Seth Rorabaugh stories, Page 157
Penguins dismiss assistant coaches Sergei Gonchar, Jacques Martin, Mark Recchi
A day after general manager Jim Rutherford said change was needed for his team, the Penguins did just that with their coaching staff. On Wednesday, the team announced assistant coaches Sergei Gonchar, Jacques Martin and Mark Recchi will not have their contracts renewed. A search for new assistants to work...
Jim Rutherford: ‘Changes need to be made’ for the Penguins
Jim Rutherford didn’t have many answers on Tuesday. In all reality, he’s probably still asking lots of his own questions of his team that was meekly dispatched from the playoffs by the Montreal Canadiens last week. But he still had plenty to say when he spoke with reporters via teleconference...
Rangers win NHL’s draft lottery, Penguins settle for 15th pickVideo
Any hopes of the Penguins drafting another generational player were dashed on Monday. The NHL held the second phase of its draft lottery, and the Penguins ended up with the 15th overall selection in this year’s draft. The top overall selection was claimed by the New York Rangers. Alexis Lafreniere,...
Penguins prospect Radim Zohorna to remain in Czech Republic to open 2020-21 season
Penguins forward prospect Radim Zohorna will remain his native Czech Republic and train with his previous team, BK Mlada Boleslav of the ELH, to open the 2020-21 season according to a release from the team. The release did not specify if Zohorna will play with BK Mlada Boleslav. That team’s...
How much time does Penguins’ Stanley Cup core have left?Video
When former Pittsburgh Penguins star Alexei Kovalev retired from the NHL at the age of 39 in March of 2013, current Penguins star Evgeni Malkin spoke glowingly of the fellow Russian whom he played with in international tournaments. “I remember my first Olympic games, he was captain,” Malkin said. “We...
What went wrong for Penguins against the Canadiens?
Mike Sullivan was relieved. On March 10, in the aftermath of a tidy 5-2 road win against the New Jersey Devils, the Penguins coach stood outside the visiting dressing room of the Prudential Center in downtown Newark, N.J., and offered body language that suggested he finally resolved a great conundrum....
Empty Thoughts: The Penguins tried to play the Canadiens’ game but fell short
Observations from the Penguins’ 2-0 loss to the Canadiens: There will be plenty of time to dissect this franchise’s malfunctions over the past 28 months and how they’ve fallen from the league’s upper tier of true Stanley Cup contenders. In fact, there will be three months to do that before...
Quick playoff exit gives the Penguins a chance at top prospect Alexis Lafreniere
The Penguins’ season-ending 2-0 loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 4 of their qualifying round series in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena brought clarity to one of the conditional transactions they made prior to February’s trade deadline. And it introduced plenty of intrigue to another. The conditional draft pick they dealt...
Penguins unable to solve Canadiens goaltender Carey Price
As stunning as the Penguins’ loss to the Montreal Canadiens was in the qualifying round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, it wasn’t surprising that Canadiens franchise goaltender Carey Price was one of the primary reasons for the result. It might be a stretch to say Price was tested in Game...
Penguins eliminated from playoffs after being upset by the Canadiens
When crafting his lineup on a game-by-game basis, Mike Sullivan has a basic principle he professes to abide by. What players will give his team the best chance to win? On Friday, he deemed goaltender Tristan Jarry the most worthy candidate of his options in net in achieving that overlying...
Penguins to start goaltender Tristan Jarry in Game 4
With their season on the line, the Penguins will start goaltender Tristan Jarry for Friday’s Game 4 of their qualifying round series against the Montreal Canadiens in Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. Coach Mike Sullivan announced Jarry as his starter via video conference from Toronto but declined to get into specifics as...
Penguins notebook: ‘Home’ ice played a small role in Game 3 loss
While the NHL’s entire postseason tournament is being orchestrated in what are essentially neutral sites between Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena and Edmonton’s Rogers Place, there are designated home and road teams for each contest. The Penguins, as the fifth seed in the Eastern Conference, have home ice advantage, so to speak,...
