As the Penguins gradually start to assemble all of their key pieces to what will hopefully be a Stanley Cup Championship puzzle, Sidney Crosby and James Neal continue to lead the way. James Neal tallied a hat trick and five points while Sidney Crosby add a goal and two assists of his own to route the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3, Sunday night. The Penguins were deadlocked in a 2-2 tie going into the third period before exploding with three goals in the final frame. The Jackets didn't go ... Read More

The Penguins recent spate of injuries to both the forwards and defensive corps has been a blessing without much of a disguise.  It has also exposed excellent drafting and poor off-season decisions. Let’s begin with excellent drafting.  The play of Olli Maatta and Simon Despres on the blue line has been excellent.  Both are former first round picks.  Both have shown top 4 pairing ability and consistency. So why was Rob Scuderi signed?!  Oh wait, we’ll get to the log jam and poor ... Read More

The Penguins did something they haven't done in awhile while enduring what seems to be a common theme all season. Pittsburgh lost for just the second time in December and the first time in eight games Monday night to the Ottawa Senators at Scotiabank Center.  Ottawa took a 2-0 lead into the final frame then dominated the third period with three more goals en route to a 5-0 victory. But the worst news for Pittsburgh occurred early in the game when Pascal Dupuis left the game with a right ... Read More

So our weather worn, Pennsylvania license plates have been right all along. We, on the other hand, got it all wrong, Pittsburgh. Brooks Orpik would like everyone to believe that Shawn Thornton is a really swell guy. You've got a friend. It's been a little more than two weeks since the Bruins defenseman cowardly snuck an unbeknownst Orpik down to the ice, and sucker punched him. Orpik was consequently taken off the ice on a stretcher, and Thornton received a 15-game suspension for the ... Read More

When it's going your way, it's going your way. The Pittsburgh Penguins held off the Calgary Flames in a 4-3 victory to extend their home win streak to ten games and seven games overall. Calgary outshot the Penguins 30-23 and held a heavy shot advantage in the first and third periods of the game.  But Marc-Andre Fleury made several key saves and the Penguins' offense was opportunistic. Pascal Dupuis scored midway through the first period with a grinding shift from the top line.  Dupuis ... Read More

Early in the season, Dan Bylsma was under a bit of pressure as many felt the Penguins, loaded with talent, were underperforming. Thirty-seven games into the season, the Penguins are 26-10-1, winners of six straight, lead the Metropolitan division by 14 points and the hold the top spot in the Eastern Conference. As previously mentioned, for a team of this caliber and talent, shouldn't come as too much of a surprise. However, when you consider the Penguins' top four defenseman have been plagued ... Read More

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been nearly invincible at home this season, posting a 16-3-0 record and Thursday night's matchup against the Minnesota Wild proved exactly why. The Penguins dominated the Wild for most of the night leading to a 5-2 victory to move the win streak to six straight. It was a night for homecomings at Consol Energy Center.  James Neal returned from a five game suspension and Matt Cooke returned to Pittsburgh for the first time since last season.  The Penguins honor ... Read More

The Penguins just keep on rolling no matter who is missing from the lineup. Pittsburgh defeated the New York Rangers, Wednesday night, at Madison Square Garden thanks to a shootout goal from Brandon Sutter in the fifth frame. With a heavy list of star players missing due to injury and suspension, the Penguins climbed out to a 3-1 lead before seeing it disintegrate late in the third period. Chris Kunitz broke a scoreless tie with his 18th goal of the season 12:44 into the second period. ... Read More

The NHL and the North American levels of hockey are at war with itself over tolerable levels of violence in the game.  Questions are now being asked loudly about the future of fighting and the definition of acceptable hits. After several suicides of high profile enforcers over the past several years, attributable to depression caused by CTE, the loss of several players to concussions, including Marc Savard and Chris Pronger, there has been much discussion.  There has also been some movement ... Read More

These days, it doesn't seem to matter who the Pittsburgh Penguins are missing they still find a way to win. Without Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik, Paul Martin, Rob Scuderi, Beau Bennett, James Neal, Deryk Engelland, and Tanner Glass, the Penguins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs 3-1, Monday night at Consol Energy Center to move back on top of the Eastern Conference standings. Of course, the Pens still had Sidney Crosby. Crosby scored his 19th goal of the season with under ... Read More