Penguins’ defenseman Olli Maatta will make his return to the ice tonight when the Penguins take on the Montreal Canadiens. Maatta had surgery to remove a cancerous tumor from his thyroid gland two weeks ago. Maatta, 20, was expected to miss four weeks while recovering from the procedure, but he began working out almost immediately afterwards, and has been practicing with the team since last week. “I’ve got to thank the doctors and the team staff for doing their best,” Maatta said after ... Read More
Report: Blount left Steelers victory early
Steelers’ running back LeGarrette Blount left the team’s Monday night game early. He was apparently upset over a lack of carries in the team’s 27-24 victory over the Tennessee Titans. The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette’s Ed Bouchette reported. According to the Post-Gazette, Blount left the field early, went to the locker room, changed, and headed for the team bus. Blount was upset that he did not have any carries while fellow running back Le’Veon Bell was racking up 204 yards on 33 carries. It was ... Read More
Steelers come from behind to beat Titans
Late in the game, on the road, losing to yet another inferior team, Steelers offensive coordinator Todd Haley turned the keys to his offense over to second-year running Le’Veon Bell. Bell responded by rambling to a career-high 204 yards on 33 carries, the fourth-highest total ever for a Steelers running back, and he lead the team to a come-from-behind 27-25 victory over the Tennessee Titans. On the first play of the fourth quarter, Bell stretched his left arm out to just barely break the ... Read More
Dupuis out; Maatta could be in against Montreal
Penguins’ winger Pascal Dupuis did not practice with the team on Monday, and will not be making their trip to Montreal for Tuesday’s game against the Canadiens. “He went to see a doctor [Monday] morning, and he won’t be making he trip in to Montreal,” said head coach Mike Johnston. “We’ll get an update on where he’s at in the next 24-48 hours.” The nature of Dupuis’ ailment was not disclosed. He finished <a ... Read More
Pens get reversal & two points against Rangers
One of the wildest games in Pittsburgh hockey history ended when Rick Nash’s shootout attempt hit the top of Marc-Andre Fleury’s glove and trickled just wide of the cage. Nash had just come back from the Rangers locker room; where he and his teammates were celebrating a 3-2 shootout win over the Penguins. Their celebration was short lived. A call from the NHL war room in Toronto prompted referees Graham Skilliter and Kelly Sutherland to take another look at the Dan Boyle goal that had ... Read More
Penguins back in black against the Rangers
The Penguins finished their five-game road trip with a 4-1 record, with the lone loss coming at the hands of the New York Rangers at Madison Square Garden. On a throwback night at Consol Energy Center, the Penguins will face an old Patrick Division foe and hope to avenge their last loss as they host their longtime rivals. This is the second of four games between the clubs this season. All four will be played before the All-Star break, with the Penguins traveling to New York on December 8, and ... Read More
Penguins wrap up road trip in Toronto
The Pittsburgh Penguins will wrap up their five-game road trip in Toronto tonight. Despite losing to the New York Rangers on Tuesday, the Penguins have won three of four on this road trip and have the league’s best mark on the road. TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: The Maple Leafs are on a three-game winning streak, beating the Rangers, Ottawa Senators, and Boston Bruins in the past week. Toronto has been lead offensively by Phil Kessel. Kessel has 10 goals and 11 assists through 16 games. Kessel has ... Read More
Penguins go for 8 straight in the Big Apple
The Penguins will travel to Manhattan to face the New York Rangers tonight. The Penguins last played in Madison Square Garden in game six of the Eastern Conference Semifinals this past May. The Rangers won that contest, 3-1, on their way to turning a 3-1 series deficit into a seven-game victory. The Penguins had won the first two games of the series that were played in New York. Since 2009, the Penguins are 10-4 in regular season contests in the Garden. That followed a 3-9-4 span from 2005 to ... Read More
Penguins put their streak on the line in Buffalo
Tonight, the Pittsburgh Penguins will put their six-game winning streak on the line against the worst team in the National Hockey League, the Buffalo Sabres. It will be the third game of a five-game road trip for the Penguins, their longest of the season. Coming off a pair of hard-fought contests in Winnipeg and Minnesota, the Penguins will have another strong test tonight as the Sabres will be desperate to get a win after dropping five of their last six contests. It will be the second matchup ... Read More
Penguins ground Jets; run steak to six
In a game that featured 100 penalty minutes, it was the finest of finesse plays that gave the Penguins a 4-3 shootout victory in Winnipeg on Wednesday night. Sidney Crosby deked around Jets goaltender Ondrej Pavelec and tucked his shot off the goaltender’s skate, the post, his pad, and into the Winnipeg net to give the Penguins the shootout lead. Marc-Andre Fleury, fresh off his contract extension, stoned Evander Kane at the other end of the ice to give the Penguins their first shootout ... Read More