Pittsburgh Penguins / NHL category, Page 206
Penguins enter uncertain offseason after being eliminated by Islanders
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — A favorite idiom of Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan is “high stakes.” He refers to it often when he evaluates his players and how they perform in “high-stakes” games. On Wednesday, the Penguins played in a game with the highest of stakes. Survival. They were unable to...
Islanders forward Oliver Wahlstrom a ‘game-time decision’ for Game 6
UNIONDALE, N.Y. – Officially, New York Islanders forward Oliver Wahlstrom is a “game-time decision” for Game 6 of his team’s first-round playoff series with the Penguins at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Wednesday. Unofficially, it’s difficult to envision seeing him suit up less than 48 hours after he suffered a...
Penguins recent elimination game history shows mixed results
The Pittsburgh Penguins will play the New York Islanders on Wednesday night in a game that could see the Pens eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. A look back at recent games in which the Penguins faced a win-or-go-home scenario shows mixed results. The team has been 4-6 in their...
Tim Benz: Penguins must reverse recent trend of elimination-game failure to stay alive
Ever since the New York Islanders put the Pittsburgh Penguins on the brink of first-round elimination by winning Monday’s Game 5 in double overtime, you have heard a lot of talk from the Penguins about maintaining flickering faith based on their past playoff experiences. “Our players are well aware of...
U mad, bro?: Penguins fans boil over following Tristan Jarry’s Game 5 flub
I had to strategize around Penguins games to figure out when to release “U mad, bro?” this week. If I planned to post it in its usual Thursday morning slot, I’d have to wait until Wednesday night’s Game 6 between the Penguins and New York Islanders ended. And I’d have...
Penguins notes: Mood upbeat and light at practice
For the 21st time in the Sidney Crosby-Evgeni Malkin-Kris Letang era, the Pittsburgh Penguins are facing an elimination game Wednesday when they play Game 6 of their first-round series against the New York Islanders. “In my experience with this team, we rally around adversity,” coach Mike Sullivan said after practice...
Penguins’ Tristan Jarry insists he’s turned page after OT gaffe
If Tristan Jarry spent a lot of time dwelling on his double-overtime gaffe Monday, he certainly didn’t act as if he’d done too deep of an analysis of what he could have done differently. “Umm, stop (the puck),” the Pittsburgh Penguins goalie said Tuesday when asked about Josh Bailey’s goal...
Bryan Rust, Jason Zucker absent from Penguins practice
On the heels of a devastating loss in an important game, two of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ top six forwards were absent from practice. Wings Bryan Rust and Jason Zucker were not present for practice Tuesday afternoon at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry. Each played the entirety of Monday night’s...
Mark Madden: Penguins find themselves on the brink because they blink
The Penguins didn’t play horribly Monday. The Penguins are a good team. But they blink. There are many reasons the New York Islanders beat the Penguins, 3-2, in double overtime and lead the first-round series 3-2. Tristan Jarry isn’t a No. 1 goaltender. The stars have aged out of dominating...
Empty Thoughts: Islanders 3, Penguins 2 (2OT)Video
Observations from the Penguins’ 3-2 double overtime loss to the Islanders in Game 5: The Penguins traded to get Tristan Jarry. Twice. At the 2013 draft, without many high selections thanks to the organization’s seemingly never-ending practice of dealing away future assets to “win now,” the Penguins did the reverse...
First Call: Free-agent prediction for Steelers; Cassius Marsh makes his pitch; Najee Harris gets Penguins fan baptism
Tuesday’s “First Call” features another national outlet pairing the Steelers with Russell Okung. Cassius Marsh is making his pitch to be part of the Steelers fabric on defense. And a pair of Steelers rookies are already integrating into the Pittsburgh sports scene. Doubling down The fascination continues with the national...
Peter Taglianetti remembers the 1991 Stanley Cup on the 30th anniversary of the Penguins’ 1st championship
The 1991 Penguins were winning heading into the third period of a playoff game. “Our team was so loose,” defenseman Peter Taglianetti recalls. “Half the time between periods nobody is in the locker room. Everybody is walking around doing stuff. Joking around. Laughing. The whole year there were never any...
