallied three assists in the last six games.

Lizotte has suffered two concussions this season -- both from being hit in the head with a puck off a teammate's blade -- and has played in only 13 of the Penguins' 29 games. 

Monday after practice, he credited his success to being able to have fun on the ice. 

"I think it's just, I missed so much time and you watch the guys play and compete and I think watching them play makes you want to be out there," Lizotte said. "So I think for me, it's just having fun. Wanting to be out there for the six to seven weeks I was out, so finally getting back in there, it's been fun. Just playing with passion and joy has been a big part of the success so far."

During his first seven games of the season, Lizotte only scored two goals and didn't record any assists. However, he's seen his time on the ice increase since his return. He's played an average of 21 shifts per game over the last six games after averaging about 13.5 through his first seven. He's also played over 13 minutes in four of the past six games after not doing that at all before his second concussion. 

Jesse Puljujarvi on Saturday played his first game since Nov. 23, ending a stretch of healthy scratches. He skated on the right side of the Penguins' third line next to Michael Bunting and Blake Lizotte in the Penguins' 5-2 win over the Maple Leafs and recorded two hits and an even plus/minus in 11:15. The Penguins were outshot 4-2 when he was on the ice at five-on-five, and trailed 12-8 in shot attempts.

"Personally, I felt terrible," Puljujarvi said about his play. "I didn't feel good. I just tried to work hard and tried to play smart."

Puljujarvi clarified that by feeling terrible, he doesn't mean that he felt bad physically. He felt terrible about his play. "I didn't play well," he said. "I didn't feel good. Hopefully I can play good hockey again at some point."

I asked Puljujarvi if he felt he played poorly defensively or if it was more so the lack of offense he was unhappy with, and he said it was "everything."

"I didn't feel good out there," he said. "But we get the job done. So I'm happy about that, but hopefully I can help the team more."

Puljujarvi said he hopes that it was just a matter of needing time to readjust to game action again after having that long of a stretch without playing. Monday's line combinations were unchanged from Saturday's game, so signs are pointing to Puljujarvi getting another opportunity on Tuesday against the Avalanche at PPG Paints Arena.