Unfiltered: Tim Benz and Mark Madden discuss latest on Penguins, Ben Roethlisberger’s future, Pirates

Tim Benz and Mark Madden return for this week’s edition of “Unfiltered” on TribLive’s Facebook page to talk about the state of the Penguins and the outlook for Ben Roethlisberger with the Steelers, and to laugh a bit at the Pirates’ projections.

The Penguins are in fairly good shape right now, says Madden. The team needs a few games where the goalie steals one, if they hope to make the playoffs. Tristan Jarry did that Saturday. If they can do that a couple more times, the Pens should be in good shape to make the playoffs.

The guys figure to see the Washington Capitals, New York Islanders and Penguins fighting for the last two playoffs spots in the Eastern division.

The guys also talk about the benching of Kasperi Kapanen in Saturday night’s win over the Islanders. And what about the poor play of Evgeni Malkin this season?

Also looking ahead, what’s Malkin future? He has one more year on his contract. Meanwhile, Sidney Crosby has four years remaining on his contract with the Penguins after 2021. He just played his 1,000th regular-season game. Might he want to keep going beyond the expiration of that deal?

The guys switch to football and talk about Roethlisberger’s outlook with the Steelers.

Does he come back for another year? Or does the team move on from him? Benz and Madden agree that it never ends well for stars on teams.

And in the end, Madden says only one name matters with the Steelers: Rooney. And what the ownership wants. And it seems that they want Roethlisberger to go.

But would Roethlisberger go to another team instead of retiring? The guys discuss that possibility, but don’t think that would go well for him, either.

Benz and Madden also talk about the Pirates’ upcoming season and answer viewers comments and questions.

Watch the show here: