POINT SHOTS

If you have waded into the comments section on our website, you might have interacted with Ricky Blitt (see centerpiece). He chimes in from time to time, especially if the Penguins make a move he disagrees with. That has happened more recently than he would like. Blitt is not thrilled about the first year of the Kyle Dubas era. Dubas on his bi-weekly radio show with Josh Getzoff disputed the notion that trading Jake Guentzel for three youngsters and Michael Bunting was the team waving the white flag on this season. His players must have missed that memo. They beat the NHL’s worst team Thursday to somehow get back within shouting distance of a playoff spot. But over the past two weeks they haven’t looked particularly interested in participating in that tournament. Bunting played OK alongside Sidney Crosby and then Evgeni Malkin in the second half of the Sharks game. You can see stylistic similarities to Bryan Rust in the way he is unafraid to go to the net and also his willingness to hunt pucks. Two notable differences: Bunting is a lefty and significantly sassier. I will say it again: Why isn’t Sam Poulin up here? He’s been productive since returning from his latest injury and may give the team and its ticket salespeople a little jolt. Give Poulin a dozen or so NHL games to play without fear of coming out of the lineup, then send him back for a Wilkes-Barre/ Scranton playoff run. Pittsburgh called up 24-year-old defenseman Jack St. Ivany on Friday. He is worth a look. He is 6-foot-3 and a needed right shot. He probably can’t do much worse than John Ludvig and Ryan Shea. I know Ludvig has some supporters among the fan base and the media because he is the rare Penguin who is willing to drop the gloves and defend a teammate. But you have to play the game itself well enough to justify a spot in the lineup.