For the second time this season, the Pittsburgh Penguins jumped out to a big lead on the Anaheim Ducks. Just like during the first game of the season, Anaheim showed why they are one of the top teams in the NHL by coming back to tighten the score, but the Penguins were again able to hold off the Ducks’ charge and escaped Anaheim with a 5-2 victory. After a scoreless first period, Blake Comeau started the scoring for the Penguins when he tallied his 15th goal of the season at 9:51 of the second ... Read More
Ben Lovejoy returns to Anaheim as Pens face Ducks
The Penguins will try to shake off Wednesday's ugly 3-1 loss in Colorado and get right back in the hunt for the Metropolitan Division title as their four-game western road trip continues with a 10:00 p.m. faceoff tonight against the Anaheim Ducks. TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: This will be the second meeting between the Penguins and Ducks this season, but you may have to stretch your memory to recall the first. That would have been the season opener, way back on October 9, 2014, which the Penguins won ... Read More
Varlamov, Avalanche shut down Penguins
With the Penguins in the midst of an offensive outburst, scoring 18 goals over the last four games, general manager Jim Rutherford chose to upgrade the team’s defense at Monday’s trade deadline. It was the offense, though, that faltered as Semyon Varlamov and the Colorado Avalanche shut down the Penguins in Denver on Wednesday en route to a 3-1 victory. The Penguins offense never seemed to get untracked and they mustered just 29 shots on Varlamov, who earned his 20th win of the ... Read More
Pens debut new look ‘D’ vs Avalanche
With the roster finally solidified, the Penguins will try out their new-look lineup as they start a four-game western swing by taking on the Avalanche in Denver, Colorado tonight at 10:00 p.m. The first game after the trade deadline can be a strenuous affair in the National Hockey League. Players have been traded and have to find their way across the continent to their new team with their sticks, bags and families arriving intact. Equipment managers get a crash course on new how the new ... Read More
Penguins are now Rutherford’s team
Make no mistake about it: these Penguins are Jim Rutherford’s team. The Penguins general manager continued to put his mark on his team, making a pair of deals before Monday's trade deadline, acquiring defensemen Ben Lovejoy and Ian Cole. As the Penguins roster in currently constituted, Rutherford has either signed or traded for 11 of the 24 players on the team, more than predecessors Ray Shero (9) and Craig Patrick (4). In addition to the lineup, the Rutherford has replaced the entire ... Read More
Penguins bring back defenseman Ben Lovejoy
After already swapping Robert Bortuzzo for Ian Cole, the Pittsburgh Penguins have added yet another player to the fold on trade deadline day, and this one is a familiar face. Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has also acquired former Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy from the Anaheim Ducks. Lovejoy, now 31, has spent the last three seasons in Anaheim after starting his career with the Penguins as an undrafted free agent out of Dartmouth. He has 248 NHL games on his resume – 98 with the ... Read More
Penguins acquire defenseman Ian Cole
It took a while, but the Pittsburgh Penguins have found the defensive help they were looking for at the traded deadline. They waited until late in the day on Monday, but eventually acquired defenseman Ian Cole from the Saint Louis Blues. Cole, a 26-year old native of Ann Arbor, Michigan, was the Blues’ first-round pick in the 2007 NHL Entry Draft. He’s played in 165 NHL games, all with Saint Louis, scoring nine goals, 21 assists and recording 142 penalty minutes. In 2014-15, he’s had his best ... Read More
Power play leads Pens past Blue Jackets
In the Pittsburgh Penguins first two games against the Columbus Blue Jackets this season – a pair of one-goal losses – the Pens went 0-for-6 on the power play despite taking 11 shots with the man advantage. In Sunday night’s 5-3 win over Columbus, the Penguins power play went 3-for-6 on 14 shots and accounted for the entire margin of victory. The teams took a little while to adjust to the odd 5:00 p.m. start, and the first period was scoreless until the 17:33 mark, when James Wisniewski ... Read More
Pens in for a fight against Columbus
Much has been made about the Penguins struggles inside the Metropolitan Division this season. Despite a 35-17-9 overall record, the Penguins are just 8-11-4 against Metro opponents. The Penguins will cap off a stretch of four intra-division games out of six when they host the Columbus Blue Jackets tonight at 5:00 p.m. TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: The Penguins and Blue Jackets last got together 10 days ago, when Columbus handed Pittsburgh a 2-1 loss via a Brandon Dubinsky shorthanded goal in the third ... Read More
Mailbag: Five questions about the Daniel Winnik trade
What type of player are the Penguins getting? During a radio interview with 105.9 The X on Thursday, Winnik used one word to describe his game – heavy. It’s an accurate description. Winnik even plays bigger than his 6’2”, 210-pound frame, and is a productive player in the dirty areas of ice such as the offensive corners and in front of the net. He’s much more than a mere tough guy, though. He uses his size and strength to drive the offense to the front of the net and pull defenders away ... Read More