Penguins/NHL category, Page 198
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...
Penguins top line struggling to produce goals
UNIONDALE, N.Y — Arguably, the most consistent offensive force for the Pittsburgh Penguins over the course of the regular season was their top line of Jake Guentzel, Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust. Guentzel and Rust were the only members of the team who appeared in all 56 games during the...
Tim Benz: No Penguins panic yet, but reasons to grouse
I suppose if you predict a series to go seven games, the team you predict to win is going to have to lose three times. I said the Pittsburgh Penguins would beat the New York Islanders in seven games in their opening-round playoff series. So, at 2-2 after four games,...
Penalties, mistakes cost Penguins in Game 4 loss to Islanders
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — If there was any doubt Evgeni Malkin truly has returned, he answered that question fairly quickly Saturday. To be precise, the Pittsburgh Penguins superstar center made his presence abundantly clear 4 minutes, 7 seconds into regulation during Game 4 of his team’s first-round playoff series against the...
Islanders to start goaltender Ilya Sorokin for Game 4 against Penguins
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The New York Islanders are expected to start rookie goaltender Ilya Sorokin for Game 4 of their first-round series against the Penguins at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Saturday. Sorokin made his postseason debut during Game 1 on Sunday, a 4-3 overtime win at PPG Paints Arena....
Brandon Tanev became voice of calm for the Penguins late in Game 3Video
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Penguins forward Brandon Tanev has become something of a local cult hero early in the playoffs due to his frantic (or maniacal) approach to his vocation. Yet, when Game 3 of the Penguins’ first-round series against the New York Islanders at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum devolved into...
Minor league report: Nailers fall to Swamp RabbitsVideo
Goaltender Tommy Nappier made 21 saves on 26 shots for the Wheeling Nailers in a 5-2 road loss to the Greenville Swamp Rabbits at Bon Secours Wellness Arena in Greenville, S.C. on Friday. Defenseman Jesse Lees and forward Brady Tomlak each scored goals for Wheeling (19-34-5-1), which has lost four...
Penguins forward Jason Zucker comfortable contributing ‘in other ways’
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jason Zucker got his first goal of the postseason Thursday during the Penguins’ 5-4 road win against the New York Islanders in Game 3 of their first-round series at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum. Having reached the 20-goal mark five times in his career, Zucker’s...
Penguins have ‘3-headed monster’ at centerVideo
UNIONDALE, N.Y. — The Pittsburgh Penguins’ two-headed monster hasn’t been slain. Far from it. But it’s been in hibernation through the first three games of their first-round series with the New York Islanders. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin — long dubbed as a dual-craniumed leviathan at the center position for...
Mark Madden: Penguins overcame Islanders, officiating in Game 3, but can they really keep up this pace?
“Penguins ill-equipped for heavy hockey” — my column’s headline two days ago. So it was written. So it did come to pass. Don’t be blinded by Thursday’s result, as impressive as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ gutsy 5-4 win on Long Island was. That farce of a game displayed much that’s bad...
Empty Thoughts: Penguins 5, Islanders 4Video
Observations from the Penguins’ 5-4 win against the Islanders in Game 3: Sidney Crosby has been limited thus far in this series, at least in terms of producing offense. Through three games, he has one stinking goal. In contrast, Islanders fourth-liner Cal Clutterbuck had two in Game 3 alone. But...
Ulf Samuelsson reflects on Penguins’ 1991 Stanley Cup as 30th anniversary approaches
As the 2021 Penguins attempt to fight their way through the first round of this year’s NHL playoffs against the New York Islanders, Tuesday will mark the 30th anniversary of the franchise’s first championship. On May 25, 1991, the Penguins won the Stanley Cup by defeating the Minnesota North Stars...
Tim Benz: It’s not just that the Penguins won Game 3. It’s how they did it.
Not only did the Penguins need to win that game, they needed to win that game that way. They needed to win a game where they had to score a lot to do it. They needed to win a game where the offense carried the day. They needed to win...
Even in sparse ice time in return from injury, Evgeni Malkin makes impact on Penguins’ win
Among the 1,107 NHL regular-season and playoff games Evgeni Malkin has appeared in over his career, in only five did Malkin amass less ice time than he did during Thursday’s postseason contest on Long Island. Malkin didn’t need an abundance of time to make an impact. In his return to...
Penguins outlast Islanders in wild Game 3 as Evgeni Malkin returns
UNIONDALE, N.Y. – The Penguins wanted a good start to Game 3 of their first-round playoff series with the New York Islanders at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Thursday. But they wound up with a chaotic conclusion. Most importantly, they got a win. With forward Evgeni Malkin returning to the...
