Post-Game Buzz: D-zone issues, sloppy play, haunt Penguins in 4-1 loss to Hurricanes

POST-GAME BUZZ Jiri Tlusty (9) had two goals and one assist, leading the Carolina Hurricanes (10-8-1), to a dominating 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins (13-8-0, 26 pts) on Thursday Night at the PNC Center. Eric Staal (10) and Jeff Skinner (8) also scored in the win and Cam Ward made 26 saves to earn the win. The Penguins started the game very sloppy with a number of turnovers but opened the scoring when Chris Kunitz scored his 9th goal of the season at 13:14 of first period with a beautiful one-timer goal, but the Hurricanes would score four unanswered goals, en route to the win. Penguins netminder Marc Andre Fleury made 25 saves on 29 shots in the loss.

Four Steelers UFA’s with best odds of resigning

STEELERS FREE AGENCY BUZZ Out of the Steelers 17 unrestricted free agents, several won’t be back, and few are a priority for the team who don’t plan to resign notable veterans Max Starks and Casey Hampton, and expect Mike Wallace and Ramon Foster to sign bigger deals elsewhere. The Steelers today are meeting with WR Steve Breaston at their team facility and there continues to be a sense that the Steelers get a deal done with Breaston at some point for the sole reason that there’s really not a market out there for the 29 year old receiver. However, the Steelers are only willing to offer the league minimum and they have felt Breaston wants more money than they are

Game Day Buzz: Skinner back for Canes; Malkin skates again; Despres scratched for 2nd straight game?

GAME DAY BUZZ PENGUINS (13-7-0, 26 PTS) @ HURRICANES (9-8-1, 19 PTS) MALKIN SKATES AGAIN Things continue to move in the right direction for Evgeni Malkin who skated again this morning at Southpointe. Malkin has been symptom free since Tuesday and has now skated in consecutive days. The Penguins continue to indicate there is no timetable for his return and they are going to be very careful on not establishing one. However, it wouldn’t be surprising if Malkin gets cleared for contact following this weekend, barring a setback. CANES GETTING HEALTHY Jeff Skinner, Tim Brent, Tim Gleason and Jamie McBain will all return to the lineup tonight for Carolina. The return of Skinner is huge for Carolina who has missed

Steelers save around $14 million in cap space with restructures of Roethlisberger, Timmons & Brown

The brinks truck will be showing up to Ben Roethlisberger’s house this month. Roethlisberger this morning has officially restructured his contract. Roethlisberger was due a base salary of $11.6 million and had a cap hit of over $19 million. The bulk of his base salary will now be turned into a signing bonus and he will receive that money upfront. Roethlisberger restructuring his deal reportedly saves the Steelers around $6 million. The team has also restructured the deals of Antonio Brown and Lawrence Timmons this week. By restructuring the three players, the Steelers have cleared around $14 million in cap space for this season. None of the three players will receive a penny less than they were to receive so

Morning Pens Buzz: Penguins haven’t felt loss of Staal yet but likely will come playoff time

MORNING PENS BUZZ The storyline for tonight’s game vs Carolina is Jordan Staal facing his former team for the first time since being traded on draft day, a day after declining a 10 year, $58 million offer from the Penguins and making it known to the Penguins at the time that he intended to play his final season in Pittsburgh out and explore free agency. Staal had six great years in Pittsburgh, playing a key role in two Stanley Cup runs and a Stanley Cup championship in 2009. He was the Penguins best forward in the 2012 playoffs and the Penguins haven’t felt the loss of Staal yet as they are second in the Eastern Conference with 26 points and

Malkin skated today after being symptom free on Tuesday

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin was symptom free on Tuesday and skated back in Pittsburgh today for 30 minutes, head coach Dan Bylsma said following today’s practice in Florida, via Dan Potash of Root Sports. Malkin has missed the last two games and won’t play Thursday night in Carolina but this is a positive sign and step in the right direction for him to be skating just five days after his injury.

Morning Pens Buzz: Storyline of Tuesday’s 6-4 loss to Panthers is bad habits and undisciplined play

MORNING PENS BUZZ Tomas Kopecky’s hat trick led the Florida Panthers (6-9-4, 16 pts) to a 6-4 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins (13-7-0, 26 pts) Tuesday night and it was a game the Penguins had no business being in after giving up four power play goals and falling down 4-1 before the mid-mark in the second period. Chris Kunitz (8), Dustin Jeffrey (2), Paul Martin (4), and James Neal (18) scored for the Penguins and Sidney Crosby had two assists in the loss. Marc Andre Fleury made 12 saves taking the loss after replacing Tomas Vokoun in the second period who gave up 4 goals on 22 shots. The Penguins showed great battle scoring three second period goals to tie

Despres scratched vs Panthers

Defenseman Simon Despres is a healthy scratch tonight vs the Florida Panthers. Also scratched for the Penguins is Mark Eaton and Zach Boychuk. Defenseman Robert Bortuzzo returns to the lineup after being a healthy scratch for the last two games.