November 7
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Penguins coach Dan Bylsma has not ruled out right wing Tyler Kennedy playing tonight at San Jose, but Kennedy did not practice yesterday after missing a loss at Los Angeles on Thursday night because of an undisclosed injury that has forced him to miss four of the past five contests. "He wasn't fine in the pregame skate (Thursday)," Bylsma said. "Tyler goes only one speed. That can be his problem sometimes, and he's going 100 percent all the time. Again, it's just a situation where do we keep going with a nagging injury or rest it and try to get completely healthy." • Defenseman Alex Goligoski did not practice Friday, but he will play tonight. "He is just warn down, a little bit tired," ..."
November 7
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Penguins center Jordan Staal offered only a few words Friday to dispute a suggestion that he is a more productive player when skating less than 20 minutes during a game. "The more I play, the better I feel usually," he said after a practice at Sharks Ice that lasted more than 90 minutes. Getting Staal top-tier minutes will be the plan tonight when the Penguins (12-4-0, 24 points) try to regroup from a disappointing loss Thursday nigh at Los Angeles, where they allowed four third-period goals, in a showdown with the San Jose Sharks (11-4-2, 24 points) at HP Pavilion. A breakdown of his statistics over coach Dan Bylsma's 41 regular-season games with the Penguins indicate that Staal, still ..."
November 6
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Less than seven seconds remained in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final at Detroit last June, and Penguins head coach Dan Bylsma did not hesitate to place defensemen Rob Scuderi and Hal Gill on the ice. After all, they'd been asked to deny opponents' top offensive players all postseason, and they'd won acclaim for their success at that role. Just a few weeks after helping the Penguins win the Stanley Cup, however, their Pittsburgh tenures ended. Up against the salary cap, general manager Ray Shero couldn't afford to pay competitive dollars for players who admittedly were defensive defensemen. Scuderi signed with the Los Angles Kings, Gill inked with the Montreal Canadiens; and all the Penguins ..."
November 6
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Their expectations are so high that a loss like this one will really stick. That is the reality of life for the Penguins, who were stunned by a four-goal flurry from the Los Angeles Kings in just over 11 third-period minutes Thursday night, leading to a 5-2 defeat at Staples Center. "We are pretty bothered," Penguins winger Craig Adams said of his club's first road loss in eight games and their only failure to protect a third-period lead in nine contests. "This team wants to win every night, expects to win every night." Goals by Kings centers Anze Kopitar, Jarret Stoll and Michal Handzus were scored in a span of roughly six minutes, and winger Dustin Brown finished the frenzy late. ..."
November 5
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Rob Scuderi knows what his upstart Los Angeles Kings can gain tonight against the Penguins at Staples Center. "Every team in the NHL is trying to be the Penguins; ultimately, you look at them and see what you can become," the Kings' defenseman said Wednesday of a showdown between his club - third in the Western Conference (9-4-2, 20 points) - and the Penguins, who are 7-0-0 on the road and own the NHL's best overall mark (12-3-0, 24 points). "I'm looking forward to seeing how we respond." So are many hockey observers that have compared these Kings to the 2006-07 Penguins that went from talked-about youngsters to playoff-bound Cup contenders. Scuderi, nicknamed "The Piece" by Penguins ..."
November 4
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Hours before appearing in his 1,200th NHL game, Penguins winger Bill Guerin's thoughts were with his contribution to USA Hockey's golden era. "Coming through the ranks with the guys we did ... it was real nice, and now we're all kind of up there," Guerin said Tuesday before the Penguins played the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center. Though it won a silver Olympic medal on home soil at the 2002 Winter Games, Team USA's 1996 World Cup win over Canada is considered a landmark victory for America's hockey program, which shined from the mid-1990s through early 2000s. Guerin was a big part of that success, and only a few teammates from that era remain in the NHL - notably Keith Tkachuk of St. Louis ..."
November 4
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Proud papa Troy Crosby had an obstructed view of his son's sinister save late in the third period Tuesday night to help the Penguins preserve a 4-3 victory against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center. "I never got to see it," Troy Crosby said of the leg-stack save that Penguins captain Sidney Crosby made in the crease on a shot from Anaheim defenseman Scott Niedermayer with only a few minutes remaining. "If that was me, though, it would have gone through my pads." Well, it stopped at Sidney Crosby, who, as a center, doesn't don goalie leg pads like his father once dreamed of doing in the NHL, and, thus, the Penguins (12-3-0, 24 points) can continue to call themselves the NHL's undisputed ..."
November 4
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Hoisting the Stanley Cup last spring hasn't changed Penguins general manager Ray Shero's perspective on trading defenseman Ryan Whitney to Anaheim on Feb. 26 for top-line winger Chris Kunitz and top prospect winger Eric Tangradi. "The only difficult part about that deal was trading Ryan," Shero said Tuesday before the Penguins faced the Ducks at Honda Center. "The beauty of Ryan Whitney is he is 6-feet-4, covers a lot of ice, has vision like not many defensemen do and can get you 50 to 60 points by playing on your top power play. "It's hard to find players like that." Whitney had scored a goal and recorded seven points to go with a plus-3 rating in 12 contests with Anaheim before Tuesday ..."
