Hockey isn't a sport for the light-hearted, and Thursday night’s game between the Pittsburgh Penguins (36-13-7) and the Winnipeg Jets (26-29-4) sure proved that. While the first half of the game was fairly well controlled by Pittsburgh, which put up a 2-0 lead, the Jets stormed back, scoring one goal in the second and two in the third. But even though the Penguins lost the lead halfway through the third, Winnipeg couldn't hold off one of the league’s best offenses. With just over five minutes ... Read More
Penguins snap three-game road losing streak, Murray bounces back
After a game where Matt Murray allowed a staggering seven goals, the Pittsburgh Penguins' young goalie allowed only one against the Montreal Canadiens (27-13-6) in Pittsburgh's 4-1 win Wednesday night. With the defense allowing only 20 shots on net, Murray’s job was considerably easier than in his previous game against the Washington Capitals. The game began with both teams' offenses off to a good start, but Pittsburgh (28-11-5) got on the board firsts thanks to a wide-open Ian Cole flying ... Read More
Penguins look to start season 3-0 vs. Colorado
Pittsburgh Penguins (2-0-0) Head coach Mike Sullivan's team has started out of the gates looking pretty good without its top player, Sidney Crosby. Hosting the Colorado Avalanche Monday night will conclude Pittsburgh's early three-game homestand. Goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury has already been Pittsburgh's biggest impact player this season, and the Avalanche will have to exhaust the Penguins' netminder early. In his first two games, Fleury has stopped 73 of 77 shots. When teammate and ... Read More
Penguins start season 2-0 with 3-2 win over Ducks
Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin carried a captain-less Pittsburgh Penguins (2-0-0) past the visiting Anaheim Ducks (0-2-0) by a 3-2 score. Ian Cole scored Pittsburgh's first goal of the game in the first period, shooting near the blue line and gunning it past the Ducks' goalie, Jonathan Bernier. Anaheim's Cam Fowler answered the Penguins' goal on a two-man-advantage power play. Kessel's powerplay goal midway through the second ended up becoming the game-winning goal — Conor Sheary scored for ... Read More
Maatta not answer to Pens defensive woes
As the Pittsburgh Penguins 2015-16 season continues it has become even more readily apparent that Ian Cole is not suited to skating top pairing defensive minutes and has not clicked as a partner for Kris Letang. Their defensive struggles have led many to call for a change and find a new partner to skate with Letang, and of course Olli Maatta is the name on most everybody’s lips. Over the summer, most people had penciled Maatta in to open the season skating alongside Letang. They had spent time ... Read More
Is Ian Cole hurting Kris Letang and Penguins?
With the Pittsburgh Penguins currently ranked third in the league in average goals against per game, falling two spots after allowing five against the Calgary Flames on Saturday night, knocking the defense seems farfetched. Maybe unfair. However, consider the two players with the worst plus/minus ranking on the team in Kris Letang and Ian Cole at -10 and -9, respectively. Now, consider Olli Maatta and Rob Scuderi lead the team with +9 and +8 ratings, while Ben Lovejoy checks in at ... Read More
Changes to D-pairs paying off for Pens
After starting 0-3, the Pittsburgh Penguins have turned things around and are now on a three-game winning streak. They even managed to finally score on the power play against Florida last night. The wins have not come easy, however, and there are still adjustments that could be made to help them improve going forward. One area that has been a hot topic for discussion is the team's defensive pair. The Penguins have used seven defensemen so far this season, and of a potential 21 combinations, ... Read More
Penguins re-sign Ian Cole
The Pittsburgh Penguins defensive corps in a state of flux, with veteran defensemen Paul Martin and Christian Ehrhoff likely testing free agent waters on July 1 and Olli Maatta and Kris Letang returning from seasoning-ending injuries. The Penguins made a big step to solidifying their blue line on Monday when they re-signed defenseman Ian Cole to a three-year contract. Cole, 26, was brought over from the St. Louis Blues in a trade deadline deal from Robert Bortuzzo. He immediately fit in on ... Read More
Penguins have a new mindset for Game 2 against Rangers
After a disheartening first period in Thursday’s Game 1 loss to the New York Rangers, the Penguins gained some momentum in the second two periods, keeping the Rangers off the board over the final two frames. For that momentum to continue, the Penguins will have to find a way to have a better start in Game 2 tonight at Madison Square Garden. Penguins defenseman Ian Cole believes that they key lies in more aggressive play in the early going. “I think that’s something where we were a little ... Read More
Can Crosby finally light the lamp against the Blues?
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby will try to get a monkey off his back, and hopefully lead his team to another victory over a Western Conference foe, when his Penguins take on the St. Louis Blues tonight. The Blues are the only team that Crosby has never scored against in his 10-year NHL career. In the teams’ first matchup this season, he had an assist, but was a minus-2 two, and couldn’t find the back of the net despite five shots on goal. The rest of the Penguins haven’t fared much better ... Read More