Penguins/NHL category, Page 316
Kevin Gorman: With Steelers’ season over, spotlight shines on Penguins
The season started slowly for their captain. They endured an uncommon losing streak that saw them slip out of the playoff picture. A former player created a stir by suggesting the coach’s message wasn’t getting through to two of the team’s high-profile players. Sound like another season of Pittsburgh Steelers...
With winning streak over, Penguins take stock of where they stand
The Pittsburgh Penguins tore through a 2 ½-week stretch, winning eight consecutive games and outscoring their foes by a 32-9 margin. Now that the run is over, though, the Penguins are left with a simple question: What, exactly, did the winning streak accomplish? “We are happy we are back where...
Sidney Crosby finds new role on Penguins penalty kill ‘fun’
Sidney Crosby is embracing his new role, even if it is one he did with regularity almost a decade ago. The Pittsburgh Penguins best player now is one of its best penalty-killers. “It’s something I did earlier on and then not so much for a long period of time there....
Chad Ruhwedel returns to former role as Penguins’ No. 8 defenseman
Chad Ruhwedel was back in a familiar spot Sunday night: the press box at PPG Paints Arena. While he’d rather be playing for the Pittsburgh Penguins, that beats where he was the previous 10 days. Ruhwedel returned to the Penguins after a conditioning stint at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where he appeared in...
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan trains power play with positive reinforcement
The Pittsburgh Penguins saw their eight-game winning streak end with a 5-3 loss to the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday night, in part, because of an ineffective power play. They went 0 for 3 with the man-advantage, including failing to score on 71 seconds of five-on-three time late in the first...
Derick Brassard helps Penguins’ third line show glimpse of dangerous potential
When discussing a victory over the Atlanta Falcons earlier this season, Cleveland Browns quarterback Baker Mayfield said he had a strong performance because he woke up that morning feeling dangerous. It became a popular social media meme and was plastered on T-shirts sold around Northeast Ohio. Pittsburgh Penguins center Derick...
Blackhawks run win streak against Penguins to 10 games
During their now-completed eight-game winning streak, the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals and Western Conference favorite Winnipeg Jets. They won low-scoring nail-biters and high-scoring shootouts. On Sunday night, they finally ran into the game they couldn’t win. Dylan Strome broke a third-period tie, leading the Chicago...
Penguins recall Chad Ruhwedel from conditioning stint
The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled defenseman Chad Ruhwedel from a five-game conditioning stint with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL on Sunday. It was a successful stay for Ruhwedel, who had one goal, four assists and a plus-8 rating. Having slipped to eighth on the depth chart, Ruhwedel hasn’t played in an NHL...
Chris Kunitz back in town with Blackhawks, part of an elite group of survivors
Chris Kunitz’s trip into Pittsburgh wasn’t just another road game with the Chicago Blackhawks, his fifth team in 15 NHL seasons. It wasn’t even special because it was the 990th of his career. This one was different because he is back with the Penguins, at least as an opponent, where...
Searching for the turning point in Penguins’ topsy-turvy season
During the depths of the team’s early season despair, Pittsburgh Penguins winger Patric Hornqvist had one firm belief he never wavered from. “One shift’s going to turn the season around for us,” he said Nov. 16 while the Penguins were in the midst of losing nine of 10 games. Less...
No practice, no problem for streaking Penguins
There’s a dirty little secret about the Pittsburgh Penguins’ current eight-game winning streak that coach Mike Sullivan probably doesn’t want his players to think about. The team is playing its best hockey of the season during a stretch where it’s had the least amount of practice time. When the Penguins...
Penguins’ Justin Schultz skates for first time since breaking leg in October
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Justin Schultz returned to the ice for the first time Saturday since suffering a broken left leg Oct. 13 in Montreal. Schultz wasn’t outfitted in his hockey gear, but he skated on his own before the Penguins practiced at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. “It’s...
Breaks starting to go Penguins winger Dominik Simon’s way
After Friday night’s 4-0 victory over the Winnipeg Jets, Pittsburgh Penguins winger Dominik Simon said he’s a firm believer that good things happen when a player puts pucks on net. Sometimes, they don’t even need to go all the way to the back of the net for good things to...
Penguins score in myriad ways to run winning streak to 8
With 1,475 regular-season games over 21 years to his credit, it’s awfully hard for 42-year-old Pittsburgh Penguins center Matt Cullen to experience something that’s never happened to him in an NHL game before. On Friday night, he managed to record an unusual first. Cullen scored a goal with his ear...
Rewarding creative heckler a one-shot deal for Penguins’ Sidney Crosby
Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has a message for would-be hecklers after he presented a particularly outspoken fan with an autographed stick Wednesday night at Madison Square Garden. The sweepstakes is over. No further prizes will be awarded. “It’s not a competition,” he said with a laugh after morning skate...
Jamie Oleksiak set to return to Penguins lineup against big, physical Jets
Defenseman Jamie Oleksiak is on track to make his return to the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup for the first time since suffering a concussion in a fight with Washington’s Tom Wilson on Dec. 19. Oleksiak has been cleared to return since Dec. 29, but he has been a healthy scratch for...
Penguins’ Kris Letang says home-ice advantage isn’t what it used to be
The Pittsburgh Penguins just wrapped up an undefeated post-Christmas three-game road trip through St. Louis, Minnesota and New York. In a week, they will embark on a five-game western swing through Anaheim, Los Angeles, San Jose, Arizona and Las Vegas leading up to their bye week. On the surface, then,...
Hometown goal from Zach Aston-Reese gives Penguins a boost
NEW YORK – Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach Mark Recchi on Wednesday night came up with a new and inventive way to use the iPad that NHL teams keep on their bench for in-game video review. When Staten Island native Zach Aston-Reese scored the first goal of a 7-2 Penguins victory...
Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin shows support for explosion victims in his hometown
Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin sent a message to his hometown after an apartment explosion killed dozens in Magnitogorsk, Russia on New Year’s Eve. Before recording a goal and an assist in a 7-2 Penguins victory over the New York Rangers on Wednesday night, he wrote messages on his skates...
Penguins’ Bryan Rust tracking toward return to lineup in New York
NEW YORK – Pittsburgh Penguins winger Bryan Rust avoided a serious lower-body injury and could be back in the lineup as soon as Wednesday night against the New York Rangers. Rust said he “got twisted up along the boards and got caught in an awkward position” in the first period...
Penguins’ Sidney Crosby picked for 8th All-Star Game, plans to attend
NEW YORK — Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin said Wednesday he will skip the NHL All-Star Game later this month, instead taking a full week to rest. The league shouldn’t have to look too hard to find a replacement for the captain’s spot on the Metropolitan Division team. Pittsburgh Penguins...
Evgeni Malkin gets on track, Matt Murray rolls as Penguins win again
NEW YORK — The way things are going, Matt Murray may never lose to the New York Rangers, and Henrik Lundqvist may never beat the Pittsburgh Penguins again. Evgeni Malkin had a goal and an assist, and Murray won his sixth consecutive start since returning from a lower-body injury, leading...
Penguins goalies in midst of massive turnaround
ST. PAUL, Minn. – In the span of 19 days, the Pittsburgh Penguins goaltending situation has gone from a big problem to the backbone of the team. When the Penguins woke up the morning of Dec. 13, they had nothing but question marks in net. Casey DeSmith had done some...
