The Pittsburgh Penguins defeated the New York Rangers, 6-3, at Consol Energy Center, and won the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, four games to one. Period One The first period proved to be slow for the Penguins, especially after the Rangers took a 1-0 lead when Rick Nash scored. After that, it was back and forth. Carl Hagelin scored the first goal for the Penguins, to tie the game. Dominic Moore quickly put the Rangers back in the lead, but the Penguins soon tied it up with a goal ... Read More
Game 5 Preview: Series victory within reach for Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins (3-1) Last time out, Matt Murray dazzled once again on the big stage and recorded his first-career playoff shootout. The offense got the job done, as well, giving the team some breathing room, building on an early lead and finishing with a total of five goals scored. The special teams of Pittsburgh played at an elite level. Not only did the power-play score on three of five chances, the power-kill played even better, giving New York no chance to establish consistent ... Read More
Penguins can win series at home after decisive win
The Pittsburgh Penguins (3-1) dominated against the New York Rangers (1-3) and came one step closer to capping off the sweet revenge the Pens have sought for the last two years. Matt Murray got the start tonight in net and outperformed himself. Pittsburgh was able to put up an early 2-0 lead thanks to Eric Fehr and a Patric Hornqvist power-play goal. The 5-0 win by the Penguins puts Pittsburgh right in the driver seat of this series. The series will shift to Consol Energy Center, and with ... Read More
Game 4 Preview: Penguins look to take dominate lead; Murray to start
Pittsburgh Penguins (2-1) Head coach Mike Sullivan got straight to the point before today’s game: “Matt Murray is starting tonight in net.” (Marc-Andre Fleury remains day-to-day after suffering his second concussion toward the end of the regular season.) On Tuesday, Murray became the youngest goaltender to start a postseason game for Pittsburgh. And, not only did he start, he dominated in Game 3 to secure the Penguins’ win. Last game out, seasoned veteran Matt Cullen scored what would be the ... Read More
Mighty Penguins rebound and steal Game 3 from the Rangers
The Pittsburgh Penguins (2-1) played a stellar game to take back the lead in the series against the New York Rangers (1-2) at home, winning by a score of 3-1. Goaltender Matt Murray got the nod tonight — making his first career playoff start — and was a force in between the pipes for Pittsburgh. The Rangers squandered four power-play opportunities but played tough against the boards. However, this time, the Penguins didn’t show any signs of fatigue as they were able to put up 30 shots against ... Read More
Pens drop Game 2 to Rangers, 4-2
The Pittsburgh Penguins (1-1) suffered their first loss in the 2016 NHL Stanley Cup Playoffs against the New York Rangers (1-1). The Penguins had an abundance of chances to keep the score close, but a series of goals by the Rangers kept Pittsburgh from picking up any momentum. Four straight goals by the Rangers sucked the life out of Consol Energy Center until the final stages of the third period when Pittsburgh began finding its first-period spark again. However, missed opportunities against ... Read More
In game two, Zatkoff looking to repeat strong performance
Pittsburgh Penguins (1-0) Jeff Zatkoff played not only played the biggest game of his career, so far, on Wednesday, he also played one of his best in game one of this opening playoff series against the New York Rangers. While the status of injured players like Marc-Andre Fleury, Bryan Rust and Evgeni Malkin is now listed as day-to-day, head coach Mike Sullivan seems very optimistic about having a fully healthy team soon. Although it is very unlikely for any of those players to play in ... Read More
Hornqvist’s hat trick leads charge in Game 1 victory
In his first career NHL playoff start, Pittsburgh Penguins backup goaltender Jeff Zatkoff played lights-out hockey and helped the Penguins (1-0) nab the 5-2 win against the New York Rangers (0-1) at Consol Energy Center in the first game of the series. Zatkoff finished the game with 37 saves. The Rangers were able to keep the game close heading into the final period, tightening the score to a 2-1 Penguins lead. But goals by rightwingers Tom Kuhnhackl and Patric Hornqvist further separated the ... Read More
‘Baby Pens’ proving to be the backbone of the NHL Penguins
Over the years, the Penguins have been criticized for their talent in the minor leagues. Big trades and acquisitions used to fuel failed playoff runs of years past seemed to have drained any previous minor league depth the Pens had down in Wilkes-Barre. With the vast amount of injuries dealt with in Pittsburgh this season, the Pens had to dig deep and heavily rely on minor league depth that many thought was not there. These players that began the season playing in the AHL are proving any ... Read More
Game 1 Preview: Penguins eye payback in opening series game
Pittsburgh Penguins (0-0) The Pittsburgh Penguins have won the last three meetings against the New York Rangers and will look to begin redeeming themselves after being eliminated by New York for the last two years. The goaltending situation is still unknown as Coach Mike Sullivan said that it will be a game-time decision. Beau Bennett, Olli Maatta, and Marc-Andre Fleury all are suffering from injuries and it is unknown who will be in the starting lineup for Game 1. With Pittsburgh ... Read More