Penguins/NHL category, Page 290

Kris Letang summed it up perfectly. The Penguins defenseman was answering questions just a few minutes after the club secured a playoff berth. His team had just beaten the Red Wings, 4-1, Thursday night at PPG Paints Arena to clinch a spot. This is the 13th year in a row...

The Pittsburgh Penguins finished fifth. Actually, and officially, they finished in third place in the Metropolitan Division behind the Washington Capitals and the New York Islanders and ahead of the Carolina Hurricanes and Columbus Blue Jackets. But Carolina and Columbus won more games. As you’ve probably noticed, the NHL has...

Ultimately, the success of the 2018-19 Pittsburgh Penguins will be determined by how they fare in the Stanley Cup playoffs. That’s life for a team with championship aspirations. But as the Penguins prepare for a first-round series with the New York Islanders that starts Wednesday, one interesting question regarding the...

A look at a key matchup in the first-round playoff series between the Pittsburgh Penguins and New York Islanders. When Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang arrived as the Penguins’ representatives at the NHL All-Star Game in San Jose in January, they were in search of a linemate for the three-on-three...

Evgeni Malkin takes a short pass from a defenseman and begins to gallop through the neutral zone with trusty linemate Phil Kessel on his right hip. As he crosses the red line, he’s met by a wall of three defenders spaced evenly across the blue line. Malkin has choices. He...

The Pittsburgh Penguins will open their quest for the Stanley Cup in New York. Game 1 of a Metropolitan Division semifinals series between the Penguins and New York Islanders will open at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday at NYCB Live’s Nassau Coliseum. While waiting for construction of a new arena at Belmont...

Moments after their regular season ended with a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Rangers on Saturday night, the Pittsburgh Penguins immediately turned their attention to a more pressing matter. How are they going to score enough goals to beat the New York Islanders in the first round of...

Despite a milestone moment, the Pittsburgh Penguins ended their regular season with more of a sigh than a celebration. Sidney Crosby’s assist on Jake Guentzel’s tying goal gave the Penguins captain his 100th point and his right-hand man his 4oth goal but did nothing to improve their Stanley Cup status....

When Sidney Crosby set up Jake Guentzel for a third-period goal Saturday night, it answered a lot of questions. Where would the Pittsburgh Penguins finish in the Metropolitan Division standings? Third place after a 4-3 overtime loss to the New York Rangers. Who would their first-round playoff opponent be? The...

On paper, the Pittsburgh Penguins were playing for keeps. On the ice, however, they forgot to keep playing. Well, with any sense of urgency anyway. Having already clinched a spot in the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Penguins had only seeding at stake in the season finale against the New York...

The Pittsburgh Penguins got top prospect Calen Addison under contract Saturday, signing the 18-year-old defenseman to a three-year entry level contract. Addison is the team’s No. 2 prospect, according to The Hockey News, trailing only Providence College winger Kasper Bjorkqvist. With 65 points in 67 games for Lethbridge, Addison was...

Despite having what he himself called a cold season in the goal-scoring department, Pittsburgh Penguins winger Phil Kessel is on track to lead the league in an interesting offensive category this season. Coming into Saturday night’s finale against the New York Rangers, 10 of Kessel’s 27 goals have been game...

During training camp, Pittsburgh Penguins winger Jake Guentzel said his goal for this season was to improve his consistency. He’s accomplished that goal in a number of ways. First, he hasn’t gone more than two consecutive games without recording a point. If he scores in the regular-season finale Saturday night...

Even though the Pittsburgh Penguins clinched a playoff spot with a win over Detroit on Thursday, expect an all-hands-on-deck approach to continue for their regular-season finale against the New York Rangers on Saturday night. Matt Murray is expected to start in goal, and coach Mike Sullivan said after morning skate...

Jared McCann is finding it hard to sleep at night. Erik Gudbranson gave his mother a late-night phone call Thursday to let out a celebratory yell. For many players on the Pittsburgh Penguins roster, clinching a playoff spot – like the team did with for the 13th straight season with...

With some beat-up bodies, star players just ramping back after long injury absences and a frenzied six-week pressure-cooker just to make the playoffs behind them, the Pittsburgh Penguins could treat Saturday’s regular-season finale as a glorified preseason game to avoid injury and get some much-needed rest. The individual who makes...

Casey DeSmith is proud that he’s established himself as a dependable No. 2 goalie for the Pittsburgh Penguins. “It’s something I definitely do take pride in,” DeSmith said after practice Friday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. “Not because I want to consider myself a ‘backup specialist’ — because I...

What once was automatic when he made it through a full, healthy season has morphed into a rarity for Sidney Crosby: 100 points. Crosby surpassed the triple-digit barrier for points during each of his first five NHL seasons in which he appeared in at least 54 games. This season will...

The Pittsburgh Penguins held an optional practice Friday afternoon in Cranberry, giving key players some time off after the team clinched its 13th straight playoff berth the night before. Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang were among the players who did not skate, but coach Mike Sullivan said both made it...

The return of Evgeni Malkin from a rib injury bumped rookie winger Adam Johnson to 13th on the forward depth chart for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Given his youth and relative inexperience, the Penguins didn’t want Johnson sitting around as a healthy scratch, so they assigned the 24-year-old Minnesota native to...

In “First Call” Friday, some interesting early numbers for the Pirates. The Capitals win the Metro. And the Lightning continue to chase history. That’s a good `start` A week into the season, the Pirates starting rotation has been every bit as good as you think it has. Granted, they have...

For those who remained at PNC Park in the ninth inning of the Pirates 2-0 win over Cincinnati, they may have felt a big gust of wind coming across Allegheny River. It was the collective sigh of 18,574 Penguins fans up the hill at PPG Paints arena. The Penguins finally...

Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin didn’t have a Willis Reed moment Thursday night. They didn’t drag themselves out of the trainer’s room and immediately hit the scoresheet like the New York Knicks center did in legendary fashion in the 1970 NBA Finals. Still, their impact on a 4-1 win over...