Pittsburgh Penguins / NHL category, Page 310
For Penguins, offseason roster changes all but guaranteed after first-round sweepVideo
A sullen group of Pittsburgh Penguins players sat in their stalls in a losing locker room Tuesday night knowing full well they just finished the last game this team would play together a group. Being swept in the first round of the playoffs inevitably leads to personnel changes. Even if...
Penguins can’t find answers as Islanders complete sweepVideo
For four full games plus an overtime, the Pittsburgh Penguins tried to find answers to the tough questions the New York Islanders were asking them in the first round of the playoffs. They tried to figure out how to deal with a ferocious forecheck that rarely took a shift off....
Playoffs by period: Penguins couldn’t solve Islanders’ strategy or avoid a sweep
THIRD PERIOD: Islanders 3, Penguins 1 The strategy for the New York Islanders is simple: Sit back and wait for the opponent to make mistakes. The Penguins were all too happy to comply. That made their Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series a bad matchup for the Penguins, despite the two...
NHL’s top scorers, including Penguins’ Sidney Crosby, going nowhere fast in playoffs
For decades, it generally has been an accepted part of hockey lore: The playoffs are where high-flying offenses go to die. Over the past three seasons, the Pittsburgh Penguins and Washington Capitals have done their part to change that attitude, winning the Stanley Cup on the backs of their generational...
Jared McCann promoted as Penguins shake up top line again
When the Pittsburgh Penguins open the fourth game of their first-round series against the New York Islanders on Tuesday night, they will apparently be using their third different top-line combination. Jared McCann was bumped up to the first line with Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel as the team took morning...
Penguins move Jake Guentzel to top power-play unit for Game 4Video
Jake Guentzel talked about Game 4 being a chance for the Pittsburgh Penguins to do “something special,” and that starts with moving the winger to the top special-teams unit. Looking for a way to spark the Penguins with a man advantage in the Stanley Cup playoffs, coach Mike Sullivan switched...
First call: Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin called out for fight with Hurricanes’ Andrei Svechnikov
In Monday’s “First Call,” Alex Ovechkin’s knockout in a fight. A preview of the Pirates series in Detroit. Gerrit Cole is heating up for Houston. Ovi K.O. Alexander Ovechkin didn’t score for the Capitals on Tuesday night. No one from Washington did. The Capitals were blanked by the Hurricanes, 5-0,...
How long can Penguins stay alive vs. Islanders?
The Penguins are facing playoff elimination in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference quarterfinals Tuesday night against the Islanders. Puck-drop is 7:30 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena. Penguins Radio network host Brian Metzer isn’t sounding too optimistic about the club staying alive in our weekly Sided.co hockey podcast. He’ll tell...
Tim Benz: How Penguins could climb out of 3-0 hole vs. Islanders
So how do they do it? The truth is, it almost assuredly won’t happen. But … If the Penguins are to come back from a 3-0 hole against the New York Islanders in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series, how will it happen? The usual empty explanations were thrown around the...
Muted Penguins offense facing now-or-never Game 4 with Islanders
In explaining the Pittsburgh Penguins impotent offensive production, it’s easy to point to the New York Islanders and the Penguins’ obvious troubles in solving their first-round opponent’s commitment to defense. But in reality, the Penguins’ struggles with scoring goals extend well back beyond the start of the postseason. Though winning...
Penguins’ Sidney Crosby: ‘I’d love to be a part of a team that comes back from (down 3-0)’
Sidney Crosby has made an indelible permanent mark on the NHL. He’s carved out a place in the hockey history books. So, the way he sees it, why not embrace an opportunity to make more history? The Pittsburgh Penguins captain recognizes the dire situation and the long odds the Penguins...
Down 3-0, Penguins try to take their minds off hockey
Mike Sullivan’s viewing of choice was Game of Thrones. For Justin Schultz, Masters post-tournament coverage. The routine-oriented Matt Murray and Sidney Crosby planned on spending time with family. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ season is on the line Tuesday. But Monday, players and coaches mostly were electing to keep from dwelling too...
