| UPCOMING GAMES |
| 5/22 |
PIT at OTT | | 5/24 |
OTT at PIT | | 5/26 |
PIT at OTT | | 5/28 |
OTT at PIT |
|
LAST 10 GAMES
|
| 5/19 |
PIT 1 at OTT 2 |
Lost |
2OT |
| 5/17 |
OTT 3 at PIT 4 |
Won |
F |
| 5/14 |
OTT 1 at PIT 4 |
Won |
F |
| 5/11 |
PIT 4 at NYI 3 |
Won |
OT |
| 5/9 |
NYI 0 at PIT 4 |
Won |
F |
| 5/7 |
PIT 4 at NYI 6 |
Lost |
F |
| 5/5 |
PIT 5 at NYI 4 |
Won |
OT |
| 5/3 |
NYI 4 at PIT 3 |
Lost |
F |
| 5/1 |
NYI 0 at PIT 5 |
Won |
F |
| 4/27 |
CAR 3 at PIT 8 |
Won |
F |
| Won-7 Lost-2 OT-1 |
|
 Pittsburgh Penguins
News
Schedule
Roster
| Can Ottawa Senators’ penalty kill keep Penguins’ stars quiet in Game 4? (Puck Daddy) |
| Daniel Alfredsson had the diagnosis for what ailed the Ottawa Senators penalty kill in Game 1 vs. the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“The goals they got were scramble goals,” he said after the 4-1 loss , in which the Penguins tallied two power-play goals. “We've got to be stronger in front of our net."
Stronger, the Senators have been: They’ve shut down the best power-play unit still playing in the Stanley Cup Playoffs (27 percent conversion rate) to the tune of one goal in their last 12 chances. Ottawa's penalty kill went 6-for-6 in Game 3, and has gone 9-for-9 overall. That included a 5-on-3 kill against the Penguins in the second period, during which they only had two shots.
Oh, yeah: There was also the matter of that Daniel Alfredsson shorthanded goal that knotted Game 3 with 29 seconds left. That too.
Again, this is a Senators team stifling a Penguins power play that has slightly fewer stars than “This Is The End.” The kind of all-star unit you’d compile through trades, create-a-player and waiver wire chicanery on a hockey video game.
Can the Senators keep the kill going in Wednesday night’s Game 4?
|
| Posted: 05/22/2013 |
| NHL Three Stars: Bruins push Rangers to brink, Couture heroic again (Puck Daddy) |
| No. 1 Star: Daniel Paille, Boston Bruins
The catalyst for the Bruins’ dominating fourth line in Game 3, Paille set up Johnny Boychuk for the tying goal and then scored the game-winner on a funky bounce to give Boston a 2-1 win over the Rangers and a 3-0 series lead.
No. 2 Star: Antti Niemi, San Jose Sharks
The Sharks goalie stopped 22 shots, including 13 in the third period, to backstop San Jose to a 2-1 Game 4 win and a 2-2 series split with the Los Angeles Kings. |
| Posted: 05/21/2013 |
| Unsung Hero: Rob Scuderi remains critical ‘piece’ for defending champ Kings (Puck Daddy) |
| Los Angeles Kings defenseman Rob Scuderi rarely makes a gaffe on the ice, so it’s ironic his nickname was born out of one.
When Scuderi was with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he mistakenly told a reporter that he was “the piece of the puzzle” for the team.
Not “a piece,” but “ THE piece.” Which obviously was a point of hilarity for a locker room that included Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
“The Piece” stuck as a nickname for Scuderi – along with the more hockey-linguistic “Scuds” – because he’s been an essential one for two Stanley Cup-winning teams. He logged big minutes and played stout defense for the 2009 Penguins; last season for the Kings, he played 30 shifts a game and finished with a plus-9 in 20 games en route to the Cup.
This season, Scuderi is second on the Kings in ice time (28:08 on average) to defensive partner Drew Doughty (28:08). He leads the team with 23 blocked shots – his forte – and had six in the Game 3 loss.
