Each of the first five games with the re-entry of Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has shown a very natural process when trying to fit a highly skilled anchor player back into a lineup that has had to maintain and sustain for nearly 10 months without him. The fact that it has only taken a handful…
The first thirteen games reveal the Pittsburgh Penguins sitting on top of the Eastern Conference and the League (8-3-2, 18 points) after a grueling opening schedule without Sidney Crosby and a still somewhat fragile Evgeni Malkin, but there is no panic in this team. They’ve been down this road many times before, and if anything can…
This has been uncharted territory in the story of the Pittsburgh Penguins – a team without both its superstars, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Worse still, it couldn’t have come at a more critical part of the hockey season when teams are battling for the top eight spots in conference play, jockeying for positions almost…
When the Penguins are winning and dominating, the focus is on the prowess of Sidney Crosby. When the Penguins struggle, one of the biggest and most pervasive topics of focus is Evgeni Malkin. Such was the case the morning after the Penguins let a 2-0 lead against Boston implode, ending in a 4-2 loss. The…
Numerologists could probably have a field day with the many ways the numeral 1 was present on the day of the Bridgestone Winter Classic at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field. It was the first day of the first month of the 11th year in the 21st century; the game time was moved from 1PM to “prime” time,…
The 2011 NHL Winter Classic is just a few short days away and the current wintery weather at Pittsburgh’s Heinz Field may be about to give way to an unwelcome mid-winter’s thaw with the potential for Spring showers. With temperatures currently hovering around 23 and a wind chill of just 11 degrees, preparing to play…
A Penguin win in Game 4 of the Stanley Cups Finals Thursday night changes the complexion of the series. The fourth game in six nights seemed to take its toll on the Detroit Red Wings, but it could be argued that the Wings were beginning to feel the effects back in the latter part of…
Certainly not the Pittsburgh Penguins. Anyone disheartened by the 2 games to none deficit that the Penguins face has a pretty short memory and needs to take heart: Remember the Caps. For a little perspective, compare not only how close both teams were on the superstats sheets. Compare the stats of the Caps versus those…
In the eye of a white-out Game 2 storm, a flurry of towels and tinfoiled knuckles on a pseudo-Hanson brother with the real Dave Hanson in attendance, there was truly something in the air at Mellon Arena on Thursday night. The Pittsburgh Penguins and the Carolina Hurricanes shed the Game 1 pleasantries, and with the honeymoon…
Game 1 in a playoff series is always a little surreal. Both teams come out sizing each other up, testing the waters, getting a feel for how they will set the tempo they want to set and executing. Given the hellfire and brimstone of Pittsburgh’s first two series versus the Flyers and Capitals respectively, Monday…
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