We got a lot of questions this week surrounding Kris Letang's injury and the Penguins playing with only five defensemen on Saturday. Let's dive right in. Why can’t the Penguins call up a defenseman or exchange a forward on the roster for a defenseman in Wilkes-Barre to balance out the roster? The Pens don’t have enough cap space to call up Tux (that’s the WBS mascot, if you didn’t know), let alone a player. Some back-of-the-envelope math reveals less than $100 thousand of cap space in the ... Read More
Pittsburgh March Madness: Station Square Sweet 16
Antonio Brown and Le'Veon Bell punched their ticket to the Elite Eight yesterday, joining Ben Roethlisberger, Maurkice Pouncey, Monica Wignot and Francisco Liriano. Today, the last two athletes will fill out the next round. Let's take a look at today's match ups, shall we? #1. Sidney Crosby (Penguins captain) vs. #4. Gerrit Cole (Pirates pitcher) [poll id="120"] #11. Gregory Polanco (Pirates right fielder) vs. #2. Evgeni Malkin (Penguins forward) [poll id="121"] ... Read More
Penalty kill comes up big as Pens beat Sharks in shootout
The Pittsburgh Penguins were playing their second game in as many nights on Sunday evening against the San Jose Sharks, and they were playing short a defenseman, with Kris Letang missing the game with a concussion. So when the Penguins and Sharks needed overtime to settle things, and the Patric Hornqvist took a four-minute high-sticking penalty, things certainly looked bleak for the black and goal, but the Penguins were able to kill off the penalty and beat the Sharks 3-2 in a ... Read More
Kris Letang out with a concussion; Pens to play with five defensemen
Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang will miss tonight’s game against the San Jose Sharks with a concussion suffered at the hands of Arizona Coyotes forward Shane Doan on Saturday afternoon. Letang skated off with some assistance after the hit, which happened at 15:15 of the second period. He was taken to the hospital for evaluation after the game. “He has been released from the hospital, so like anything else, we’ll just take it as a day-to-day thing and see how he reacts and ... Read More
Pittsburgh March Madness: Mt. Washington Sweet 16
The Pittsburgh March Madness Elite Eight is halfway filled out, as No. 16 seed Monica Wignot continued her Cinderella run by beating No. 5 March-Andre Fleury. While Wignot's run will continue, another surprise run came to an end, as No. 11 Kelly Johnson was knocked out by Pirates Opening Day starter, No. 10 Francisco Liriano. Today, we finally get a region where the top four seeds will square off. Let's take a look and see who will advance. #1. Antonio Brown (Steelers All-Pro receiver) vs. ... Read More
Pens snap home losing streak, lose Letang to injury
Prior to the Penguins game with the Coyotes on Saturday, they received some good news, as it was announced that Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist would return to the lineup. Good news, right? Well yeah, obviously, but as luck would have it, the Penguins can't stay fully healthy, as Kris Letang went down in the second period, taking him out of the game. But at least the Penguins won their second game (3-2) out of their past eight, right? Before the game, forward David Perron was ruled ... Read More
Pittsburgh Sporting News: South Side Region Sweet 16
In undoubtedly the oddest looking region of the bracket, the South Side has zero top four seeds in the Sweet 16. In face, No. 5 seed Marc-Andre Fleury is the only single-digit seed left. Fleury will look to stop the momentum that Pitt's Monica Wignot has had so far, as she has taken out No. 1 seed Andrew McCutchen and No. 8 Ryan Shazier in consecutive rounds. Then, two other high seeds — #11. Kelly Johnson and #10. Francisco Liriano — will go head to head for a spot in the Elite Eight. Who ... Read More
Johnston to coach while mourning
Penguins head coach Mike Johnston will be coaching this afternoon with a heavy heart, as he deals with the loss of his mother Sheila Johnston, who passed away on Friday in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia. Mrs. Johnston was 81 years old. Coach Johnston is expected to coach both of the team’s games this weekend before returning to Canada for the funeral on Tuesday. After Sunday, the team does not play again until Wednesday. “The Penguins offer their deepest sympathy to Mike and his family during this ... Read More
#FreeFarnham? Forget about it
With the Penguins playing with just 17 skaters instead of the usual 18 last night in Carolina, general manager Jim Rutherford has been given one cap-free call up by the NHL to alleviate his roster emergency. Hey may not need to use it, as center Evgeni Malkin is close to returning to action (he was a full participant in practice today). Still, the possibility exists that Rutherford may look to improve the play of his forward group with some help from down on the farm. Some in the ... Read More
Pittsburgh March Madness: North Side Region Sweet 16
From 64 to 16, the field has shrunk down exponentially. Now, the match ups will get more and more interesting, as the fans will have tough choices from this point forward. The final 16 athletes in the Pittsburgh March Madness are: Ben Roethlisberger Starling Marte Cam Heyward Maurkice Pouncey Monica Wignot Marc-Andre Fleury Kelly Johnson Francisco Liriano Antonio Brown Neil Walker Josh Harrison Le'Veon Bell Sidney Crosby Gerrit Cole Gregory ... Read More