Tim Benz: The Penguins lost a game they couldn’t possibly lose. And maybe the series as a result
It was a game the Penguins couldn’t lose. • A game where the Penguins had leads of 1-0 and 2-1. • A game that saw them outshoot the Islanders 50-28 (20-4 in the second period). • A game that featured a 36-17 Penguins’ edge in scoring chances through the first...
Ilya Sorokin the latest goalie to serve as Penguins’ playoff kryptonite
Pittsburgh Penguins fans of a certain age to this day detest Jaroslav Halak. Those of more recent vintage get a sour taste in their mouths when someone brings up Robin Lehner. And don’t dare mention Glenn Healy to Pittsburgh hockey fans from the early 90s. Penguins fans awash in misery,...
Penguins fall in double overtime, 1 loss away from elimination
Even though they won the East Division title — and did so partially thanks to a 6-2-0 record against the New York Islanders during the regular season — the Pittsburgh Penguins did not anticipate an easy go of things in their first-round series with the fourth-seeded Islanders. They were fully...
Offense hard to find for Penguins forwards Jake Guentzel, Jared McCann
You won’t find Jake Guentzel’s name in the NHL’s record books. That’s because the NHL quit publishing such tomes a handful of years ago in the pursuit of posting that information exclusively online. But Guentzel always will have a place in NHL history, having introduced himself to the hockey world...
Penguins goaltender Casey DeSmith misses morning skate
Penguins backup goaltender Casey DeSmith is not expected to dress for Game 5 of his team’s first-round series against the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena on Monday. He did not participate in Monday’s morning skate. Coach Mike Sullivan did not provide an update on DeSmith’s status. Should DeSmith...
Unfiltered: Tim Benz and Mark Madden preview Penguins-Islanders Game 5Video
The Pittsburgh Penguins host the New York Islanders at PPG Paints Arena on Monday night for Game 5 of their playoff series. After the Penguins lost Game 4 on Saturday on Long Island the series is tied at two games apiece. Mark Madden and Tim Benz preview the game and...
Madden Monday: Penguins ‘don’t have a playoff-style team anymore’
Yet again, the Pittsburgh Penguins are finding it difficult to score goals in the postseason. It’s been that way since they eliminated the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 2018 playoffs. It looked like they may have figured things out offensively against the New York Islanders in a...
Penguins/Islanders notes: Brock Nelson a pest, series shifts back to Pittsburgh
All indications are that Brock Nelson is as polite and gregarious as his Minnesota background suggest he’d be. On the ice, though, it can be a different story — particularly when the stakes are highest during the Stanley Cup playoffs. The New York Islanders’ 6-foot-4 center, Nelson has seemingly found...
Barry Trotz: Sidney Crosby ‘the gold standard’ among NHL players
No NHL coach is more familiar with facing Sidney Crosby than Barry Trotz. Be it as the leader of the Washington Capitals or New York Islanders, Trotz has coached against Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins in a postseason series five times. No other coach has matched up against Crosby in more than...
Sidney Crosby’s Penguins, Barry Trotz’s Islanders no strangers to pressure of series tied at 2
Of the more than 320 players who are taking part in this NHL postseason, only two have appeared in more postseason games than Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin. Only two defensemen still playing for the 2021 Stanley Cup have played in more than Kris Letang. Not many active in the...
Empty Thoughts: Islanders 4, Penguins 1Video
Observations from the Penguins’ 4-1 loss to the Islanders in Game 4: For all the well-deserved criticism the Penguins received after this game, particularly from Western Pennsylvania, Islanders forward Mathew Barzal provided a profoundly pragmatic observation of the team that he had just defeated. “That’s a pretty veteran group over...
Minor league report: Nailers beaten in overtime
Forward Cody Sylvester had two goals for the Wheeling Nailers in a 4-3 road overtime loss to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. on Saturday. Goaltender Louis-Philip Guindon made 33 saves on 37 shots for Wheeling (19-34-6-1) which has lost five consecutive games. Highlights:...
Mark Madden: Penguins could benefit from changing up Sidney Crosby’s line
Saturday’s 4-1 loss at Long Island was frustrating and disappointing but hardly cataclysmic. The New York Islanders are good, too. Just like the Penguins, they want to win. That’s obvious and elementary but too often gets lost via home-team fervor. If coach Mike Sullivan went with exactly the same lineup...
