Pittsburgh Penguins / NHL category, Page 311
Penguins viewing party Downtown will depend on the weather
This afternoon’s weather will determine if Penguins fans can enjoy Sunday’s Game 3 outdoors. The KeyBank Big Screen will be in operation for all home playoff games at the corner of Centre Avenue and Logan Street, with activation beginning two hours before game time. But with rough weather in the...
These aren’t ‘desperate’ times for Penguins, coach Mike Sullivan says
A large percentage of NHL players, including Sidney Crosby, often talk about the need to play the game with desperation. It may just be a matter of semantics, but Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan isn’t a fan of that approach. Trailing 2-0, the Penguins will face the New York Islanders...
Mark Madden: Expect Penguins to play better, fix this series
The New York Islanders are better than I figured. (Perhaps I should have taken a closer look at the standings.) The Islanders won two close games on Long Island because they were able to impose their style. The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t stink. They just couldn’t get going. The Penguins pay...
3 overrated, underrated developments in Penguins-Islanders series
When the postseason begins, the playoff spotlight shines bright on multiple aspects of every series. As the Pittsburgh Penguins return home for Game 3 down 2-0 to the New York Islanders, here’s a look at three developments that have been overrated in their impact on the series and three that...
Last change swings in Penguins’ favor in Game 3
Without the benefit of the last change, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ top line featuring Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust was held without a point in consecutive losses to open a first-round playoff series against the New York Islanders. That will change Sunday in Game 3 at PPG Paints Arena...
Simon moves to top line with Crosby, GuentzelVideo
From a statistical standpoint, Dominik Simon would appear to be the last player deserving of a promotion to the top scoring line for the Pittsburgh Penguins. After all, he has scored only two goals in his past 40 games. But there was Simon skating alongside Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel...
Crosby: Penguins need ‘urgency and desperation’ in Game 3
Nobody needed to remind the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday that only four teams in NHL history have won a playoff series after losing the first three games. In the locker room at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, the players were keenly aware of what is at stake Sunday. Defeat...
Penguins’ Jared McCann ‘optimistic’ about returning for Game 3
It took four seasons for Jared McCann to play in his first career postseason game. Nobody took it harder than McCann when his experience was blunted after one game because of an upper body injury. McCann was scratched from Game 2 of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-round playoff series against the...
The other side: Could the Islanders really sweep the Penguins?
Are the Islanders destined for a sweep? That’s the question crossing minds in New York after Friday night’s 3-1 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins gave the Islanders a 2-0 series lead in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The best-of-seven first-round series shifts from Nassau Coliseum to PPG Paints Arena for Game...
Kevin Gorman: Penguins shouldn’t panic, but they need to show some urgencyVideo
UNIONDALE, N.Y. – The Pittsburgh Penguins say they aren’t about to press the panic button, even after they blew a lead against the New York Islanders and a critical chance to even their Stanley Cup playoffs first-round series. Maybe they already did. Not only did the Penguins make a lineup...
Evgeni Malkin takes responsibility, vows improvement after Penguins loss
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Whenever the Pittsburgh Penguins have found themselves in a tough spot in the playoffs in recent years, Evgeni Malkin has been a voice of motivation in the locker room. It was no different after they lost 3-1 Friday night to drop the first two games of a...
Penguins falter late as Islanders take 2-0 series leadVideo
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — In the rafters hang the numbers of some of the game’s all-time greats: Bossy, Potvin, Trottier, Smith. On the other side of the ice stand some of the most decorated players in today’s game: Crosby, Malkin, Kessel and Letang. Through two games of a first-round playoff series...
Playoffs by period: Paging Sidney Crosby — Penguins’ top line remains pointless
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — THIRD PERIOD: Islanders 3, Penguins 1 This tells you everything you need to know about the way this first-round series is going at Nassau Coliseum: Jordan Eberle and Josh Bailey have scored two goals each. Sidney Crosby has none. Crosby came into these Stanley Cup playoffs with...
