Penguins/NHL category, Page 302
Tim Benz: Penguins can’t miss opportunity to finish strong
March came in like a lion and pretty much stayed that way for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They deserve the lamb of a schedule they got to close out the regular season here in April. Too bad they can’t take a deep breath and relax to enjoy it. The Penguins are...
Penguins’ Patric Hornqvist scores another high-stakes goal
There was no doubt in Patric Hornqvist’s mind. Sunday night’s matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes, a game with third place in the Metropolitan Division on the line, was a high-stakes encounter. “It was the biggest game of the season by far,” Hornqvist said. In the third period, Hornqvist took a...
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan heaps praise on Sidney Crosby after win over Carolina
Sidney Crosby’s name appeared nowhere on the scoresheet after Sunday night’s 3-1 Pittsburgh Penguins victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. He had no goals or assists. He wasn’t on the ice for a goal scored by either the Penguins or the Hurricanes. He attempted five shots, with two of them reaching...
Fourth line leads Penguins to crucial win over HurricanesVideo
Because it’s not usually a source of offense, a fourth line can make a big impact on the momentum of a hockey game by scoring a goal or two. On Sunday night, the combination of Matt Cullen, Garrett Wilson and Adam Johnson did much more than that. They made a...
Penguins notebook: Nick Bjugstad puts emphasis on scoring ugly goals in crunch time
Conventional wisdom suggests once a hockey season reaches its latter stages, goals get uglier. Instead of fancy plays off the rush, teams usually score on greasy plays around the net. Pittsburgh Penguins center Nick Bjugstad, apparently, has taken this philosophy to heart. Coming into Sunday’s matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes,...
Penguins’ focus should be on clinching, not seeding, coach Mike Sullivan says
On the surface, Sunday’s matchup between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Carolina Hurricanes looks like a battle for third place in the Metropolitan Division. With four games left in the regular season, the Penguins are holding down the spot and the Hurricanes are only two points behind. The winner will have...
Sunday’s showdown with Carolina could map out Penguins’ playoff path
When Sidney Crosby looks at the standings, he generally looks at who the Pittsburgh Penguins can catch rather than who’s chasing them. That won’t be possible on Sunday evening at PPG Paints Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes will come to town in fourth place in the Metropolitan Division, just two points...
Penguins searching for offense as season winds down
Given the names on the roster and the way most of this season has gone, it seems like a preposterous question to ask. Yet the answer might very well determine the fate of the team as the Stanley Cup chase begins in earnest. Can the Pittsburgh Penguins score enough goals...
Injured Penguins star Evgeni Malkin returns to practice, tries to be niceVideo
Evgeni Malkin is trying to be a nice guy. He’s trying to focus on recovering from an upper-body injury and getting back into the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup for a game or two before the playoffs start. He took a step in that direction by joining his teammates for practice in...
After rough start, Penguins’ Olli Maatta gets up to speed in return from injury
In his return to the lineup after missing 21 games with a shoulder injury, defenseman Olli Maatta played 19 shifts for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 3-1 loss to the Nashville Predators on Friday night. The last 18 went significantly better than the first one. “I think it took a...
Predators goalie Pekka Rinne beats Penguins at PPG Paints Arena for 1st timeVideo
Nashville Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne plays a prominent role in one of Jake Guentzel’s greatest professional memories. On Friday night, he was probably the star of Guentzel’s nightmares as well. Rinne made 42 saves, including a handful of stops on Guentzel in prime scoring situations, leading the Predators to a...
Penguins settling into stable line combinations down the stretch
While injuries have caused a shuffle on the Pittsburgh Penguins blue line in recent days, the combinations up front have been remarkably stable. In fact, with five games left in the regular season, it’s not hard to project the line combinations coach Mike Sullivan will use in the playoffs. The...
Penguins, durable Jack Johnson set for ‘best time of the year’
When the Pittsburgh Penguins take on the Nashville Predators on Friday night, they will do so having not played a game since Monday in New York. That’s the longest stretch of time off the team has enjoyed since the all-star break. “It’s nice to try to heal up some things...
