Friday Practice Report: Kunitz eyes return to lineup

The Pittsburgh Penguins snapped a two game winless streak Thursday night, defeating the Montreal Canadiens 3-2 at the Bell Centre behind a game winning goal from Pascal Dupuis. Much of the talk today was about the blown call by referee Chris Lee in the third period. Lee lost sight of the puck in Fleury’s crease right before Scott Gomez put it past Fleury in what would have tied the game 3-3. Winning teams get bounces like that. This afternoon the Penguins got back to work as head coach Dan Bylsma put his team through a 60 minute up-tempo practice with a lot of emphasis on skilled drills. ***Prior to practice Michael Rupp was working out for the Pittsburgh Steelers on

Penguins, Rangers going in opposite directions

Crosby leads Pittsburgh to 8-3 win Sidney Crosby scored once in the first period and twice in the third and added a pair assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins dismantled the New York Rangers 8-3 Saturday night at Mellon Arena. Pittsburgh welcomed back three regulars (Kennedy, Letang, Goligoski) to the lineup and put on a show for the home fans as Evgeni Malkin, Pascal Dupuis, Tyler Kennedy, Mark Eaton and Max Talbot also added goals for the Penguins. Pittsburgh pulled away in the third period, scoring four third period goals, including two power play goals against the NHL’s No. 1 ranked penalty kill. Goaltender Marc Andre Fleury made 25 saves to earn his 15th win of the season. Pittsburgh improved their record

NHL: Rangers exploring all avenues to shakeup roster

The New York Rangers are active in trade talks trying to add scoring and trying to move one of their big salaries (Gomez, Drury, Redden, Rozsival. The Globe and Mail reports the Leafs are expressing interest in Wade Redden. There is talk that John Tortorella has his eye on Pavel Kubina but it makes little sense for the Leafs to acquire Redden who has five years remaining on his contract. Rangers/Heatley Rumors The Rangers have showed a strong interest in Senators forward Dany Heatley and are among the five teams that remain in the running. The Rangers have also inquired about Sharks forward Patrick Marleau and Jonathan Cheechoo.

Penguins, Rangers separated by one point in crucial game this afternoon

Just a reminder: “The Pittsburgh Penguins will host a clothing drive to benefit Goodwill of Southwestern PA when the Pens take on the New York Rangers Saturday at 1 p.m. at Mellon Arena. Gently-worn clothing items or cash donations will be collected when gates open at 12 noon. The collection will continue through the 10-minute mark of the first period. New York Rangers (39-27-9-87) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (40-27-8-88) Previous Meetings 10/25/08: NYR 3 – PIT 3 SO 12/3/08: NYR 3 – PIT 2 SO 1/5/09: NYR 4 – PIT 0 1/18/09: PIT 3 – NYR 0 1/28/09: PIT 6 – NYR 2 Coaching Changes: Both teams made coaching changes within weeks of each other in February. The Penguins are 13-2-3

Penguins fall to Rangers 3-2 in shootout

New York 3 – Pittsburgh 2 The Penguins lost their seventh consecutive game at Madison Square Garden and this was a game the Penguins should have won. The Penguins got out to a 2-0 lead. Mark Eaton scored his first goal in 91 games. Eaton jumped into the play and banged home a beautiful pass from Sidney Crosby. Crosby was by far the best player on the ice tonight. Jordan Staal recorded his eight goal of the season in the second period. Petr Prucha (1st goal of the season) and Nikolai Zherdev scored for the Rangers. Prucha had been a healthy scratch for the previous 10 games. A lot of scouts in the building. In the shootout, Markus Naslund, Nikolai

Stanley Cup Predictions

Who will be crowned the 2008-2009 Stanley Cup Champions? Inside Pittsburgh Sports weighs in on who will reach the finals. Will we see a rematch between Pittsburgh & Detroit?