The Pittsburgh Penguins have a chance to be the center of attention as the NHL trade deadline approaches with multiple players possibly one the move. Most notable among them is top defenseman Marcus Pettersson who is likely going to be a top trade target from the Penguins roster.

Pettersson’s trade stock might slide a bit, however, as the Penguins announce he will be out of the lineup on a week-to-week basis with a lower-body injury. Pettersson was an early exit in the Penguins overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators, after taking a tough bump into the boards.

After just over six minutes of ice time, Pettersson left the game and did not return, forcing the Penguins to play short-handed on the blue line for most of the night.

The Penguins have been on a good run as of late with a 6-3-1 record in their last 10 games and are starting to flirt with a playoff spot. That’s a huge difference from seeing losing streaks pile up and being just a point out of last in the Eastern Conference.

The East is finally starting to show signs of separation in the standings, and the Penguins are above water for the moment.

Losing Pettersson might make things tough, however, as he is by far their best defensive defenseman. Proving to be capable of playing with either Kris Letang or Erik Karlsson, the Penguins have gotten outstanding defensive work from Pettersson over the last couple of seasons.

The 2024-25 season hasn’t been as kind to Pettersson, but he’s still a top name. The early struggles of the Penguins, and Pettersson in the final year of his contract makes him a perfect trade candidate with the deadline still to come.

The Penguins have not yet made any corresponding moves to fill the gap that will be left in Pettersson’s spot. They have plenty of defensemen on the roster and have been impressed by the play of top defensive prospect Owen Pickering.

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PHILADELPHIA — The Pittsburgh Steelers fell to the Philadelphia Eagles in tough fashion Sunday. While they did clinch a playoff berth with losses from the Miami Dolphins and Indianapolis Colts, between injuries and some key parts that fell flat in their play, they have questions to answer.

So, here are the winners and losers from Sunday’s game:

Winner: Pat Freiermuth

Pat Freiermuth is the first tight end since Heath Miller to score three touchdowns in three straight games. What a dazzling last few weeks he has put together, and all of the praise should go to him because Freiermuth has found his groove. The Steelers have started working with him more on the vertical plane, and it has unlocked another level to Freiermuth’s game.

Is he perfect? No. But it is becoming clear that Freiermuth is an excellent seam buster who can take all the different routes on the vertical plane, including on his touchdown. Add in a leap in his blocking, and Freiermuth is on an upward trend despite most players going downward.

Loser: Najee Harris

Tough day at the office for Najee Harris, who had the huge fumble on the toss play that hit him right in the hands. Harris had to catch that ball, and even on his six runs, he did not maximize the runs often. The run game struggles are often schematic, but Harris had as poor of a game as he has had since he entered the NFL.

Right now, Jaylen Warren looks more dynamic and is in the groove. He is fully healthy and ready to go, so the Steelers should give him even more of a workload.

Winner: T.J. Watt

The ankle injury aside, Watt gave Lane Johnson all kinds of trouble, which speaks to the type of player Watt is and has become. You want to know why no one leaves Watt on an island? Just look at what he did to Johnson in this game.

Johnson often looks great and has no worries each week, but Watt won consistently in this one, getting a forced fumble and two sacks. Watt got the better of Johnson far more than Johnson would have liked, and it led to one of the worst games of Johnson’s career, but all of that is drawn to Watt and his play.

Loser: Missed tackles

This can encompass a lot of different players. Patrick Queen missed more than a few tackles. Donte Jackson whiffed on Kenneth Gainwell on a third down that should have been a stop. Joey Porter Jr. had one of the worst tackling games of his career and turned the clock back to last year after it felt like he had taken the step forward needed in that area. The Steelers’ tackling was a huge part of giving the Eagles first downs by breaking tackles in the open field and that needs to be nipped in the bud now.

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PHILADELPHIA — Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Mike Tomlin says that the explanation he got from the referees on why tight end Darnell Washington and wide receiver Calvin Austin III were called for unnecessary roughness while the Philadelphia Eagles were not was ‘not sufficient.’

According to a pool report, head referee Alan Eck broke down the process behind the play and said that the referees on the field and the officials on replay assist in New York did not see the punches.

“No punches were observed on the field. Since we had flagged down, it gave New York an opportunity to review the play as well. There was no video evidence of punches observed by the Philadelphia Eagles,” Eck said.

Austin joked that he was destined to get called for the flag because he was ‘the biggest person on the field’ but admitted he was surprised the flag was called on him and that the flag was ‘whatever.’

“If I see plenty of Eagles come up and surround [Darnell], like, yeah, I’m going to come in and help my dog, but I guess being the biggest guy out there, I’m going to get flagged,” Austin said.

In a video circulating social media, Eagles cornerbacks Darius Slay and Quinyon Mitchell can be seen throwing punches at Steelers players. Slay hits Washington with a punch with an official looking on. No penalties were assessed to the Eagles. Instead, the Steelers were backed up from the four-yard line to the 19-yard line, and they would kick a field goal instead of scoring a touchdown.

Tomlin could be seen on the FOX broadcast, irate that the flags were called, which is where his reaction to the call came in after the game.

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