Empty Thoughts: More lineup changes can’t be ruled out for the Penguins
Observations from the Penguins’ 4-3 loss to the Canadiens: Penguins coach Mike Sullivan has a pretty standard answer when he’s asked about playing or not playing certain players. That answer was established in the early portions of 2016 when he regularly scratched forward Sergei Plotnikov. When asked why Plotnikov was...
Penguins lose Game 3 to Montreal, on brink of eliminationVideo
In the decade and a half he has played in the NHL, Penguins captain Sidney Crosby has faced elimination from the postseason many times. He’s won and lost in plenty of those situations. They’ve come in all kinds of scenarios. In the first round or the Stanley Cup Final. Home...
Game 4 of Penguins-Canadiens scheduled for 4 p.m. Friday
Game 4 of the Penguins’ best-of-five qualifying round series with the Montreal Canadiens on Friday has been scheduled for 4 p.m. The Penguins are scheduled face the Canadiens in Game 3 on Wednesday at 8 p.m. at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. Game 5, if necessary, is scheduled for Saturday, but a...
Penguins looking for more from line of Patrick Marleau, Jared McCann and Patric Hornqvist
The Penguins don’t number their lines. But they have lines that play the most minutes, the second-most, the third-most and the fourth-most. Right now, the trio of Patrick Marleau, Jared McCann and Patric Hornqvist, colloquially referred to as the third line, is bringing up the rear in terms of ice...
The Penguins see some progress with their power play
After his team largely struggled with its power play — going 1 for 7 with 10 shots — during Game 1 of their qualifying round series against the Montreal Canadiens at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena, there was a pretty simple edict issued by Penguins coach Mike Sullivan. “We’ve got to try...
Despite leading in shots, Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin has no points
Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin’s statistics offer a pretty stark dichotomy through two games of his team’s qualifying round series with the Montreal Canadiens. Prior to Tuesday’s games, he led the postseason with 15 shots. Yet, he has yet to record a single point. Coach Mike Sullivan appears to put far...
Empty Thoughts: Step in right direction for Penguins’ power play
Observations from the Penguins’ 3-1 win against the Canadiens: After his team struggled with the power play in Game 1, going 1 for 7 and putting only 10 shots on net, coach Mike Sullivan had a pretty basic edict for his players. “We’ve got to try to get some shots,”...
Matt Murray leads Penguins past Canadiens in Game 2 to even series
Game 2 of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ qualifying-round series with the Montreal Canadiens on Monday was delayed by about 10 minutes. The previous contest at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Washington Capitals went to a shootout and held up for the Penguins and Canadiens. That was about...
Penguins and other NHL teams adjust to very different normalVideo
Like the 11 other Eastern Conference teams participating in the NHL’s postseason, the Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t allowed to have a morning skate at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. The building is used throughout the course of the day for actual games, and it’s not practical to have another team skate at 10:30...
Penguins to start goaltender Matt Murray in Game 2
The Penguins are scheduled to start goaltender Matt Murray for Game 2 of their qualifying round series against the Montreal Canadiens at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on Monday according to coach Mike Sullivan. During Game 1 on Saturday, Murray made 32 saves on 35 shots in a 3-2 overtime loss....
Marcus Pettersson and John Marino remain resolute on Penguins blue line
John Marino picked a rotten year to be a rookie defenseman. Not so much because of everything else that made 2020 a rotten year. But because he has so much company. One of the defining traits of the NHL’s 2019-20 campaign was there were so many freshman blue liners who...
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan endorses duo of Jack Johnson, Justin Schultz
Penguins coach Mike Sullivan is typically hesitant to blame any individual player or select groups of players for any on-ice performance. He normally will defend them all. Such was the case when he was asked about the third defensive pairing of Jack Johnson and Justin Schultz on Sunday. During Saturday’s...
Penguins’ Conor Sheary on missed penalty shot in Game 1: ‘A bad move, I guess’
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Conor Sheary joined a somewhat select but certainly futile group of company during Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the Montreal Canadiens in Game 1 of their qualifying-round series at Toronto’s Scotiabank Arena. He became the seventh player in franchise history to attempt a postseason penalty shot but...
