Pittsburgh Penguins / NHL category, Page 247
John Steigerwald: Not time for Penguins fans to panic; this series could go the distance
Now what? The Penguins are down 1-0 in a best-of-five series. Is it time to panic? Not really. A good time to panic might be if/when the Canadiens score first in Game 2. All the solutions are out there: Get Patric Hornqvist in front of the net, and sit Patrick...
Mark Madden: Penguins should make several lineup changes before Game 2 against Canadiens
It’s only one game. That was, no doubt, the phrase that pays in the Penguins locker room after Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss to Montreal. It’s only one game. The Penguins lost their first playoff game to the New York Islanders last season, also in OT. That was only one game....
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 29: Fan-favorite Marc-Andre Fleury a Penguins’ Cup-winning iconVideo
The Tribune-Review sports staff is conducting a daily countdown of the best players in Pittsburgh pro and college sports history to wear each jersey number. No. 29: Marc-Andre Fleury To perhaps best illustrate Marc-Andre Fleury’s popularity in Pittsburgh, consider that during the 2017-18 season that followed the Penguins’ most recent...
Empty Thoughts: Simpler could be better for the Penguins
Observations from the Penguins’ 3-2 overtime loss to the Canadiens. The Penguins often speak of “keeping things simple” or “simplifying our game” when they deal with an impediment out of their control. They could be facing a stagnant defensive team or sloppy ice or a world-wide pandemic and they’ll cite...
Tim Benz: Penguins better finish or they’ll be finished a lot quicker than we thought
For a team that is supposed to have a lot of finishers, the Penguins haven’t finished much of anything during the playoffs lately. And if that trend doesn’t change fast, they’ll be finished in the reformatted 2020 NHL postseason a lot quicker than the hockey world anticipated. The Penguins lost...
Penguins’ power play struggles in Game 1 overtime loss to Canadiens
These aren’t the Montreal Canadiens who have plaques hanging on walls a few blocks away in the Hockey Hall of Fame. There’s not a Maurice Richard or Jean Beliveau on this roster. There isn’t even a Vincent Damphousse or Mike Cammalleri, members of Canadiens teams who sparked upsets of superior...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 30: No one debuted quite like Matt MurrayVideo
No. 30: Matt Murray A few weeks after his 22nd birthday, Matt Murray reached a milestone. He made his first trek to the Golden State in the spring of 2016. “First time ever in California,” said Murray, a native of Thunder Bay, Ont. “I’m from pretty far up north in...
Tim Benz, Mark Madden break down Penguins’ 3-2 OT loss to Canadiens
The Penguins lost Game 1 of their qualifying-round series against the Montreal Canadiens, 3-2, in overtime on Saturday night at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto. Tribune-Review columnists Tim Benz and Mark Madden break down the stunning loss during the Big Shot Bob’s “Hockey in the Hub” show. And Madden is not...
Penguins to start Matt Murray in Game 1 against Canadiens
The Penguins will start goaltender Matt Murray in Game 1 of their qualifying round game against the Montreal Canadiens tonight at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto, according to coach Mike Sullivan. A vital member of the Penguins’ last two Stanley Cup championship teams in 2016 and 2017, Murray has considerably more...
Sidney Crosby, Penguins finally to begin playoffs after 4½ monthsVideo
Let’s assume there are no unforeseen and unpleasant surprises between now and then — this is 2020 we are talking about, after all — and the Pittsburgh Penguins take the ice Saturday evening at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena to open up their postseason. By the time Game 1 of their qualifying-round...
Penguins notes: Mike Sullivan won’t commit to goalie, not taking Canadiens lightly
Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan on Wednesday declined to even reveal if he had made the decision about what goalie he intended to start in Game 1 of the qualifying-round playoff series. So two days later, when he was asked directly about his choice between Matt Murray or Tristan Jarry...
Best-of-5 game series poses unique challenge for PenguinsVideo
Bryan Trottier has no shortage of memories from his outstanding NHL existence. Between six Stanley Cup titles — four with the New York Islanders and two with the Pittsburgh Penguins — as well as a handful of individual accolades such as the Hart Memorial Trophy and induction into the Hockey...