It’s what he does, and has been doing for years. |
| Posted: 05/21/2013 |
| Working Mantha (The Hockey News) |
| On this week's list of players we can't wait to see in the NHL one day, we profile Anthony Mantha of the Val-d'Or Foreurs. |
| Posted: 05/21/2013 |
| ‘No deal in place’ for Roy, Avs; Tortorella’s words; ranking player trade values (Puck Headlines) (Puck Daddy) |
| Here are your Puck Headlines: a glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.
• Via Wayne B., here's how you take finger hockey to the next level. [ Think Geek ]
• If Patrick Roy is set to become the next head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, according to his brother, no deal is currently in place, writes Adrian Dater. [ Denver Post ]
• Joe Haggerty on why the Boston Bruins and Matt Bartkowski are happy that Jarome Iginla deal never worked out. [ CSNNE ]
• Why John Tortorella's words always have a deeper meaning behind them. "Remember the "shut yer yap" command to then-Flyers coach Ken Hitchcock when Tortorella's Lightning faced Philadelphia in the 2004 Eastern Conference final en route to that franchise's only Stanley Cup? The story around the NHL is that Tortorella walked into that news conference knowing he would say something of that ilk, regardless of the questioning." [ Bergen Record ]
• San Jose Sharks head coach Todd McLellan hinted that he may opt to use seven defensemen in Game 4 Tuesday night. Jason Demers would sub in for an injured Martin Havlat. [ Mercury News]
• Roy MacGregor on what Craig Anderson brings to the Senators. [ The Globe & Mail ]
• Darryl Sutter on why the LA Kings flew back home between Games 3 and 4: "Just our own practice facility. You know, what are we going to do up there for two days? Really? You know what, if we had all stayed up there for two days, we’d have been bored last night and today, right? Because you’re basically just sitting around the hotel and there’s nothing to do." [ LA Kings Insider ]
|
| Posted: 05/21/2013 |
| NHL Three Stars: Howard’s 39 saves help Red Wings take series lead over Blackhawks (Puck Daddy) |
| No. 1 Star: Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings
For the second straight game, Howard was able to withstand the Chicago Blackhawks' attack, though he was a little busier in Game 3. Making 39 saves, Howard backstopped the Red Wings to a 3-1 victory to take a 2-1 series lead. One of his biggest saves was early in the third period when Patrick Sharp came in on a breakaway:
No. 2 Star: Drew Miller, Detroit Red Wings
Miller was part of the 1-2 punch Detroit gave Chicago in the second period as his goal put the Red Wings up 2-0 and came 31 second after Gustav Nyquist opened the scoring. Miller was also credited with four blocked shots.
No. 3 Star: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Datsyuk's goal gave Detroit a 3-1 lead and came two minutes after Patrick Kane cut the lead to one and a minute after Andrew Shaw's goal was waived off.
Detroit has won nine straight games in which Datsyuk has scored a goal. |
| Posted: 05/20/2013 |
| Hockey fan leaves waitress generous tip thanks to Penguins loss (Photo) (Puck Daddy) |
| Sometimes the Stanley Cup Playoffs make us do abnormal things, like canceling a pizza pickup order because our favorite team just tied the game in the third period. Other times it brings two fanbases together.
This was the case for Catherine Farish from Jacksonville, North Carolina. Originally from Boston, she moved south because her husband is a sergeant in the Marine Corps. She's also a big Boston Bruins fan. Working Sunday night at a local Buffalo Wild Wings during the Pittsburgh Penguins/Ottawa Senators double overtime game, she encountered a customer who would end up making her day.
Here's Catherine:
Last night during my shift this young man came in alone and sat at my table. He was quiet, but friendly and very easy to take care of, he came in to watch the Penguins/Senators game. As we all know it went into double overtime, so he was there from beginning at 7pm to the very end around 11:45. After I congratulated him on the Senators win, I stepped away and during that time he left and when I returned to clean off his table, I picked up his credit card receipt (pictured below) It absolutely made my night and even though I may be a Bruins fan, completely restores my faith in humanity. It was such a kind gesture. Hope this brightens your day!! Thanks for reading!
What she found was a $50.33 tip and this message:
(The "KCCO" stands for "Keep Calm and Chive On ", a reference to the recently revived "Keep Calm and Carry On".)
