Seth Rorabaugh stories, Page 195
Penguins make changes after season-opening loss to Sabres
A day after an insipid season-opening 3-1 loss to the Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena, the Pittsburgh Penguins made several changes to their lines, defensive pairs and power-play units during practice at Cranberry on Friday. The team’s lines and pairs were: 59 Jake Guentzel – 87 Sidney Crosby –...
Empty Thoughts: Sabres 3, Penguins 1
Observations from the Penguins’ season-opening 3-1 loss to the Sabres. The Penguins were supposed to be faster, hungrier and more attentive than the squad which meekly lost to the Islanders in a four-game sweep during the first round of the 2019 postseason. Instead, on the opening night of the 2019-20...
Penguins lose lackluster season opener at home to SabresVideo
The Penguins entered the season with the potential of returning to the days when they were the faster, more dynamic team on the ice. And Thursday, they saw one of the key players from their two most recent Stanley Cup championship teams generate ample offense as he dashed and darted...
Penguins’ Jack Johnson shuts out trade talk to focus on improving
Jack Johnson was where he thought he’d be Thursday morning. Not Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. Not the Pepsi Center in Denver. Not any of the NHL’s other 30 corporate-monikered confines. And definitely not Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre. (Or a surplus Saturn-V rocket aimed at the sun...
Penguins turn to Jake Guentzel, Patric Hornqvist in power play
Phil Kessel wasn’t at the Pittsburgh Penguins’ morning skate on Thursday. That’s nothing out of the ordinary. After all, coach Mike Sullivan usually makes the morning skates optional, and Kessel vigorously took the option over the past four years. Also, there is the matter of Kessel having been traded to...
Penguins have paired Jack Johnson, Justin Schultz again
Jack Johnson was where he thought he’d be Thursday morning. Not Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn. Not the Pepsi Center in Denver. Not any of the NHL’s other 30 corporate-monikered confines. And definitely not Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre. (Or a surplus Saturn-V rocket aimed at the sun...
Penguins’ Alex Galchenyuk is a ‘game-time decision’ vs. Sabres
Penguins forward Alex Galchenyuk is expected to be in the lineup for Thursday’s season-opening contest against the Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena. He missed the bulk of the preseason due to an undisclosed injury. “He feels really good,” said head coach Mike Sullivan. “We’ll visit with the trainers but...
Have the Penguins reclaimed their speed?
It was a throwback to a bygone era during the late stages of Penguins practice in Cranberry on Wednesday. They performed a task they have largely ignored for roughly half a decade. A shootout drill. Players in black and yellow jerseys took turns on goaltenders Tristan Jarry and Matt Murray,...
Alex Galchenyuk resumes practicing with the PenguinsVideo
Penguins forward Alex Galchenyuk resumed practicing for the first time in a week Wednesday in Cranberry. Skating primarily on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Brandon Tanev, Galchenyuk reported feeling good in his recovery from an undisclosed injury. While he has skated on his own (or with a coach) before...
Penguins place Bryan Rust on injured reserve, recall rookie John Marino
The Penguins officially placed forward Bryan Rust on long-term injured reserve on Wednesday and recalled rookie defenseman John Marino from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Rust has a suspected left hand injury which was suffered during Saturday’s preseason finale against the Columbus Blue Jackets. Marino, 22, appeared in five preseason games and recorded two...
Penguins expect an even workload for Matt Murray and his backupsVideo
Last season, Tristan Jarry became a viral sensation. During the late stages of an afternoon AHL game on Nov. 14 between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Springfield Falcons at venerable MassMutual Center in Springfield, Mass., the Falcons pulled their goaltender for an extra attacker and Jarry pounced on the opportunity. Knocking...
Penguins announce season-opening roster
The Penguins announced their season opening roster, which is composed of 13 forwards, eight defensemen and two goaltenders: Forwards: Zach Aston-Reese, Nick Bjugstad, Teddy Blueger, Sidney Crosby, Alex Galchenyuk, Jake Guentzel, Patric Hornqvist, Dominik Kahun, Evgeni Malkin, Jared McCann, Bryan Rust, Dominik Simon and Brandon Tanev. Defensemen: Brian Dumoulin, Erik...
