Penguins Nation

The Pittsburgh Penguins are on track to lose their first-round series against the New York Rangers. There’s still time to turn things around, but the Penguins’ loss in Game 3 is troubling because it throws the difficulties facing Pittsburgh into sharp relief. The problem isn’t Sidney Crosby, and it isn’t Evgeni Malkin, though both star centers are likely to catch lots of fire if Pittsburgh bows out of the postseason early yet again. Whether losses are actually their fault or not, the best players on a team always seem to take the blame due to the crackpot theory that the really great ...

NEW YORK — Oh right. Sidney Crosby is the best hockey player in the world. A year ago, Crosby was quietly hampered by a wrist injury, which was a contributing factor in his being held to one goal in 13 postseason games in 2014. That includes one goal in a second-round seven-game loss to the New York Rangers that cost his coach and general manager their jobs. That, along with his absentee performance Thursday in Game 1, inevitably led to the always popular, always idiotic takes that wondered if something was wrong with Crosby and if he was the problem with the ...

NEW YORK — Let's make this clear: The New York Rangers were the much better team at Madison Square Garden on Thursday night and probably should've won by more than the 2-1 score that beat the Pittsburgh Penguins, who nearly forced overtime with a virtually non-existent Sidney Crosby. If the Rangers play six more games like the one they played in Game 1 of this first-round series, they will almost certainly find a way to win three of them. But maybe, just maybe, the Penguins showed that they can play with the Rangers in this series, and maybe even win it. Maybe. "We believe ...

Washington Capitals star Alexander Ovechkin may have won his third consecutive Maurice "Rocket" Richard Trophy with 53 goals this season, but unlike his Pittsburgh Penguins foe, Sidney Crosby, he still is without a Stanley Cup ring.Which player has more pressure to win the Stanley Cup in 2015? Which team has higher expectations this year?Watch as Stephen Nelson and Bleacher Report NHL Lead Writer Dave Lozo discuss the NHL playoffs in the video above. Read more Pittsburgh Penguins news on BleacherReport.com

The collapse of the Pittsburgh Penguins over the latter half of 2014-15 NHL season has been spectacular to behold. The team which sat a single point out of first in the Eastern Conference on January 1 has gone four games under 0.500 in the three-plus months since then and now finds itself in serious jeopardy of missing the postseason. It’s been a stunning transition; looking at the 82-game pace in each segment, essentially the Penguins have gone from being the best team in the league to being the current edition of the Philadelphia Flyers or Colorado Avalanche: Penguins through January 1: 23-9-5 ...

The Pittsburgh Penguins have a discipline problem. Sunday’s blowout loss to the Detroit Red Wings was accompanied by 12 Penguins penalties, according to NHL.com’s box score. Seven of those penalties were related to unsportsmanlike conduct—two-minute minors, 10-minute misconducts or game misconducts. At the NHL level, a team taking that many liberties against the opposition is unacceptable. Coach Mike Johnston reiterated this after the game, citing concerns with Steve Downie’s game. “As I talked about before, and I met with him before the game [Sunday] and I told him we just can’t have that,” Johnston said to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “That is a ...

Evgeni Malkin has generally been a model of consistency for the Pittsburgh Penguins, missing only a small handful of games and delivering night-in and night-out. However, he will be sidelined for the time being after suffering a lower-body injury against the Boston Bruins on Saturday.  Continue below for updates. Malin Could Return During Road Trip Wednesday, March 18 Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reported that there is a chance Malkin could return during the Pens' road trip:   Coach Mike Johnston isn’t ruling out the possibility of Evgeni Malkin joining the Penguins at some point on their three-game road trip. But Tuesday, he sounded a lot less ...

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been one of the NHL's most interesting teams over the last half-decade because of their ability to dominate the regular season and fold like a house of cards once the playoffs roll around. General manager Jim Rutherford was one of the NHL's most active executives at the deadline, but did he make the right moves? There are still some questions to be answered. Here are the five burning questions for Pittsburgh after the deadline.Begin Slideshow

The Pittsburgh Penguins were one of the Eastern Conference's most active teams at the trade deadline, and they got things started early by acquiring Daniel Winnik on February 25. On deadline day, the Penguins made a number of deals, and each was different than the other. General manager Jim Rutherford is no stranger to making trades, and his goal was to improve the strength of his team for the playoffs. Without further delay, here are the grades for the Penguins' deadline deals.Begin Slideshow

As a three-time Stanley Cup-winning franchise, the Pittsburgh Penguins have had their share of great teams and great players. While some of these players, such as Mario Lemieux and Sidney Crosby, have come by way of the draft, others have come by way of trades.  As the NHL trade deadline approaches and Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford looks to make even more upgrades to his roster for the stretch run, let's look back at the five best trades in Pittsburgh Penguins history.Begin Slideshow