Farish added that the generous customer said he was born in Ohio and raised to dislike all things Pittsburgh (Browns fan, perhaps?). We wish could have seen his reaction after Colin Greening's goal Sunday night.
Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy
|
| Posted: 05/20/2013 |
| Pittsburgh Penguins' Dupuis Deserves Some Selke Love (Yahoo! Contributor Network) |
| COMMENTARY | In the land of premature extrapolation that is the sports media, we have a number of surefire Conn-Smythe Trophy candidates who will definitely win ... if their teams don't happen to be among the remaining seven of eight that will go home losers, and if they don't happen to regress to a certain mediocrity in the remaining three quarters of the postseason. |
| Posted: 05/20/2013 |
| What We Learned: Complaining about NHL officiating? Time to fine these sore losers (Puck Daddy) |
| Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend’s events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it.
No one is ever going to be totally happy with the ways in which the NHL's referees or officials make their decisions. We can all agree on that.
If there's a game in which neither team is whistled for a penalty, both will likely complain that the refs missed calls on the other. If there's a game in which both teams receive 10 power plays, both will complain that the referees were overly harsh in doling out discipline. No one is ever especially happy with calls that go in between those two extremes, either, because unless you win, you aren't happy. And sometimes, even when you do win, you aren't happy.
It's tough to know what, exactly, brought all this to a head in these playoffs. Alex Ovechkin complaining about a league-wide conspiracy in Game 6 after the end of Game 7; Jonathan Toews stamping his feet when his team got clobbered on home ice by its archrival; Sidney Crosby saying the league needs to institute video review for puck-over-the-glass calls; Jonathan Quick abusing officials because the Kings gave the Sharks a two-man advantage in overtime.
Doesn't it strike anyone as being a bit much?
No one likes to lose in October, let alone in the second round of the playoffs, and you might even say that the refs have made a bit of a spectacle of themselves in the last few games. The best thing a ref can do, the old saying goes, is not be noticeable, and things have admittedly gotten a bit out of hand in some instances.
But nonetheless, can you imagine the eye-rolling or outright mockery in Chicago if Henrik Zetterberg had said the same things Toews did after they got creamed in Game 1? Or the uproar if Ryan Callahan of the lionized New York Rangers had complained about a conspiracy to push the series longer? Or the furor if Joe Thornton had done what Quick did after the Sharks gave up a similar late-game 5-on-3 advantage that allowed the Kings to tie Game 1?
What it boils down to is being a sore loser. |
| Posted: 05/20/2013 |
| Senators avoid 3-0 deficit with double OT win over Pens (Reuters) |
| (Reuters) - The Ottawa Senators clawed their way back into their Eastern Conference semi-final series against Pittsburgh on Sunday, Colin Greening's goal in double overtime giving them a 2-1 win over the Penguins in Game Three. After losing the first two games of the series and trailing 1-0 on the night to Tyler Kennedy's second period goal, Ottawa were just seconds away from losing a third straight to the top-seeded Penguins. ... |
| Posted: 05/19/2013 |
| NHL Three Stars: Anderson shines in Sens’ comeback; Krug’s two-point night (Puck Daddy) |
| Zack Smith finishes off Matt Niskanen with the stinky leg drop .
No. 1 Star: Craig Anderson, Ottawa Senators
Anderson stopped 49 of 50 as the Senators staged a stunning comeback over the Pittsburgh Penguins, tying the game with less than a minute to go and winning it, 2-1 , in double overtime.
No. 2 Star: Torey Krug, Boston Bruins
Krug's second postseason game was even better than his first. He had a two-point night in the Bruins 5-2 win, scoring again and picking up an assist. His play on the goal, kicking the puck to his stick then whipping it past Henrik Lundqvist, showed some serious veteran savvy: |
| Posted: 05/19/2013 |
| NHL-Senators avoid 3-0 deficit with double OT win over Pens (Reuters) |
| May 19 (Reuters) - The Ottawa Senators clawed their way back into their Eastern Conference semi-final series against Pittsburgh on Sunday, Colin Greening's goal in double overtime giving them a 2-1 win over the Penguins in Game Three. After losing the first two games of the series and trailing 1-0 on the night to Tyler Kennedy's second period goal, Ottawa were just seconds away from losing a third straight to the top-seeded Penguins. ... |
| Posted: 05/19/2013 |
| Pittsburgh’s Gulf Tower turns into goal light for Penguins’ playoff run (Video) (Puck Daddy) |
| Via Penguins WhoSay
Besides being able to have their team advance out of the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, the city of Pittsburgh has also made it possible to turn one of its buildings into a goal light.
