It will be a battle of strength versus strength when the Penguins and the league’s top special teams units take on the top squad at five-on-five, the Minnesota Wild, in St. Paul tonight. The Penguins’ power play is off to a roaring start, with a 41.9% success rate, which is first in the league. 18 of the Penguins 41 goals have been with a man advantage. The Wild penalty killers are fourth in the league with a 89.3% success rate. TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: The Wild’s power play is second to last ... Read More
Pittsburgh Penguins use strong goaltending and powerplay to beat Buffalo 5-0
Anytime you face a struggling team in your own building you want to jump on them early and leave no doubt who the superior team is. The Penguins succeeded tremendously in that quest Saturday night en route to a 5-0 thrashing of the Buffalo Sabres. Pittsburgh (7-2-1) controlled the first period by outshooting the Sabres 12-3 and spent most of the period camped out in the Sabres (2-9-1) end of the ice. They were also staked to a 1-0 lead when Chris Kunitz buried a rebound past Jhonas Enroth four ... Read More
Fleury shuts out the champs; Pens beat Kings 3-0
The Penguins power play is on a historic pace at the start of the 2014-15 season. Coming into the game at 40.6%, the top-ranked power play unit converted on two of six chances, and their success rate actually dropped. They now sit at 39.5% on the season. The NHL record, set by the Montreal Canadiens in 1977-78, is 31.88%. The Penguins power play not only provided the tallies on the scoreboard that the team would need to win, it provided key early momentum against a banged up Los Angeles ... Read More
Stanley Cup champs come to town as Pens host Kings
The Pittsburgh Penguins could face their biggest test of the young 2014-15 season tonight when they host the Los Angeles Kings. The Kings are defending Stanley Cup Champions and have won it in two of the last three seasons. In the past few years, the Penguins have breezed through the regular season only to be stopped short in the playoffs. The Kings have done just the opposite, finishing third in their division last season, and eight in the Western Conference in 2011-12. As a team looking for ... Read More
Penguins come from behind to rout Devils
For the better part of the past two decades, the New Jersey Devils have been one of the premier defensive teams in the NHL. Backstopped by surefire Hall of Famer Martin Brodeur in goal, and led by defensive masterminds like Larry Robinson, the Devils have carved an identity as one of the stingiest teams in the league. In previous years, when the Devils jumped out to an early 3-1 lead, the outcome of the game had already been decided as the Devils’ system would shut down the neutral zone. ... Read More
Penguins host Jagr and red-hot Devils
The New Jersey Devils will take their show on the road when they bring the best road record in the NHL to Consol Energy Center tonight to do battle with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Devils are 4-0-1 away from their home ice this season. It’s an area of improvement for the team after going 20-38-17 on the road for the last two seasons under Head Coach Peter DeBoer. TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: The Devils will be without leading goal scorer Mike Cammalleri. Cammalleri came over from Calgary in the ... Read More
Maatta to have surgery to remove tumor
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Olli Maatta will have surgery to remove a tumor from his thyroid gland, it was announced by General Manager Jim Rutherford and team physician Dr. Dharmesh Vyas on Monday afternoon. Vyas said that the tumor was discovered during pre-season physicals. The prognosis for Maatta’s recovery is good, and he should be able to return to the lineup about a month after the procedure, which is scheduled for next week. Maatta will play up until he has the surgery. “Olli ... Read More
Penguins go the distance; shut out Predators 3-0
Just about any way you slice it, the Pittsburgh Penguins outplayed the Nashville Predators Saturday night. The Penguins outshot the Predators, 26 to 25. They outdrew them in the faceoff circle 23 to 18, and they beat them where it counts, the scoreboard, as the Penguins went wire-to-wire for a 3-0 victory in Nashville. The Penguins high-powered offense has certainly dominated their fair share of games over the last few seasons, but this one had a different feel. It wasn’t a flashy, fantastic ... Read More
Penguins look to get back on track against Neal and the Predators
The Penguins will look to end their two-game slide tonight when they take on the Predators in Nashville. Greeting them will be a familiar foe: former Penguins winger James Neal. Neal scored 89 goals in parts of four seasons with the Penguins, including a career-best 40 in 2011-12. His trade was the first major move of the Jim Rutherford era, as the new Penguins General Manager sent Neal to Nashville for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling. “I’m excited,” Neal said of his opportunity to play ... Read More
Pens blow late lead, fall to Wings in OT
For the fourth time in six games, the Pittsburgh Penguins took an early lead, only to let their opponents come back to tie the score. The Red Wings were the latest to team take advantage of the Penguins’ inability to hold a lead, as they came from behind to win 3-2 in overtime Thursday night in Detroit. Playing for the second time in as many nights, the Penguins needed to hold on to a 3-1 third period lead. They held on for over 17 minutes, but Detroit Head Coach Mike Babcock pulled ... Read More