Jack Johnson in for Olli Maatta, Jared McCann out with injury in Game 2 for Penguins
UNIONDALE, N.Y. – The Pittsburgh Penguins made a couple of significant lineup changes for Game 2 of their first-round playoff series with the New York Islanders. Jack Johnson was in for Olli Maatta on defense, and Jared McCann missed the game due to an upper-body injury. McCann, who took a...
Kevin Gorman’s Take 5: For Penguins, everyone is a game-time decision
UNIONDALE, N.Y. – The Pittsburgh Penguins had an optional skate Friday at Nassau Coliseum, so the absence of Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel and Patric Hornqvist, Brian Dumoulin and Kris Letang didn’t raise any eyebrows. When Matt Murray did not participate, however, it begged an obvious question: Is he still starting...
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan opts for physicality on 4th line
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — When Zach Aston-Reese was cleared to return from a lower-body injury before the start of a first-round series with the New York Islanders, Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan had to decide what kind of identity he wanted his fourth line to take. He opted for physicality. For...
Overtime woes grow into troubling trend for Penguins
UNIONDALE, N.Y. – When the Pittsburgh Penguins went 5-9 in overtime in the regular season, it was easy to chalk up the poor record to the peculiarities of the tiebreaking format. From the difficulty of making sensible line changes to the outsized impact a turnover can have, three-on-three hockey provides...
After playoffs debut, Penguins’ Jared McCann ready for moreVideo
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — After getting his first taste of the Stanley Cup playoffs in Game 1 against the New York Islanders, Jared McCann is ready for more. The 22-year-old forward was the only Pittsburgh Penguins player in the Game 1 lineup who hadn’t participated in the postseason, so the 4-3...
Penguins’ Erik Gudbranson breathes sigh of relief after ugly Game 1 injury
UNIONDALE, N.Y. – When he went crashing into the boards in the third period of Game 1 against the New York Islanders on Wednesday night, his availability for Game 2 wasn’t the first thing on the mind of Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Gudbranson. He was more concerned with making sure...
Why Penguins coach Mike Sullivan might stick with Game 1 lineup
In Friday’s Sided.co podcast, Jonathan Bombulie, the Trib’s Penguins beat writer, joins me from Long Island to preview Game 2 of the Penguins-Islanders series. We figure out why Mike Sullivan may stick with his failed lineup decisions from Game 1 against the Islanders. We also talk about why Phil Kessel...
Penguins forced to thrive in Long Island hornet’s nest
UNIONDALE, N.Y. – In the first round of last year’s playoffs, Philadelphia Flyers fans yelled profanities so profane that they would make a Teamster blush. In the 2017 Stanley Cup Final, Nashville Predators fans were chucking catfish in their general direction. For most of the Pittsburgh Penguins roster, a playoff...
3 not-so-obvious keys for Penguins in Game 2 vs. Islanders
Teams that play successful playoff hockey often talk about doing enough little things right that they become big things. Here are three not-so-obvious things the Pittsburgh Penguins could do in Game 2 on Friday night to even their first-round playoff series with the New York Islanders. Tips, not screens Justin...
Penguins notebook: History indicates Matt Murray primed for bounceback
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Matt Murray has a mantra about the mental side of the game that he repeats all season long. His focus is on stopping the next shot and nothing else. Ask him about his mindset during any stretch of a game — from the moment...
Kevin Gorman: Islanders should be alarmed by Sidney Crosby’s scoreless gameVideo
UNIONDALE, N.Y. Something was missing next to Sidney Crosby’s name on the score sheet for the opening game of the Stanley Cup playoffs, as the 100-point scorer went scoreless. Statistically speaking, Game 1 against the New York Islanders wasn’t a great showing for the Pittsburgh Penguins captain. He didn’t produce...
Penguins seek improvement from blue line in Game 2 vs. Islanders
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — With coach Mike Sullivan facing a significant roster decision and the New York Islanders trying to stab at their softest spots, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ defense corps has opened the postseason under siege. How they handle the adversity very well could determine if this playoff run is a...
