Penguins/NHL category, Page 231
Tim Benz: Jim Rutherford is somehow both totally correct and completely wrong
I didn’t think anything could make me more frustrated than watching the fifth-seeded Penguins lose to the 24th-seeded Montreal Canadiens in the qualifying round of the 2020 NHL season. Until I listened to Jim Rutherford talk about it. On Tuesday, the Penguins general manager gave a frank assessment of how...
Jim Rutherford: ‘Changes need to be made’ for the Penguins
Jim Rutherford didn’t have many answers on Tuesday. In all reality, he’s probably still asking lots of his own questions of his team that was meekly dispatched from the playoffs by the Montreal Canadiens last week. But he still had plenty to say when he spoke with reporters via teleconference...
Investigating ‘fixed’ NHL draft lottery theories. Frozen ball, hidden weight, magnets? Let’s believe ’em all!
The fix is in! The Penguins and the rest of the NHL got robbed! The NHL wanted Alexis Lafrenière to go to New York City the whole time! Those are the cries of foul play flying around the NHL after Monday’s draft lottery. The New York Rangers won it. And...
Rangers win NHL’s draft lottery, Penguins settle for 15th pickVideo
Any hopes of the Penguins drafting another generational player were dashed on Monday. The NHL held the second phase of its draft lottery, and the Penguins ended up with the 15th overall selection in this year’s draft. The top overall selection was claimed by the New York Rangers. Alexis Lafreniere,...
Mark Madden: Penguins offered blueprint on how to beat them
That playoff series between the Penguins and Montreal didn’t go quite as expected. For example, I picked the Penguins in two. But nobody picked Montreal. Not one single person. No one thought the Canadiens would win, not even those in their dressing room. (Not until after Game 1, anyway.) It’s...
Penguins prospect Radim Zohorna to remain in Czech Republic to open 2020-21 season
Penguins forward prospect Radim Zohorna will remain his native Czech Republic and train with his previous team, BK Mlada Boleslav of the ELH, to open the 2020-21 season according to a release from the team. The release did not specify if Zohorna will play with BK Mlada Boleslav. That team’s...
Mark Madden on Penguins elimination: ‘Worst, most embarrassing loss for anyone in NHL playoff history’
You can probably guess the main focus of this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast: What happened to the Pittsburgh Penguins and where do they go from here? The “what happened” part is all encompassing when it comes to the Pens’ four-game series loss to the Montreal Canadiens last week. It was...
Tim Benz: Want a rebuild for impotent Penguins? Let’s examine what that really means.
Blow it up! Tear it down! Total reboot! We hear those reactions from Penguins fans after almost every season-ending playoff exit. Those calls for drastic change are often hyperbolic emotion. Prisoner-of-the-moment stuff. Presently, though, demands from fans and media to reconstruct the team resonate more logically after the club’s putrid...
How much time does Penguins’ Stanley Cup core have left?Video
When former Pittsburgh Penguins star Alexei Kovalev retired from the NHL at the age of 39 in March of 2013, current Penguins star Evgeni Malkin spoke glowingly of the fellow Russian whom he played with in international tournaments. “I remember my first Olympic games, he was captain,” Malkin said. “We...
What went wrong for Penguins against the Canadiens?
Mike Sullivan was relieved. On March 10, in the aftermath of a tidy 5-2 road win against the New Jersey Devils, the Penguins coach stood outside the visiting dressing room of the Prudential Center in downtown Newark, N.J., and offered body language that suggested he finally resolved a great conundrum....
Empty Thoughts: The Penguins tried to play the Canadiens’ game but fell short
Observations from the Penguins’ 2-0 loss to the Canadiens: There will be plenty of time to dissect this franchise’s malfunctions over the past 28 months and how they’ve fallen from the league’s upper tier of true Stanley Cup contenders. In fact, there will be three months to do that before...
Quick playoff exit gives the Penguins a chance at top prospect Alexis Lafreniere
The Penguins’ season-ending 2-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of their qualifying round series in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena brought clarity to one of the conditional transactions they made prior to February’s trade deadline. And it introduced plenty of intrigue to another. The conditional draft pick they dealt...