With Penguins’ season on the line, Mike Sullivan cancels practice
What possibly was the Pittsburgh Penguins’ final practice of the season became not a practice at all Monday. Though the team gathered Monday at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, players did not take the ice on the eve of Game 4 of their first-round playoff series they trail...
Tim Benz, Mark Madden discuss how good Islanders are, Penguins’ issues
It’s the day after another Penguins loss, and Tim Benz and Mark Madden discuss the state of the team, how good the Islanders are and what, if anything, can be done to salvage this first-round playoff series for Pittsburgh. Benz and Madden discuss the Penguins’ issues maintaining momentum, the stars...
Islanders not the first team to smother Penguins in playoffs
The extent to which the New York Islanders have suffocated the Pittsburgh Penguins in their first-round playoff series is surprising. The Penguins had the sixth-best offense in the league in the regular season, boasting a roster that included four 70-point scorers. They’ve managed a total of two goals in the...
The other side: Islanders thinking ‘Game of Thrones’ before coup of Penguins
Penguins fans might have “Game of Thrones” on their minds watching this series against the New York Islanders. Because it has been a massacre akin to “The Red Wedding.” Apparently, the Islanders players have been thinking about “G.O.T.,” too. Instead of wondering about what a sweep of the Penguins would...
Tim Benz: Penguins’ biggest problem vs. Islanders is clearVideo
There are plenty of reasons why the Penguins are down 3-0 to the New York Islanders in their Eastern Conference quarterfinal series. • A scoring slump for Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel • An ineffective power play • Hot goaltending from Robin Lehner • Trouble in the faceoff circle during...
John Steigerwald: Miracles not unheard of in Penguins-Islanders history
Do you believe in miracles? If the Pittsburgh Penguins win the next three games against the New York Islanders and are leading in Game 7 with 10 seconds to go, whoever is calling the game shouldn’t feel guilty about stealing Al Michaels’ line from 1980. Coming back to win this...
Kevin Gorman: Not even Sidney Crosby can save the Penguins this timeVideo
The Pittsburgh Penguins had just missed a golden goal-scoring opportunity Sunday when the television camera zoomed in on Sidney Crosby chewing on his mouthpiece on the bench. That was supposed to be a sign of Sid’s frustration. Or it could have been just a bad habit that was magnified in...
Islanders’ Robin Lehner shines after beating off-ice ‘demons’
Barry Trotz appreciates and respects what Robin Lehner has done for the New York Islanders in the first three games of their playoff series against the Pittsburgh Penguins. But the Islanders coach isn’t kidding when he says, “Playing goal for us is the easy thing.” Lehner has stopped 98 shots...
Penguins notebook: Garrett Wilson’s ‘greasy’ goal a bright spotVideo
In one sense, the fact Garrett Wilson scored the team’s lone goal in Game 3 against the New York Islanders on Sunday is a bad sign for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Couple that with Erik Gudbranson being the only scorer in a 3-1 loss in Game 2 of their Eastern Conference...
Tim Benz, Mark Madden break down Penguins’ 3-0 hole vs. Islanders
We bring you this week’s Madden Monday from PPG Paints Arena after the Penguins drop a 4-1 decision in Game 3 to the New York Islanders. Mark Madden of 105.9 the X and TribLIVE joins me as we figure out how the Isles have built a commanding 3-0 series lead...
Penguins in hole they’ve never climbed out of in Crosby-Malkin era
For the third time since Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin joined the Pittsburgh Penguins, the team has lost the first three games of a playoff series. The first time, they made it a series. The second time, they were swept. Which path they take this time will be determined in...
Islanders again stymie Penguins to take 3-0 series leadVideo
Enticed into making mistake after costly mistake by a disciplined opponent, the Pittsburgh Penguins are one loss from leaving the playoffs in a stunning first-round sweep. Jordan Eberle and Brock Nelson scored 62 seconds apart in the first period, leading the New York Islanders to a 4-1 victory Sunday afternoon...
Playoffs by period: After missing shots to score, Penguins running out of chances
THIRD PERIOD: Islanders 4, Penguins 1 It comes down to chances. When the Penguins got theirs, they missed. Sidney Crosby had the puck behind the net and slid a pass to Jake Guentzel at the bottom of the left circle. Guentzel fired a shot off the left shoulder of Islanders...
