When general manager Jim Rutherford took over his position, he had a long of work to do in overhauling the Pittsburgh Penguins. He had a front office to rearrange, a new coaching staff to hire and he had to do something with the team on the ice that blew a first-round series to the New York Rangers last spring. The jury is still out on some of those moves. Several efforts to reinvigorate the team’s bottom-six forwards seem to have mostly failed, while a contract extension to goaltender ... Read More
Mailbag: How can the Penguins replace Kris Letang?
We got a lot of questions this week surrounding Kris Letang's injury and the Penguins playing with only five defensemen on Saturday. Let's dive right in. Why can’t the Penguins call up a defenseman or exchange a forward on the roster for a defenseman in Wilkes-Barre to balance out the roster? The Pens don’t have enough cap space to call up Tux (that’s the WBS mascot, if you didn’t know), let alone a player. Some back-of-the-envelope math reveals less than $100 thousand of cap space in the ... Read More
Kris Letang out with a concussion; Pens to play with five defensemen
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang will miss tonight’s game against the San Jose Sharks with a concussion suffered at the hands of Arizona Coyotes forward Shane Doan on Saturday afternoon. Letang skated off with some assistance after the hit, which happened at 15:15 of the second period. He was taken to the hospital for evaluation after the game. “He has been released from the hospital, so like anything else, we’ll just take it as a day-to-day thing and see how he reacts and ... Read More
Penguins get untracked against hapless Coyotes
For the Penguins, a win – any win – is a welcome sight after losing four straight games over the last week. The Penguins 3-1 victory over Arizona Coyotes, however, is hardly an accomplishment worth celebrating. The Coyotes, now losers of six straight games and 16 of their last 17, seemed particularly uninterested in taking the play to the Penguins, despite a lackluster first period from the black and gold. The Penguins were completely outplayed through the first 20 minutes, and were ... Read More
Penguins lose to Stars 2-1; drop fourth straight
With a 2-1 loss to the Dallas Stars on Thursday, the Pittsburgh Penguins are now mired in the longest losing streak of the season – and Mike Johnston’s career – as they have now lost four straight games. For the second consecutive game, the Penguins came out ahead on the shot chart, with the Pens outshooting the Stars 31-26, including a 14-4 advantage in the third period. With the Penguins missing their top two goal scorers – center Evgeni Malkin and winger Patric Hornqvist – due to ... Read More
Penguins fall in New Jersey; drop third straight
For years, the Penguins have struggled to produce offense against the New Jersey Devils’ trapping scheme. On Tuesday night, they found their way to the net often enough, but despite landing 35 shots on goal, none of them found their way past Devils goaltender Cory Schneider, and the Pens lost, 2-0. It was the eighth time this season that the Penguins were shut out, and the second time in the last three games. The Penguins played a strong defensive game, allowing only 19 shots to get through ... Read More
Pens faced two opponents on Tuesday…and lost both
It’s not a surprise that the Pittsburgh Penguins lost to the Washington Capitals Tuesday night. Despite entering the third period tied at one, the Penguins never had a chance after Capitals superstar Alex Ovechkin two-handed slashed Kris Letang in the back of the leg seconds into the final frame. The Penguins, after all, were playing the wrong game. Rewind 48 hours to the Penguins' 2-1 shootout loss against the Chicago Blackhawks on Sunday, when Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was whistled ... Read More
Pens hopes slashed by Ovechkin, Caps
The Washington Capitals continued their dominance of the Penguins this season, as they beat Pittsburgh for the third consecutive time this season, this time by a score of 3-1 at Consol Energy Center on Tuesday night. The Capitals used their power play to victimize the Penguins, scoring each of their first two goals with the man advantage. The Penguins, on the other hand, could not find the net with their new-look power play, going scoreless on three chances. The Capitals got the scoring ... Read More
Letang’s five assists lead Pens past Jets
The Pittsburgh Penguins came into Tuesday night’s matchup on a four-game losing streak and would be without their three best players in injured centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin and goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury, who was given then night off. The Winnipeg Jets, on the other hand, came into town toting a five game winning streak. It was the Penguins, however that jumped out to an early lead, and when the Jets came back, the Pens kept on scoring en route to a 5-2 victory at Consol Energy ... Read More
Pens back in action against red-hot Jets
After a six-day hiatus, the Pittsburgh Penguins will find their way back to Consol Energy Center ice tonight as they host the Winnipeg Jets. The Penguins looked like they needed a rest, as they coasted into the all-star break on fumes, going 0-2-2 in their final four games, a span that included three critical Metropolitan Division contests. TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: For the Winnipeg, the all-star break couldn’t have come at a worse time. The Jets came into the break on an absolute tear, winning ... Read More