A Toronto Maple Leafs fan petition to turn CN Tower into a goal light for each playoff game didn't succeed. In Pittsburgh, however, it took a round, but the top of Gulf Tower will light up red every time the Penguins score in for the rest of the playoffs.
Ian Walsh, an executive with Rugby Realty, who control Gulf Tower, met with the Penguins on Wednesday to discuss another idea when the goal light conversation came up. After figuring out a way to control the lights remotely, the plan was put into place for Game 2 on Friday.
Here's a view from inside CONSOL Energy Center after Brenden Morrow's goal in Game 2:
From the Rob Rossi of the Pittsburgh Tribune Review :
There was no test run, and Crosby's goal early in the first period on Friday night turned the Gulf Tower into a rotating red light for the first time. However, because there was still daylight when Crosby scored around 7:50 p.m., few people noticed.
That was not the case about 30 minutes later when Crosby scored his second goal. A darker sky provided the perfect backdrop for the Gulf Tower to stand out.
During the game, Wareham received word from Penguins employees that fans were posting photos of the rooftop goal-light on Twitter, but even he was surprised how quickly the idea became a success.
The Penguins’ director of event presentation controls the lights via an iPhone and beginning with Sunday night’s Game 3, there will be 20 rotations of the lights for each goal scored, up from 15 used during Game 2.
Follow Sean Leahy on Twitter at @Sean_Leahy |
| Posted: 05/19/2013 |
| NHL Three Stars: Niemi, Couture shine for Sharks; Wings even up Hawks (Puck Daddy) |
| No. 1 Star: Antti Niemi, San Jose Sharks
The Sharks netminder made 26 saves and bailed them out on defensive lapses on several occasions, as San Jose defeated the Los Angeles Kings in OT 2-1 , to cut their series deficit to 2-1.
No. 2 Star: Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings captain assisted on goals by Brendan Smith and Valtteri Filppula, while frustrating Jonathan Toews all game, in Detroit’s 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. The series is tied 1-1.
No. 3 Star: Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks
The Sharks forward scored the OT game-winner at 1:29, on the power play, to give the San Jose the 2-1 win. That came after he was injured in the second period, returning to the game about 15 minutes later.
Honorable mention: Dan Boyle and Tyler Toffoli had the other goals in the Kings/Sharks game. … Jonathan Quick made 38 saves for the Kings. … Patrick Kane scored his first of the playoffs. … Damien Brunner scored his fourth for the Wings. Johan Franzen also netted his fourth. … This Brad Stuart hit was awesome:
Conn Smythe Watch: 1. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins; 2. David Krejci, Boston Bruins; 3. Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings; 4. Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers; 5. Corey Crawford, Chicago Blackhawks; 6. Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins; 7. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins; 8. Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings; 9. Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings; 10. Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks.
Dishonorable mention: The Kings took two penalties in the last minute of regulation to give the Sharks a 5-on-3 power play to start overtime. … Jonathan Quick received a game misconduct at the end of the game. … Dave Bolland was a minus-2 with three minor penalties. |
| Posted: 05/19/2013 |
| Jason Spezza cleared to play, will return to Senators’ lineup for Game 3 (Puck Daddy) |
|
The return home for Game 3 will give the Ottawa Senators a little bit of a boost as they attempt get back into their second-round series with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but with a 3-0 hole looming, the club would no doubt welcome a boost to their boost.
It looks like they'll get one of those too. After undergoing surgery for a herniated disc in his back and missing the last four months, Jason Spezza has been medically cleared to play.
He'll be in the Senators' lineup for Game 3. (Double boost!)
"I'm excited to have a chance to play again," Spezza said . "I feel ready to play."
Where he'll play remains to be seen, but Spezza has practiced on the Senators' first line alongside frequent running mate Milan Michalek, so our educated guess would be there.
