Physical play, strong performances from key role players, fuels 4-2 win

Post-Game Notebook Pittsburgh showed the hockey world Tuesday night that they will not go down lightly, winning a pivotal game 3 and cutting the Red Wings series lead in half. The 2009 Stanley Cup Finals are following the same trend of the 08 finals when Detroit won both games in Detroit, then lost game 3 in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is hopeful game 4 doesn’t follow the trend from last years finals. What the Penguins have now is confidence that they can beat the Red Wings. Even after losing both games in Detroit, the Penguins remained confident heading into game 3 but there was this vibe that it didn’t matter how well they played, Detroit would find a way to win. Pittsburgh

Secondary scoring prevails Penguins to third straight win

The Latest Penguins Buzz Despite advancing to the second round of the playoffs, secondary scoring was a major issue for the Penguins in their first round matchup against Philadelphia. After being down two games to one to the Washington Capitals, It was still a problem going into game 4, as Ruslan Fedotenko was the only top 6 winger to score an even strength goal through the first 9 games of the playoffs. In games 4 and 5, Pittsburgh has received significant production from secondary players such as Jordan Staal, Ruslan Fedotenko, Matt Cooke and Max Talbot who all found the back of the net during times of the past two games.  Secondary scoring has finally showed up for the Penguins and

Series Preview: Penguins in 6

(Courtesy of South Central) Season Series 10/14/08: PIT 3 – PHI 2 11/13/08: PIT 5 – PHI 4 12/13/08: PHI 6 – PIT 3 1/13/09: PIT 4 – PHI 2 2/21/09: PIT 5 – PHI 4 3/22/09: PHI 3 – PIT 1 Star Power PIT: Evgeni Malkin (112 pts), Sidney Crosby (103 pts) PHI: Jeff Carter (84 pts), Mike Richards (80 pts) Advantage – Pittsburgh Forwards Pittsburgh: Down the middle the Penguins are the deepest team in the NHL with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jordan Staal. While Crosby, Malkin had little help for much of the season, Penguins general manager Ray Shero added Chris Kunitz (18 points, 20 pts) and Bill Guerin (12 points, 17 games) prior to the

Crosby extends point streak to 16 games, Penguins rout Devils

The Penguins dominated from the drop of the puck and routed the New Jersey Devils 6-1 Wednesday night at Mellon Arena to move within six points of the  Devils for first place in the Atlantic division. Sidney Crosby (30) and Chris Kunitz (23) each had a goal, assist and Marc Andre Fleury made 24 saves to move to 12-1-1 in his last 14 games. Matt Cooke (11), Bill Guerin (20), Evgeni Malkin (34) and Jordan Staal (21) also scored for the Penguins. Brian Gionta (19) was the lone goal scorer for the Devils who have now lost six straight games. Post-Game Analysis: Are the Penguins the best team in the Eastern Conference? Three weeks ago the Devils were viewed as

Tuesday’s Practice Report: Scuderi returns to practice

Defenseman Rob Scuderi returned to practice today after missing Monday’s practice with an illness. All-Star forward Evgeni Malkin who was excused from practice on Monday was also on the ice today as the Penguins prepare to face off against the New York Rangers on Wednesday. Crosby/Malkin to stay together?:

NHL: Penguins Injury – Practice Report/ Boucher misses practice

Updated Practice Report: As expected Tyler Kennedy practiced for the third consecutive game. Also defenseman Philippe Boucher did not practice. Boucher was a scratch yesterday. More to come This morning saw a bit of good news for the Penguins as Sergei Gonchar was skating for a conditioning workout. Gonchar been rehabbing for about five weeks now and there’s been talk for about the last couple weeks that he will probably return a few weeks prior to the trade deadline. Gonchar is not shooting pucks yet. The news on Mike Zigomanis is not good. Sources tell me

COOKE FAMILY FOUNDATION OF HOPE TO DONATE ALL PROCEEDS

VANCOUVER, BC December 2008 – The Cooke Family Foundation of Hope (CFFH) has announced today that it will support the National Hockey Players Association’s (NHLPA) efforts in raising funds for the Luc Bourdon Memorial Fund by donating 100 percent of donations received to the CFFH up until March 15, 2009. The Luc Bourdon Memorial Fund will be officially launched in 2009. All proceeds will support scholarships and various youth-related initiatives in honour of Luc Bourdon. “Luc was a very good teammate and friend, with such a promising future ahead of him,” said Matt Cooke, Vice President of the CFFH and Pittsburgh Penguins forward. “It is very encouraging to see the strong support from the NHLPA members and the entire hockey

Penguins suffer third straight loss

New Jersey 4 – Pittsburgh 1 New Jersey Devils backup goaltender Scott Clemmensen made 26 saves to improve to 7-1 in his last eight starts as the New Jersey Devils defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1 Wednesday night. Pittsburgh who has lost three straight did not get a very good performance from Dany Sabourin who struggled for the second consecutive game. Travis Zajac, Zach Parise, Dainius Zubrus and Patrik Elias scored for the Devils, who won for the eighth time in nine games. The Devils (15-8-2) are within two points of the Penguins for second place in the Atlantic division. Pittsburgh failed to get on the scoreboard until Matt Cooke scored with 3:58 remaining in the third period. Evgeni Malkin the