After dropping the first game of the series on Friday night in overtime, a game in which they were largely outplayed, the Penguins returned with a vengeance in Game 2 on Sunday night, blanking the New York Rangers 3-0. While Game 2 is never a "must-win" situation in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Penguins played as if there was no tomorrow, out shooting and out-chancing the Rangers by a wide margin. Game 3 is tomorrow night at Madison Square Garden. New York started out with three ... Read More

Derick Brassard scored in overtime to defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins in Game One of a new playoff series at Consol Energy Center.  The New York Rangers lead the series 1-0 and continued the Penguins streak of five overtime playoff losses in five tries at the four year-old arena. New York took a 2-0 lead in a first period that was very poorly played by the hosts.  Benoit Pouliot and Brad Richards netted the goals for the Rangers, but the Penguins turned things around in a dominant second ... Read More

If history is any indication, the Pittsburgh Penguins should have plenty of confidence going into their Eastern Conference second-round match up against the New York Rangers. The Pens have never lost a playoff series to the Rangers in four tries, and the hope is the fifth time won't be the charm for the Rangers. Playoff success has been hard to come by for the Rangers, as they have not advanced beyond the second round since they won Lord Stanley in 1994. History is not the only advantage the ... Read More

Theres an old adage in sports, you've probably heard it a million times. You might even place it high on the list of cliches you absolutely despise. Defense wins championships. Agreed, it's tired. Yes, I concur it's overused. Sure, many will argue that it is overvalued in it's importance. However, when it comes to hockey and, specifically, playoff hockey, few sayings have more relevance. Stanley Cup champions have leaned heavily on it, and there is little reason to doubt that this year's ... Read More

After the first forty minutes of play, the Penguins looked like they would finally coast against the seventh seeded Blue jackets to advance to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. When the horn sounded at the end of the game, however, there was a sense of relief. Evgeni Malkin scored a hat trick and Brandon Sutter added his third goal of the series en route to a 4-3 win over Columbus.  The Penguins, leading by a seemingly comfortable 4-0 margin, ended up barely edging out the upstart Blue ... Read More

Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky tried his hardest to steal a big game for the Blue Jackets but, in the end, he came up a little short. The Penguins would make sure of it. Chris Kunitz and Jussi Jokinen scored, and Kris Letang added an empty net goal as the Penguins defeated the Blue Jackets 3-1 on Saturday night. Despite the close score, the Penguins pretty much dominated from the second period on, outshooting Columbus 51-24. Dan Bylsma elected to use his superstars on the same ... Read More

Even the most average hockey fan must have seen this coming.  I certainly do not profess to be an expert on NHL hockey or the Pittsburgh Penguins, but having watched plenty of games since the pre-Crosby years, there is no doubt that this 2014 version is the strangest, most disappointing one to date. Since the two consecutive Stanley Cup Finals teams, which of course culminated in a championship the second time around, this team led by head coach Dan Bylsma has not made it back and does not ... Read More

All losses are not created equal. Anyone who watched the implosion of the Pittsburgh Penguins last night in their playoff loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets can attest to that. After scoring three goals in a span of five minutes, the Pens charged out to a 3-0 first-period lead, and what looked to be a commanding three-games-to-one advantage heading back to Pittsburgh. Unfortunately, for the Penguins, the Blue Jackets did not get the memo. With their backs to the wall, and the series on the ... Read More

The Penguins were up early by a three goal margin and were 24 seconds away from going up 3-1 on the Columbus Blue Jackets in the series. Instead, the Penguins will head back to Pittsburgh looking for their third win on Saturday. Brandon Dubinsky scored in the last minute of regulation to tie the game after a misplay behind the net by Marc-Andre Fleury.  Just 2:49 into overtime, Nick Foligno scored to complete the comeback as the Blue Jackets won 4-3, Wednesday night. Craig Adams got the ... Read More