Penguins buck trend with lead scout from Europe

Looking at his biography, there is the temptation to suggest that the main Penguin manager, Jim Rutherford, is an old-fashioned hockey player.

He played in the NHL in 1970. He was the champion in the league since the birth of many of his players. Last year last year, he named the classic heavyweight chief at Ryan Reaves.

Do not be fooled, the head of the Penguin warned Patrik Allvin. Rutherford is just as forward-thinking as they are.

Phil Kessel: On the trading block again

Phil Kessel, note. These are Mike Sullivan's penguins.

Penguins from Pittsburgh once belonged to superstars. That's what Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr wanted, even Sidney Crosby. As a matter of philosophy, the team satisfies the best players. Perhaps the world has changed. Perhaps only the organization, but Penguins no longer satisfy their best players.

Sullivan helped, pushed and eventually transformed penguins from an emotionally sensitive, perhaps immature team into a professional jug. His "Just Play" mantra was the antithesis of years of stupid retaliation and dissipation through physical play. Sullivan led to the penguins becoming hardened veterans resisting disturbing attempts at opponents.

You know the result. Return to the Stanley Cup Championship.

However, the fastest way out of Pittsburgh is to get a residence on the wrong side of Sullivan. When Sullivan settled, he had more control over the plan. Based on his mentor, John Tortorelli, known for shaping graphics with preferred players and punting undesirable players, Sullivan increasingly emphasized his talent for the band.

If Kessel hopes to remain a Penguin, the anger of the coach is not the way to go. In the past, the breakup with the star had a Penguin trainer in a hot seat.

Now the player has to worry.

The government between Cole and Sullivan had many versions told in different corners. Read one of several stories of Pittsburgh Hockey. Now here, "Mike Sulivan, Ian Cole must sew, now."

Ryan Reaves, who was also in turn with Cole in the deadline, was the highest-ranked member of the fourth Penguin line. Despite the transaction of the day for the acquisition of Reaves, in which the Penguins were withdrawn from the first round, the role of Reaves dropped throughout the season. It gives up the ice time soaked up to about five minutes a day, or was a healthy basis before trading.

It took some time, but coach Gerard Gallant from Vegas Golden Knights put in and took advantage of Reaver's presence.

We do not have to repeat again for 10,000 in the playoffs in 2016, it was Sullivan's preference, then goalkeeper Roka Murray, against Marc-Andre Fleura, who effectively made the goalkeepers' choice in Penguins.

That Fleury, Cole and Reaves were great personalities and jokesterami, and Sullivan is an intense, serious coach, perhaps it is an interesting point of discussion for the next day and something to be observed in terms of future movements.

It burned penguins.

Kessel decided to play, even after the playoffs he was almost assured, but he was a nightmare in the playoffs even with strength. Penguins CEO Jim Rutherford provided protection to Kessel during a transparent, daily press conference, delineating his results in the cumulative effect of injuries.

Sullivan did not provide the same protection. In fact, Sullivan blew up Kessel's place.

Because Kessel decided not to talk to reporters after the season, Sullivan's rating became the official record.

"It was not significant, I can tell you," said Sullivan.

Treating the star Kessel probably came to an end. If he hopes to become a Penguin, he can start with concessions to the boss. Like the rest of us.

Pittsburgh Won Its First Stanley Cup

Twenty-seven years ago, the Pittsburgh penguins ended the Stanley Cup drought for two and a half decades in a decisive victory in Game 6 against the Northern Star of Minnesota.

Game 6 was played in the capital's sports center in Minneapolis on May 25, 1991. Pittsburgh came out at the beginning of the first period and never gave pressure from the struggling northern stars (the predecessor of the Dallas stars).

With nine seconds left on the power game, Ulf Samuelsson scored just two minutes in the first period to give the penguins an advantage. Shamuelsson's successful work eventually gave Pittsburgh a win in the game; The pens closed the North Stars in three play periods.

The Steelers, and their fans, can take a lesson from the Penguins

Watching the recent attempt at the playoffs of the Pittsburgh penguins, the efforts rudely shattered in front of the noisy house crowd in Steel City, I was amazed not only by the monumental challenge faced by the Runes to win three consecutive NHL championships, but also a subtle and sometimes decisive role, which luck can play in the quest team championship.

Just imagine, if the Steelers began preparing for the next season of 2018 on the wings of two consecutive league titles - exactly where the penguins stood at the beginning of this season of hockey. We can easily imagine overestimated rhetoric and harsh conversations about the new Steelers dynasty, which extends to the sports media of Pittsburgh. But this happens with human psychology - when we are at the top, we feel unstoppable and inclined to reject the obvious, but undesirable seeds of our inevitable fall from grace.