That makes sense. Down 0-2, the Senators really aren't in a position to ease him into the lineup. Still, the question is what sort of impact he'll be able to have in his first game in 4 months. There's a good chance he'll see a lot of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby, the latter of whom notched a hat trick in Game 2. These are matchups he needs to win, and that's a lot to ask of anyone, let alone a guy that's played just 5 games this season.
But it's not like Spezza's not capable of it. His last game with the Senators was versus these very Penguins, and while Ottawa lost the decision, 2-1 , in a shootout, Spezza was a large part of the reason they came away from that one with a point, finishing well above water in his head-to-head matchups with both of the Penguins' star pivots, and assisting on Ottawa's game-tying goal.
Spezza played the majority of this game matched up with Evgeni Malkin, while Kyle Turris saw the Crosby matchup (as he has for Games 1 and 2, and I'd expect he will in Game 3, Crosby's hat trick notwithstanding).
But when Spezza didn't see Malkin, he saw Crosby, and despite playing the majority of the night versus two of the best centres in the Eastern Conference, Spezza finished the evening with an even-strength Corsi rate (plus/minus for shots attempted, basically) of plus-9. Crosby was a minus-9. Malkin was a minus-6.
Spezza, who is a much better two-way player now than he was the last time the Senators and the Penguins met in the playoffs, also won 11 of 16 faceoffs versus this duo in that game.
If the Senators can return a guy capable of winning these pivotal shifts, their chances of staging a comeback in this series increase exponentially. But after four months on the shelf, one wonders if Spezza can be the player he's capable of being right away.
Game 3 goes Sunday. It totally should have been Saturday, though, which is the 10-year anniversary of Spezza's original playoff debut . That would have been cool.
|
| Posted: 05/18/2013 |
Yahoo!Sports
|
| GAME STATS |
|
GP |
W |
L |
OT |
| HOME |
29 |
22 |
7 |
0 |
| AWAY |
27 |
20 |
7 |
0 |
| TOTAL |
56 |
42 |
14 |
0 |
| MAY STATS |
|
GP |
W |
L |
OT |
| HOME |
5 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
| AWAY |
3 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
| TOTAL |
8 |
6 |
2 |
0 |
| ATLANTIC DIVISION |
| Team |
GP |
W |
L |
OT |
PTS |
GF |
GA |
| PIT |
48 |
36 |
12 |
0 |
72 |
165 |
119 |
| NYR |
48 |
26 |
18 |
4 |
56 |
130 |
112 |
| NYI |
48 |
24 |
17 |
7 |
55 |
139 |
139 |
| PHI |
48 |
23 |
22 |
3 |
49 |
133 |
141 |
| NJD |
48 |
19 |
19 |
10 |
48 |
112 |
129 |
| EASTERN CONFERENCE |
| Team |
GP |
W |
L |
OT |
DF |
PTS |
| 1. PIT* |
48 |
36 |
12 |
0 |
46 |
72 |
| 2. MTL* |
48 |
29 |
14 |
5 |
23 |
63 |
| 3. WSH* |
48 |
27 |
18 |
3 |
19 |
57 |
| 4. BOS |
48 |
28 |
14 |
6 |
22 |
62 |
| 5. TOR |
48 |
26 |
17 |
5 |
12 |
57 |
| 6. NYR |
48 |
26 |
18 |
4 |
18 |
56 |
| 7. OTT |
48 |
25 |
17 |
6 |
12 |
56 |
| 8. NYI |
48 |
24 |
17 |
7 |
0 |
55 |
| 9. WPG |
48 |
24 |
21 |
3 |
-16 |
51 |
| 10. PHI |
48 |
23 |
22 |
3 |
-8 |
49 |
| 11. BUF |
48 |
21 |
21 |
6 |
-18 |
48 |
| 12. NJD |
48 |
19 |
19 |
10 |
-17 |
48 |
| 13. CAR |
48 |
19 |
25 |
4 |
-32 |
42 |
| 14. TBL |
48 |
18 |
26 |
4 |
-2 |
40 |
| 15. FLA |
48 |
15 |
27 |
6 |
-59 |
36 |
|