November 3
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Seeing right wing Tyler Kennedy practice Monday no doubt pleased the Penguins, who have played the past three games without their second-leading goal scorer among forwards. There is a possibility that Kennedy, whose injury was not disclosed by the team, could play tonight against the Anaheim Ducks at Honda Center - and though the Penguins are 2-1-0 without him, they wouldn't scoff at reinserting into the lineup his combination of speed, skill and grit. With Kennedy at less than full health, small doses of opportunity have been presented to wingers Chris Bourque and Chris Conner. "The common denominator with a smaller player that we like is that their compete-level better be really high," ..."
November 2
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Dan Bylsma will be in the spotlight during the Penguins road trip to California this week. While he is mostly known for coaching the Penguins to the Stanley Cup, he actually spent his entire NHL playing career in California. He played parts of five seasons with the Los Angeles Kings and parts of four seasons with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. The Penguins play in Anaheim on Tuesday and in Los Angeles on Thursday. Bylsma, a defensive-minded forward, scored 19 goals in 429 NHL games and reached the Stanley Cup Finals with Anaheim in 2003. The Penguins are 6-0 on the road under Bylsma this season. Since he took over as Penguins coach Feb. 15, the Penguins are 14-2-3 in regular-season road games. ..."
November 2
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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The Penguins are a perfectly respectable 5-3 on home ice this season. They've been at their best, however, on the road. With so many players out with injuries, making for something of a makeshift lineup, a road trip might be just what the doctor ordered. The Penguins will embark on a four-game trip starting Tuesday in Anaheim. "A change of scenery is never a bad thing," defenseman Mark Eaton said. "Pittsburgh has great fans, but with any team, you feel like you need to be prettier at home." This isn't the time for the Penguins to produce pretty hockey. With Evgeni Malkin, Sergei Gonchar and Max Talbot unavailable for this trip - and Tyler Kennedy a big question mark because of an ..."
November 1
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Penguins captain Sidney Crosby dropped the gloves and was assessed a fighting major for the third time in his career Saturday. He landed a number of right hands on Minnesota defenseman Marek Zidlicky late in the second period. Crosby became agitated when Zidlicky tripped him, sending the Penguins' leading scorer feet-first into the boards in a similar looking play to two years ago when Crosby injured his ankle against Tampa Bay. "I didn't appreciate that," Crosby said. "I got pretty ticked off." Crosby was lost for seven minutes because he and Zidlicky were both assessed slashing minors along with fighting majors. The Penguins had an uneventful power play while Crosby was in the penalty ..."
November 1
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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A commonly held hockey truth is that over the course of six regular-season months, even the best NHL club willa handful of games they have no business losing. The Penguins rediscovered that axiom in an October they otherwise dominated. A 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild tonight was their third at home, and their second against a Western Conference foe that rates a long-shot bet to reach the Stanley Cup Final. The Penguins (11-3-0, 22 points) enjoyed their finest opening month - and, really, dominated last night in an attempt to become the first league team to win 12 games. However, only one of their shots bested Minnesota goalie Nicklas Backstrom, who was sharp, but also benefited from ..."
November 1
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Brent Johnson might be the Penguins' backup goalie, but his Led Zeppelin-themed facemasks have a chance to be the most popular here since Johan Hedberg sported his Manitoba Moose mask. Where every Hedberg save was followed by a chorus of "Moose" cheers, perhaps Johnson should be serenaded by sounds of the song "Kashmir." Hey, it worked for Mark Ratner in Fast Times at Ridgemont High ... Johnson promises to be a perfect fit for a town that loves its classic rock. His first interview was on WDVE, which played Led Zep when introducing Johnson. And the murals on his mask reflect his favorite rock band. Johnson has a black-and-gold facemask with a Stairway to Heaven theme. The opening lyrics - ..."
November 1
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Lady Luck turned a trick on the Penguins, who probably deserved a treat on Halloween. Despite a 35-15 shots advantage and a considerable time spent swarming in the offensive zone, the Penguins closed October with a 2-1 loss to the Minnesota Wild at Mellon Arena on Saturday night. In a franchise record-setting opening month, the Penguins (11-3-0, 22 points) scored only two goals in three losses at home to Phoenix, New Jersey and Minnesota. Perhaps the Penguins are fortunate that a four-game road trip opens Tuesday at Anaheim because they are a franchise-best 6-0-0 away from Pittsburgh - including a stirring comeback victory on Friday night when they scored twice in the final three minutes ..."
October 31
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Aside from the Penguins' top forward group, head coach Dan Bylsma had not been shy about deploying various line combinations this season. He said that willingness to mix and match would help Friday night against the Columbus Blue Jackets in the Penguins' first game without center Evgeni Malkin (out at least two weeks with a right shoulder strain). "I'm not a guy who gets real fixed in to lines, for (the) given reasons that sometimes a guy (isn't) playing well and you want to get him off there, and sometimes you have injuries," he said. The Penguins, who also played without right wing Tyler Kennedy (undisclosed injury) and defenseman Sergei Gonchar (left wrist), opened last night with the ..."
October 31
Pittsburgh Tribune Review
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Erasing a two-goal deficit with less than three minutes remaining in regulation and winning in the shootout would be just about enough to make the night of most NHL clubs. So, why did the Penguins hold a meeting that lasted over 10 minutes after following that script to earn a 4-3 win Friday night over the Columbus Blue Jackets at Nationwide Arena? Their standard is not measured by simply wins. "Take the win, but certainly we have to be honest with ourselves and know that there are a lot of areas we can be better - a lot," captain and center Sidney Crosby said after his lone shootout score pushed the Penguins to a franchise-best 6-0-0 on the road. "We've got to make sure we don't sit on ..."