Former Penguins forward Lee Stempniak retires
Former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Lee Stempniak announced his retirement after a 14-year career in the NHL. His retirement was announced by the NHLPA on Tuesday. Stempniak, 36, played 21 games for the Penguins late in the 2013-14 season after being acquired at the 2014 trade deadline. Primarily skating on a...
Penguins’ Sidney Crosby returns to practiceVideo
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby returned to practice at PPG Paints Arena on Tuesday for the first time since suffering an undisclosed injury over the past weekend. During the first period of a 3-2 shootout loss at home to the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday, Crosby was stuck in the left...
The Penguins are intrigued by the NHL’s new faceoff rules
In a never-ending quest to boost offensive numbers, the NHL annually tinkers with the rules and regulations during the offseason. One year, the league lessened the depth of the net to give attacking players more room behind the cage to create scoring chances. Another year, it was decreed teams could...
John Marino is expected to open the season with the Penguins
Excluding Zach Trotman, who will likely begin the season on long-term injured reserve due to a sports hernia, the Penguins currently have nine defensemen with the NHL’s deadline to submit a season-opening roster looming on Tuesday. Most teams keep seven on the NHL roster while several will hang onto eight....
Penguins place Casey DeSmith on waivers
The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed goaltender Casey DeSmith on waivers. DeSmith, who served as the primary backup to Matt Murray last season, is in the first year of a three-year contract with a salary cap hit of $1.25 million which was signed in January. In 2018-19, DeSmith appeared in a...
Want to be winger for the Penguins? You had better be diverse
Jared McCann is listed as a center. He often plays left wing. Which does he identify as? “Neither,” said the fifth-year Pittsburgh Penguins forward. That ambiguity over his position was on display Saturday during a 3-2 shootout loss to the Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena. After top center Sidney...
Crosby, Galchenyuk, Rust remain sidelined for the Penguins
Penguins forwards Sidney Crosby, Alex Galchenyuk and Bryan Rust did not participate in the team’s practice Sunday at PPG Paints Arena. According to coach Mike Sullivan, Crosby is considered day-to-day and was held out for precautionary reasons. He skated briefly before practice. Sullivan labeled Crosby’s status as “encouraging.” Rust still...
Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust injured in Penguins’ preseason loss to SabresVideo
The Penguins concluded their preseason with a 3-2 shootout loss against the Buffalo Sabres on Saturday at PPG Paints Arena. Of greater consequence were the departures of forwards Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust, who both left the game because of undisclosed injuries suffered while blocking shots. Coach Mike Sullivan said...
Why are right-handed defensemen such a commodity in the NHL?
Jim Rutherford is a baseball fan. Has been most of his life. The Pittsburgh Penguins general manager shares an affinity for the Boston Red Sox along with coach Mike Sullivan. Rutherford is fully aware one of the most valuable commodities in that sport is left-handed pitching. There just aren’t as...
Alex Galchenyuk will miss the Penguins’ preseason finale
Penguins forward Alex Galchenyuk will miss the Penguins’ preseason finale against the Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena on Saturday due to an undisclosed injury which has kept him sidelined since Wednesday. According to coach Mike Sullivan, Galchenyuk skated on his own prior during the morning. He has not skated...
Sidney Crosby has number retired by junior team Rimouski Oceanic
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby had his No. 87 retired by his junior team, Rimouski Oceanic, during a pregame ceremony Friday night at Colisee FinancierSun Life in Rimouski, Quebec. Crosby played for Rimouski of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) during the 2003-04 and 04-05 seasons. In 121 games,...
Where does Dominik Kahun fit in with the Penguins?Video
Dominik Kahun already has his place in hockey history secure. As a member of Germany’s silver medal-winning squad in the 2018 Olympics, Kahun nearly won gold but fell in the championship game, 4-3 in overtime, to the heavily favored (and suspended) Olympic Athletes from Russia team during the games that...
How do the Penguins become salary-cap compliant?
With their season opening in less than a week, the Penguins still have a handful of issues to sort out, most prominently their salary cap. As their roster stands, they are projected to be $331,625 over the NHL’s limit of $81.5 million according to Cap Friendly, a website that tracks...
