Penguins/NHL category, Page 74
U mad, bro?: Fan anxiety over Penguins’ playoff elimination; doubt about Steelers; pig wrestling
Since we are starting our “Breakfast With Benz” draft previews for the Pittsburgh Steelers on Thursday, we had to move up “U mad, bro?” to Wednesday this week. But given that the Penguins were eliminated from playoff contention Tuesday, one day shorter on the calendar doesn’t mean we are any...
Tim Benz: Fitting end to playoff hopes as Penguins miss postseason without even playing
It’s only fitting that the Pittsburgh Penguins’ playoff hopes came to a sudden halt Tuesday, thanks, in part, to a blown third-period lead and an inability to win in overtime. It didn’t matter that — in this case — it wasn’t even the Penguins that blew the lead or lost...
Penguins eliminated from playoff contention after Capitals clinch final wild-card spot
The Pittsburgh Penguins entered the 2023-24 season with plenty of motivation. “There’s something to prove, I think, for everybody,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said during a season-ticket event in mid-September. By mid-April, the only thing that’s been affirmed about the Penguins is that they are not a Stanley Cup contender....
Here’s how the Penguins can make the Stanley Cup playoffs
Fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins who want to see the club qualify for the postseason will need to take the drastic but necessary step of inking theoretical one-day fan contracts with the Philadelphia Flyers and Montreal Canadiens on Tuesday night. Even though the Penguins defeated Nashville, 4-2, on Monday in...
Tim Benz: It only took the Penguins 81 games to perfect a winning formula
For as often as the Pittsburgh Penguins have made life difficult for themselves this season, they earned more breathing room than they were given Monday night. Unfortunately for them, thanks to two first-period disallowed goals on weak goalie interference interpretations, the Pens were forced to sweat out another result. Unlike...
With season winding down, Penguins’ Reilly Smith snaps 13-game goal droughtVideo
For the first time in nearly a month, Pittsburgh Penguins winger Reilly Smith contributed a goal, delivering the winner Monday against Nashville in a 4-2 victory at PPG Paints Arena. Smith broke a 13-game scoreless streak with the goal, which came on a feed from linemate Lars Eller at 8...
Penguins tame Predators but remain on outside of wild-card playoff position
With everything at stake — or at least the ambitions of playing a minimum of four postseason games on the line — the Pittsburgh Penguins turned to the goaltender they signed this past offseason with hopes he would rejuvenate his sagging career and be a true difference-maker. Alex Nedeljkovic. As...
Ex-Penguins forward Jason Zucker back in playoffs with PredatorsVideo
Jason Zucker has something today that he didn’t have in his final days with the Pittsburgh Penguins. An X. As in the initial that gets placed next to a team’s name in the standings when it qualifies for the postseason. Currently a member of the Nashville Predators, Zucker will be...
Penguins’ Jansen Harkins rejoins practice, ready for call if it comesVideo
From the end of November through early March, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jansen Harkins carved out a steady bottom-six role for himself. But March 7, in a deflating 6-0 loss at home to the Washington Capitals, Harkins suffered a hand injury while fighting Beck Malenstyn that required surgery, which has kept...
Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic scheduled to start against PredatorsVideo
The Pittsburgh Penguins are scheduled to start goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic for a vital contest against the Nashville Predators in their regular season home finale at PPG Paints Arena on Monday. Failing to get at least a point will end the Penguins’ hopes of qualifying for the postseason. Coach Mike Sullivan...
Penguins face difficult path to playoffs with 2 games remaining
Four teams continue to battle for the final wild-card spot in the NHL’s Eastern Conference entering the final days of the regular season. While the New York Islanders have the inside track on the third-place position in the East with 90 points, Washington, Detroit, Philadelphia and the Pittsburgh Penguins remain...
Tim Benz: Ending of Penguins’ point streak illustrates different standards for team’s goalies
Throughout the Pittsburgh Penguins’ recently concluded 10-game point streak with backup goalie Alex Nedeljkovic in net, there was a different standard of evaluation for him as opposed to the franchise’s perceived No. 1 netminder, Tristan Jarry. Nedeljkovic backstopped the Pens to a 7-0-3 record in that span, largely by following...