Mark Madden: Penguins need to simplify power play, keep stars where they fit bestVideo
Mike Sullivan is the most accomplished coach in Pittsburgh Penguins history and very arguably the franchise’s best. But even ABBA had their Waterloo, and Sullivan’s may be the Penguins’ power play. The Penguins rarely got rhythm with the man-advantage during the regular season because of injury. The unit’s components were...
Penguins ‘pretty confident’ power play can click once postseason beginsVideo
With a roster full of creative offensive scorers and some future Hall of Famers, power-play success would seem to come easy. Not necessarily so this past regular season for the Pittsburgh Penguins. And certainly not so during the lone game action the team has had over the past 4½ months....
AHL aims to open 2020-21 season by early December
The American Hockey League (AHL) announced Thursday it is aiming to open its 2020-21 season by Dec. 4. Like most sports leagues around the world, the AHL halted play in mid-March because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic. The remainder of the 2019-20 season was formally canceled May 11. The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton...
Penguins playoff preview: Get to know the Montreal Canadiens
He may have been a tad clumsy in how he said it, but Penguins forward Zach Aston-Reese was merely being reflective of the times we live in. When asked about the challenges of defending the Montreal Canadiens’ top line on Monday, Aston-Reese was frank in his retort. “I’m not sure...
Penguins coaches had meticulous plan for jumping right into playoff intensity
These are unique times, and the NHL is staging an unprecedented postseason. Coaches have no historical data to fall back on in planning how to approach it. Then again, they had little else to do over about a three-month span but to try to figure exactly that out. With Game...
Survey: 4 of country’s 20 best hockey towns are in Pennsylvania, but Philly isn’t one of them
Four of the best hockey towns in the United States are in Pennsylvania, according to a survey released by a financial advisory company Thursday. State College ranked fifth, Pittsburgh seventh, Hershey ninth and Moon Township 19th in the study by SmartAsset. The company ranked towns based on fan intensity criteria,...
Wheeling Nailers sign former Robert Morris captain Luke Lynch
The Wheeling Nailers have signed former Robert Morris captain and forward Luke Lynch to an ECHL contract. A native of Shaler, Lynch completed his NCAA career in 2019-20. As a senior, he appeared in 37 games and scored 17 points (five goals, 12 assists). In 155 career games with the...
AT&T SportsNet introduces ‘alternate channel’ to air Penguins/Pirates conflicts
After no live sports for months, all of a sudden Pittsburgh sports fans must choose between watching two local teams at the same time. The region’s cable sports network is going to handle coverage of both. A new alternate channel, PIT2, will provide coverage of two Pittsburgh Pirates games next...
Penguins power play concerns, Canadiens ‘equalizing factor’ besides Carey Price
There’s one continuing narrative about the Penguins preliminary round playoff series against the Montreal Canadiens. “The Canadiens have a chance to steal the series if Carey Price stands on his head in goal!” Sure. That could be true. But our TribLive hockey beat writer, Seth Rorabaugh, has a different theory...
Penguins notes: Awkward quarantine encounter with Flyers, no injuriesVideo
Not long after arriving at the NHL’s Eastern Conference “bubble” established in Toronto, Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang found himself among some unfamiliar — and sometimes-unfriendly — faces. Just part of the quarantine life of these unique Stanley Cup playoffs. “Maybe the first day, we were trying to look around,...
Penguins coach Sullivan remains mum on which goalie will start Saturday vs. Habs
Tristan Jarry said Wednesday afternoon he hadn’t been told who will begin the playoffs as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ starting goalie. Sitting 6 feet to Jarry’s right, alternate captain Kris Letang indicated he didn’t know, either. The dozen or so reporters on the line during the video conference call with those...
First Call: Is Antonio Brown leveraging Patriots opt outs? Penguins problems. Canadiens lose.
Wednesday’s “First Call” checks on Antonio Brown’s latest plea to get back into the NFL. Is he appealing to a former team once again? We also talk about future plans for a Steelers draft choice and a former coach. Plus, a look at how the Montreal Canadiens did in their...
Empty Thoughts: Flyers 3, Penguins 2 (OT)
Observations from the Penguins’ 3-2 overtime exhibition loss to the Flyers at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena: The Penguins’ 2019 offseason — between Game 4 of their humiliating sweep at the hands of the New York Islanders in April and their first preseason game in September — lasted 153 days. That’s a...
