Penguins place Chris Bourque on waivers

The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed forward Chris Bourque on waivers today. Bourque was placed on waivers this afternoon at 12:00 p.m. Bourque played a total of 4:26 against the Colorado Avalanche Thursday night and the coaching staff began to lose confidence in the young forward in recent weeks. Bourque failed to establish himself as a consistent contributor, recording three assists and a plus/minus rating of -4. On most nights he was over-matched physically. Penguins forward Matt Cooke will return to the lineup Saturday night against Chicago. Cooke skated with Jordan Staal and Tyler Kennedy in practice today. Michael Rupp was on the 4th line with Craig Adams and Eric Godard. Pittsburgh will not make any call-ups.

Penguins look for an encore performance against Montreal

The Pittsburgh Penguins return home tonight to face-off against the Montreal Canadiens after a 2-1 road trip. Pittsburgh has won two straight and four of five games. As the Penguins are starting to get somewhat healthier, the injury riddled Canadiens have been without a number of key players this week including forwards Scott Gomez, Brian Gionta and defensemen Andrei Markov (injured reserved), Hall Gill, Jaroslav Spacek. Markov will be sidelined for atleast two more months and Gionta, Gill will not play tonight. Spacek and Gomez are questionable as the Canadiens cancelled their morning skate in Pittsburgh today. The Canadiens have also recalled center David Desharnais in anticipation that forward Andrei Kostitsyn will not be able to play tonight as Kostitsyn

Friday Practice Report: Role players, good goaltending fuel Penguins 6-1 start

The Latest Penguins Buzz The Pittsburgh Penguins return home Saturday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning to begin a five game home-stand. The Lightning are 2-2-2 through six games and former Pittsburgh Penguins winger Ryan Malone leads the Lightning with 6 goals. On paper the Lightning are a better team than last year and some nights they have looked improved but they continue to struggle to keep the puck out of their net and are also averaging under 3 goals per game. *Today, the team went through a 75 minute workout. One lineup change for tomorrow night will be Eric Godard returning to the lineup. Godard was informed that he will play. * Two key reasons that management believes has

Penguins pregame buzz: Bourque scratched again?

Pittsburgh (5-1-0) @ Carolina (2-3-0) The Pittsburgh Penguins are currenty going through their morning skate as the team prepares for the Carolina Hurricanes in a rematch of the Eastern Conference Finals. I’m told based on the rotation in the morning skate, it appears winger Chris Bourque will be scratched again tonight. Bourque has only appeared in one game this season and tonight is a logical game for him to dress. Morning Skate Lines Kunitz – Crosby – Guerin Fedotenko – Makin – Dupuis Cooke – Staal – Kennedy Rupp – Adams – Godard Extra: Chris Bourque More Notes *Canes forward Eric Staal who was questionable going into tonight’s game participated in the Canes morning skate and will play tonight. Tonight

Questions still surround the Chris Bourque waiver claim

Bayda, others not happy? The waiver claim of winger Chris Bourque has had a ripple effect in the Penguins organization. Veterans like Ryan Bayda are not happy about it. There was not an issue in the organization with the signing of Martin Skoula. The signing caused some heart ache for a player like Nate Guenin but Skoula has paid his dues and is respected by those who were bypassed by him. The same can not be said for Chris Bourque. Bringing in an un-proven 23 year old forward who was bypassed by 29 other teams has not sat well with veterans in the organization. Bourque has been a scratch for four of Pittsburgh five games and will be scratched again

Penguins @ Maple Leafs Notebook: Letang in the lineup

Pittsburgh Penguins (3-1-0) @ Toronto Maple Leafs (0-2-1) Where: Air Canada Center, 7:08 p.m. Analysis: The Toronto Maple Leafs come into tonight’s game looking for their first win of the season. The Leafs continue to struggle on the penalty kill and rank 28th in the league with a 62.5% on the PK. The Leafs took three of four meetings from Pittsburgh last year, including both games at home. Vesa Toskala will start in goal for the Leafs as Jonas Gustavsson (groin) will be sidelined for 1-3 weeks. Pittsburgh has jumped out to a 3-1-0 start to the season and is coming off a divisional victory (5-4) in Philadelphia on Thursday. Penguins – Leafs morning skate news and notes

Thursday Practice Report: Dupuis to open the season on Malkin’s line

Crosby improving Southpointe, PA — In some circles the Penguins training camp was regarded as a bit “laid back”. In preparation for the New York Rangers tomorrow night, head coach Dan Bylsma put the Penguins through a high intensity/ up-tempo practice Thursday morning. It might have been the Penguins best practice thus far in training camp. * Tyler Kennedy and Evgeni Malkin played very well together in training camp and in the pre-season. But, Pascal Dupuis skated with Evgeni Malkin and Ruslan Fedotenko for the second consecutive practice and will open up the season on the second line. Despite Dupuis opening the season on Malkin’s line, don’t expect him to be skating alongside Malkin for a significant period of time.