Penguins’ Olli Maatta on track to return vs. Predators
Olli Maatta’s status for Friday night’s game against the Nashville Predators will be a game-time decision. Should he return to the lineup, Maatta would consider that a great and welcome luxury. Out since suffering a shoulder injury Feb. 11, Maatta said he thinks getting in a few regular season games...
Penguins podcast: Previewing Predators and a look at playoff prospects
Penguins beat writer Jonathan Bombulie joins me on our Sided.co podcast. We preview the Penguins’ game Friday against Nashville. We also talk about the injuries to Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin, the roster decisions that will follow their return and some NHL rules debates that may be similar to those...
Tim Benz: Even Penguins might not have known what they got in Jared McCann
If you weren’t aware of what the Penguins were getting from the Panthers when they acquired Jared McCann as part of the Derick Brassard trade, don’t worry. It appears they may not have been fully aware, either. Obviously, Jim Rutherford had at least a hope that McCann could be productive....
No drama as Sidney Crosby takes Penguins MVP honors
Unlike some professional teams in town, there was an utter lack of drama when the Pittsburgh Penguins announced their internal team awards Thursday. Sidney Crosby was voted Team MVP and won the Player’s Player Award, to the surprise of no one. Crosby leads the team and is sixth in the...
With Penguins defense in flux, Brian Dumoulin could be leaning right
With Kris Letang still out with an upper-body injury, Olli Maatta very close to returning from a shoulder injury and left-handed Brian Dumoulin potentially switching to the right side, the blue line is in a state of flux at the moment for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Letang was on the ice...
Penguins’ Matt Cullen nominated for Masterton Award
On Thursday morning, Matt Cullen was chosen as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ nominee for the Bill Masterton Memorial Trophy, which is given annually to the NHL player who “best exemplifies the qualities of perseverance, sportsmanship and dedication to ice hockey.” Cullen has two of those criteria down pat. As a 42-year-old...
Point Park partnering with Penguins, Cavs on esport tourney
If you needed further proof of the growing popularity of esports, Point Park University is hosting a multi-game esports tournament this spring. Point Park’s Rowland School of Business, in partnership with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Cleveland Cavaliers and Pittsburgh Knights, is presenting the tournament May 10-12 at the Pittsburgh Playhouse in...
For Penguins, playoff picture brightens as regular season winds down
When a Pittsburgh Penguins player takes a gaze at the NHL standings with 10 days left in the regular season, he has two choices. He can look up, or he can look down. Looking up means pondering the possibility of a Metropolitan Division championship. Mathematically speaking, there’s about a 1...
Despite run of injuries, Penguins have plenty in reserveVideo
Defenseman Zach Trotman was chosen by the Boston Bruins with the 210th and final selection in the 2010 NHL Draft, but he finally has found relevancy with the Pittsburgh Penguins. After Trotman was drafted, he spent two seasons at Lake Superior (Mich.) State, signed with the Bruins in 2012 and...
NHL standings matter, but Penguins, Sidney Crosby try to stick to their own business
Sidney Crosby went home from practice knowing he had the night off and there was some good hockey on TV, games that will impact the NHL standings and the Pittsburgh Penguins’ place in them. But he didn’t plan to immerse himself in hockey at the expense of everything else. He...
Penguins’ Mike Sullivan `hopeful’ of Olli Maatta’s return Friday
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta, who’s been out with a shoulder injury since Feb. 11, is getting stronger at the right time and could return Friday night against the Nashville Predators at PPG Paints Arena. Maatta practiced with his teammates and without restrictions Tuesday afternoon in Cranberry. Coach Mike Sullivan...
Trump meets with Capitals at White House, asks about Penguins
The reigning Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals went to the White House on Monday to meet with President Donald Trump … and the Penguins came up. The Capitals’ visit came nine months after they hoisted the Stanley Cup and just a few days before the start of the playoffs. The...
