After starting 0-3, the Pittsburgh Penguins have turned things around and are now on a three-game winning streak. They even managed to finally score on the power play against Florida last night. The wins have not come easy, however, and there are still adjustments that could be made to help them improve going forward. One area that has been a hot topic for discussion is the team's defensive pair. The Penguins have used seven defensemen so far this season, and of a potential 21 combinations, ... Read More
AM Joe: Bucs, pucks, hoops, recruits and more
Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here's your day in sports for Wednesday, October 21, 2015. What's on tap for today: Pitt's women's basketball team is getting close to their run for a second consecutive NCAA tournament bid. Head coach Suzie McConnell-Serio is at ACC media day today in Greensboro, North Carolina. Pittsburgh headlines: The Penguins (3-3-0) evened their record and got the power play and captain Sidney Crosby both on the board in a big way in their 3-2 overtime victory ... Read More
Crosby, power play lead Pens over Florida
After a rocky start, the Penguins have climbed back to .500 with their third consecutive victory, this one coming at the expense of the Florida Panthers by a 3-2 margin in overtime at Consol Energy Center on Tuesday night. In addition to exorcising the demons of their early start, the Penguins turned things around on the power play, as well. After starting the season 0-for-17, the Pens scored two goals on the man advantage, including Evgeni Malkin’s 4-on-3 game-winner in overtime. Florida ... Read More
Pens will try new-look power play against Jagr, Panthers
The Penguins have turned around their 0-3 start with consecutive wins against the Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs to climb back to the verge of respectability. The one thing that they haven’t fixed is the team’s 0-for-17 power play. The newest alignment, featuring Chris Kunitz in front of the net instead of Patric Hornqvist, was featured at today’s morning skate. The rest of the alignment has Kris Letang the point, Sidney Crosby on the right wall, Evgeni Malkin on the left wall and ... Read More
Pens pounce early, hold on for win
Evgeni Malkin and Olli Maatta scored unassisted goals within less than a minute of each other at 5:49 and 6:28 of the first period and it was just enough to lead the Pittsburgh Penguins (2-3-0, 4 pts) to victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs (1-4-1, 3 pts), 2-1 at Consol Energy Center on Saturday. Taking that early 2-0 lead, the Penguins offense went quiet against Leafs goalie Jonathan Bernier the rest of the way. Marc-Andre Fleury allowed a goal to Leo Kamarov at 13:09 of the first period, but ... Read More
Kessel, Pens welcome Toronto
The Toronto Maple Leafs (1-2-1, 3 pts) are coming to Consol Energy Center Saturday night and, no surprise, all eyes are on former Leaf Phil Kessel. Kessel is one of the newest members of the Pittsburgh Penguins (1-3-0, 2 pts), who play a third consecutive home game and try to build on the first victory of the season. That came Thursday in a shutout win over Ottawa. A third Canadian squad comes to Pittsburgh in as many games as Toronto, also coming off a victory after a three-game losing ... Read More
Beau Bennett placed on injured reserve
Pittsburgh Penguins right-winger Beau Bennett will miss more than one game with his still-undisclosed injury. The team placed Bennett on injured reserve today, meaning that he will miss Saturday’s game against the Toronto Maple Leafs and next Tuesday’s game against the Florida Panthers. Head coach Mike Johnston had no further update on Bennett’s condition after the team’s practice on Friday. “He’s injured right now and we’ll wait and see as he progresses over the next little while,” ... Read More
Pens well-represented as college hockey gets underway
Though the Pittsburgh Penguins may lack projected impact players in the system, the team used late picks in recent years to build depth by drafting NCAA players. Take Bryan Rust and Scott Wilson, two younger NCAA products capable of solidifying the third or fourth lines as NHL call ups. With the college hockey season getting underway in earnest this week, several Penguins draft picks playing in the NCAA this season look to follow in the footsteps of a Rust and Wilson and add to the team's ... Read More
AM Joe: It’s moving day in WPIAL football
Good morning, Pittsburgh. Here's your day in sports for Friday, October 16, 2015. What's on tap for today: RMU will kick off it's quest to repeat as Atlantic Hockey Conference champions when the Colonials start their season tonight at the 84 Lumber Arena against Air Force. 7:00 p.m. ESPN Radio 970-AM Penn State will also get their home hockey slate started tonight. The Nittany Lions will host Notre Dame at 7:00 p.m. Penn State Sports Network Week 7 of the nine-week WPIAL football ... Read More
Pens get defensive; Sprong gets on the board in first win of season
With the offseason additions of Phil Kessel and others, the Pittsburgh Penguins were supposed to be an offensive juggernaut this season. Having failed at that task through the first three games, the Pens won their first of the season on Thursday night with some good, old-fashioned defense, shutting out the Ottawa Senators 2-0. The Penguins defense was aided by an offensive attack that outshot the Senators 36-22 and kept the puck in the Ottawa end of the rink for large stretches of time. ... Read More