Madden Monday: Loss to Boston was ‘chickens coming home to roost’ for Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ recent charge back into playoff contention was fun and unexpected. But the reality check provided by their first loss without a point in three weeks has certainly exposed how wobbly that status truly was. By going 7-0-3 in their previous 10 games, the Penguins woke up Saturday...
Minor league report: Penguins’ winning streak snapped; Nailers’ playoff schedule setVideo
Goaltender Joel Blomqvist made 21 saves on 24 shots for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 4-1 road loss to the rival Hershey Bears at the Giant Center in Hershey on Sunday. The result dropped Blomqvist’s record to 25-11-6 as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (38-23-8-1) had a seven-game winning streak snapped. Forward Vinnie Hinostroza...
Alex Nedeljkovic, Tristan Jarry shaky vs. Boston, leaving Penguins with tough goalie choiceVideo
Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Alex Nedeljkovic was a major architect of his club managing to go 7-0-3 over his last 10 starts, during which time qualifying for the postseason went from pipe dream to probable. He was far from perfect but largely did enough to give the Penguins a chance to...
Penguins playoff hopes take hit in home loss to Bruins
Despite so many flaws – a squalid power play, haphazard puck management and general ineptitude beyond the bounds of regulation, etc. — the Pittsburgh Penguins surged up the standings for the better part of three weeks and got back into relevancy in regard to postseason contention. Their resolve was a...
Minor league report: Penguins get 7th consecutive win; Nailers clinch playoff berthVideo
A goal and an assist by forward Jansen Harkins led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 4-1 win against the rival Hershey Bears in their regular season home finale at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre on Saturday. Forwards Corey Andonovski, Avery Hayes and Sam Poulin all scored a goal apiece for...
Penguins reassign forward Vinnie Hinostroza to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
The Pittsburgh Penguins reassigned forward Vinnie Hinostroza to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League Saturday evening shortly before puck drop at PPG Paints Arena vs. the Boston Bruins. Hinostroza, 30, was called up from the AHL on April 11 (the eighth time he’d been added to the NHL roster this...
Penguins trying to qualify for playoffs in final days of season
As of Friday, the Pittsburgh Penguins had yet to secure a playoff berth as they enter the final days of the regular season. “I feel like for the last two or three weeks here, we’ve been right in it,” Penguins forward Sidney Crosby said Wednesday in Cranberry. “It’s brought out...
Former Penguins forward Danton Heinen finds a role on the Bruins’ top lineVideo
It was exactly one year ago that Danton Heinen’s tenure with the Pittsburgh Penguins essentially came to an end. But he wasn’t the only one. Having already been eliminated from postseason contention, the Penguins limped through a 3-2 overtime road loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets in the regular-season finale...
Mark Madden’s Hot Take: After seeing Penguins consider relocation, feeling deeply for Coyotes fans
With the Arizona Coyotes likely headed to Salt Lake City, it’s easy to dismiss hockey in Phoenix as a failed experiment. The Coyotes currently play in a college rink that seats just 4,600. Ownership can’t get a new arena built. The Coyotes rarely have drawn big in Phoenix, not even...
Alex Nedeljkovic slated to make 11th straight start
With yet another critically important contest at hand, Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan will once again turn to Alex Nedeljkovic to start in net, as the Boston Bruins visit PPG Paints Arena on Saturday night. Sullivan revealed Nedeljkovic would make his 11th consecutive start following the Penguins’ morning skate. The...
Jack St. Ivany, Ryan Shea earning coaches’ trust as Penguins’ 3rd defensive pairing
The play of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ third defensive pairing probably wouldn’t immediately come to mind for many when reflecting on how and why the club has managed to come back from the dead and seize control of a wild-card spot with only a few days left in the regular season....
Minor league report: Penguins’ winning streak reaches 6Video
Two goals by forward Avery Hayes led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 5-2 home win against the Bridgeport Islanders at Mohegan Sun Arena in Wilkes-Barre on Friday. Forward Jagger Joshua recorded two assists for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (37-22-8-1) which has won a season-best six consecutive games while forwards Beau Jelsma, Sam Poulin...
Wheeling Nailers’ games altered by flooding
The Wheeling Nailers, ECHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins, have had their final two games of the regular season altered by flooding in Wheeling, W.Va. Friday’s home contest against the Toledo Walleye which was scheduled at WesBanco Arena has been postponed indefinitely. Meanwhile, a game on Saturday against the Cincinnati...
