Recent Posts

Penguins Should Ride This Guy to Get Answers. Maybe Some Points, Too (+)

Tristan Jarry isn’t the only reason the Pittsburgh Penguins earned a 4-3 overtime victory in Vancouver Tuesday night, but he probably was the biggest one. He also isn’t the only reason they gave up a half-dozen goals to Philadelphia in a 7-6 victory Sunday, but he was pretty high on that list, too. And so […]

Second-Period Flameout Dooms Penguins Against Florida, 5-2

Mike Sullivan generally is pleased when the Pittsburgh Penguins play low-event hockey, so he probably didn’t mind the way the first period of their game against Florida at PPG Paints Arena played out Wednesday night. There’s absolutely no doubt that he liked it a lot more than the one that followed. The Penguins. who had […]

Here’s One Place Where There’s No Penguins Trade Talk (+)

CRANBERRY — The Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t been sellers at the NHL trade deadline since 2006. Then again, it’s also been a long time since they were in as perilous of a position in the standings as they are now. In the wake of their 5-4 overtime loss to the New York Islanders Tuesday night at […]

Penguins Practice: Sullivan Overhauls Lines, Defense Pairings

CRANBERRY — Mike Sullivan made some significant personnel changes during the Pittsburgh Penguins’ practice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex Monday. The top line, with Sidney Crosby between Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust, remained intact, but most of the other lines and defense pairings were scrambled. Here are the the lines and pairings from the workout: […]

Penguins Six-Pack: Graves Gains Ground; Scenario for Guentzel Return

The Pittsburgh Penguins are a lot of things. In denial is not one of them. They are all too aware of where they sit in the Eastern Conference and Metropolitan Division standings. Of how remote their chances of getting into the Stanley Cup playoffs are. Of how very different their roster might look after the […]

PHN Daily: Guentzel Trade News & Reaction; Deadline Dominoes Fall

Jake Guentzel finally is off the NHL trade market. The Pittsburgh Penguins have sent him to Carolina for a handful of assets, one of them being winger Michael Bunting, in a deal was announced late Thursday evening. It’s not known if Guentzel was at PPG Paints Arena a few hours earlier, but most of his […]

Dan’s Daily: Trade Winners, Canucks Hold, Penguins Changes Coming

After weeks, if not months of buildup, the NHL trade deadline was a bit of a fizzle. Not quite a new Stars Wars letdown, but the day had a methodical pace, and the lack of return for Pittsburgh Penguins winger Jake Guentzel took the air out of everyone’s sails. Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle […]

Penguins Struggles, It’s Time to Take Away Jobs

A season in the balance. A hated and hateful rival ahead in the standings coming for an afternoon war in which a loss would kick loose the last bit of belief that the Pittsburgh Penguins could make the playoffs. Karlsson said it’s felt like the Penguins have been in “now or never” mode for six […]

Dubas: Major Makeover for Penguins Likely Coming This Summer

CRANBERRY — It’s not that the Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t have assets to move as the NHL trade deadline approached. After all, they entered final day leading up to the deadline Friday with no fewer than five players with expiring contracts on their major-league roster. And that’s not counting guys with time left on their deals […]

Penguins Mock Trades: Finding Good Fits For Jake Guentzel

The strong possibility, if not stark reality, that the Pittsburgh Penguins will indeed strip away assets in order to rebuild or retool at the NHL trade deadline became inescapable this week. Sure, some have clamored for it, but the team was pushing hard for a playoff spot, and future-leaning Penguins trades were not happening during […]

Penguins Grades: Letang Meltdown, Late Collapse Rocks Team

CALGARY, Alberta — The Pittsburgh Penguins got a pair of bottom-six goals. They scored a power-play goal in the second period and led 3-1 with 10 minutes remaining. Yet the Penguins remain the most self-destructive team in the NHL. Calgary scored two goals 32 seconds apart in the middle of the third period and another […]

Penguins Grades: Crosby Carries Team; Pens Have Rough 24 Hours

CHICAGO — There are low event games, and then there are D’oh event games. The Pittsburgh Penguins have endured a bruising 24 hours, from losing at home to the Florida Panthers in a game that felt like a curtain closer, and in the process, lost primary scoring winger Jake Guentzel for at least the next […]

Penguins Metro Foe Fires GM Before Trade Deadline

The Columbus Blue Jackets, the only team below the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Metropolitan Division standings, on Thursday fired long-time general manager Jarmo Kekalainen. The firing comes nearly 11 years to the day after Kekalainen was hired in by Blue Jackets president of hockey operations John Davidson, who will step in now as GM during […]

Penguins Room: Crosby Pushes Back, but the Coach at a Loss

The captain and the head coach spoke Wednesday after yet another soulless loss. The Pittsburgh Penguins have lost three in a row and have varied from dispirited to lethargic with periods of manic comeback attempts that were not enough. The Florida Panthers were the latest to turn the knife, handily beating the 5-2 at PPG […]

Dan’s Daily: More Opinions on Dubas; How Penguins Get Younger

The Pittsburgh Penguins and president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas dominated the 24-hour news cycle. From Jake Guentzel’s future to Dubas’s admitted failure to find a shakeup trade and the Penguins’ desire to get younger, it’s all under the microscope and fueling the NHL trade talk. Elsewhere in the Daily, Auston Matthews is on a […]

Dan’s Daily: Oilers Won’t Include Prospect; Penguins Get Big Surprise

Sometimes, this job is just the best. I have covered Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby and seen them make routine that which other humans just cannot do. Saturday was one of those crazy days everyone will remember as 52-year-old Jaromir Jagr suited up for Penguins practice, one day before his iconic No. 68 is retired. […]