Penguins unable to solve Canadiens goaltender Carey Price
As stunning as the Penguins’ loss to the Montreal Canadiens was in the qualifying round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, it wasn’t surprising that Canadiens franchise goaltender Carey Price was one of the primary reasons for the result. It might be a stretch to say Price was tested in Game...
Penguins eliminated from playoffs after being upset by the Canadiens
When crafting his lineup on a game-by-game basis, Mike Sullivan has a basic principle he professes to abide by. What players will give his team the best chance to win? On Friday, he deemed goaltender Tristan Jarry the most worthy candidate of his options in net in achieving that overlying...
Tim Benz, Mark Madden dissect what went wrong in Game 4 in ‘Hockey in the Hub’ postgame show
The Penguins’ season is over. The Montreal Canadiens, the 24th seed and last team in the NHL’s expanded format, defeated the Penguins, 2-0, in Game 4 of their qualifying-round series on Friday and eliminated Pittsburgh from Stanley Cup playoff consideration. Trib columnists Tim Benz and Mark Madden break it down...
Penguins to start goaltender Tristan Jarry in Game 4
With their season on the line, the Penguins will start goaltender Tristan Jarry for Friday’s Game 4 of their qualifying round series against the Montreal Canadiens in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. Coach Mike Sullivan announced Jarry as his starter via video conference from Toronto but declined to get into specifics as...
To stay alive, Penguins must offset Canadiens’ blue line contribution
Whatever you pick, you aren’t wrong. Just about any complaint you want to raise about the Pittsburgh Penguins in their preliminary-round series against the Montreal Canadiens, you are right. • They aren’t scoring enough. • They are getting out-worked. • They are getting out-coached. • Montreal’s goalie has been better....
Facing early elimination not overly daunting to veteran Penguins
Hotel X Toronto is considered 4½-star lodging. The grounds of the 404-unit dwelling include, among other amenities, a Guerlain Spa, rooftop swimming pool, eight squash courts and a TopGolf swing suite. The Pittsburgh Penguins booked a six-week stay. Twelve days after checking in, eviction beckons. Trailing 2-1 in their best-of-five,...
Penguins notebook: ‘Home’ ice played a small role in Game 3 loss
While the NHL’s entire postseason tournament is being orchestrated in what are essentially neutral sites between Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena and Edmonton’s Rogers Place, there are designated home and road teams for each contest. The Penguins, as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, have home ice advantage, so to speak,...
‘Burgh’s Best to Wear It, No. 25: Kevin Stevens excelled as power forward for Penguins’ first 2 Cup teamsVideo
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. 25: Kevin Stevens When it comes to naming the best Pittsburgh athlete to wear No. 25, the decision is akin to picking your favorite...
‘Gritty’ Canadiens ‘showing some character going toe-to-toe’ with heavily favored Penguins
Wednesday’s 4-3 victory was just the 20th in regulation for the Montreal Canadiens over 74 games they have played during the 2019-20 season. They were “sellers” at the trade deadline, seemingly content that this season was a wash and with building for the future. Participation among the Canadiens for the...
Mark Madden: Penguins’ run of success looks to be overVideo
The Pittsburgh Penguins were 3-8 before the pandemic caused the NHL to pause, 1-2 since. The Penguins are 1-8 in their last nine playoff games. The run is over. It’s just not a very good hockey team anymore. The Penguins might well salvage their preliminary-round series against Montreal, though there’s...
U mad, bro?: Penguins are down 2-1 to Canadiens. So, yeah. We’re furious.
Our weekly reader-reaction question for Pittsburgh sports fans is “U mad, bro?” Well, the Penguins just blew a 3-1 lead to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 3 of their best-of-five preliminary round series. The franchise is now on the verge of losing its third straight playoff series. This time, it’s...
Empty Thoughts: More lineup changes can’t be ruled out for the Penguins
Observations from the Penguins’ 4-3 loss to the Canadiens: Penguins coach Mike Sullivan has a pretty standard answer when he’s asked about playing or not playing certain players. That answer was established in the early portions of 2016 when he regularly scratched forward Sergei Plotnikov. When asked why Plotnikov was...
Penguins lose Game 3 to Montreal, on brink of eliminationVideo
In the decade and a half he has played in the NHL, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has faced elimination from the postseason many times. He’s won and lost in plenty of those situations. They’ve come in all kinds of scenarios. In the first round or the Stanley Cup Final. Home...