Kris Letang trade rumor update: still a bad idea for the Pens!

Mike Sullivan likes to say that his team plays best with a "defensive conscience". A quick glance at the numbers seems to indicate that during the entire 2017-18 season, penguins did not do as much as in the past.

They gave up 3.02 goals per game, their average season in the average for Sullivan. In October and November, the problem of dropping too many strange aspirations was a problem, and he returned to bite them again in the postseason, which ultimately led to their elimination of the playoffs.

When looking at the defenders and goalkeepers, the results were a bit mixed bag. There were many positive moments to take away, but, ultimately, the inability of penguins to keep the puck out of their own network is the main reason they no longer compete for the third consecutive Stanley Cup.

For example, this year the defenders remained remarkably healthy. Justin Schultz sat from 19 games due to injury, but Chris Lathang, Brian Dumulin and Olli Maatt missed five combinations between them.

Could the Pittsburgh Penguins sign John Tavares?

Recent NHL Rumors link the Pittsburgh Penguins to the future free agency center of John Tavares. Is it plausible to afford them?
The Pittsburgh Penguin quest for three consecutive Stanley Cups came to an end. It was a noble attempt, but eventually the Washington capitals received the best of them in six games in the Eastern Conference semifinal. CEO Jim Rutherford says there will be changes. The latest NHL rumors suggest that you can come to a huge, in the form of the soon emerging free agent center of John Tavares.

In his last article 31 Thoughts, Elliott Friedman notes this possibility.

Assuming that [Lou Lamoriello] really wins, it probably means a new step to save John Tavares. The captain did a very good job to stay under the radar ... Someone we do not expect will come out of nowhere to run for him. This is purely a guess, but Penguins GM Jim Rutherford is the guy with whom I could see the night when I figured out how to do it.

Penguins say goodbye at locker clean-out day

After keeping the list largely intact over the past few seasons, Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said Wednesday that there will be changes in the offseason.

The changes will not affect the core of the team, which saw its dreams of the third regular Stanley Cup on Monday in Washington, DC, but Rutherford said the change is necessary.

Our group discusses the risers and dildos of this postseason, along with the best trade deals, the final Stanley Cup finals that we want to see and much more.

There is only a shy championship, no doubt, it will be painful, but in fact it can be the best scenario for the expansion club.

Capitals, Jets push Penguins and Preds to the brink

Washington capitals do not need a history lesson. Neither Winnipeg Jets in this regard.

The capitals are well aware of their propensity for opportunity after the opportunity eludes, often at the hands of Sidney Crosby and the Pittsburgh penguins.

And just in case, when Alex Ovechkin and his teammates forget about their play-off mistakes, they only need to step in front of the camera or microphone, where the same questions are asked year after year.

Work that in the past was too big. Four previous times in the era of Ovechkin - including in 2009 and 2017 against Pittsburgh - "Capitals" won three games in the second round of the playoffs. This is the fourth one, which turned out to be elusive.

Penguins get Malkin back, Dumoulin plays vs. Capitals in Game 3

Displacement began as a disaster for the capitals of Washington. With less than two minutes left in the third period, the Pittsburgh penguins circled in front of the "Captains" goalkeeper Braden Holtby, who seemed to be playing games without an actual advantage for the person. The Washington center Niklas Backstrom finally pulled out the puck, and he and captain Alex Ovechkin skated together on the ice.

Penguins tortured Bakstrem and Ovechkin, the longest players in Washington, in the playoffs of the past. On Tuesday evening, Backstrom switched to Ovechkin on two-on-one, and after Ovechkin hit the mail with the first shot, he jumped in the rebound with the remains of only 1:07, raising the capital to 4-3 wins and 2 -1 in the best seven series of the second round. Washington - 4: 0 on the way to the playoffs of the Stanley Cup.

"I mean, if you want to succeed in the playoffs, you have to win on the road, and especially because they also won the first game," said Backstrom. "It's better to be 2-1 than 2-1. We just love the next game. "

Both units of special groups in Washington improved in the postseason. Power game with Ovechkin in the left circle on the front side is always dangerous, and the Capitals scored at least one goal with a male advantage in all but one of the nine playoff games. But it was murder in prison that was often for Washington. Entering the game on Tuesday, the team did not allow the goal in the power game from the 2nd game against Columbus in the first round, and in game 3 against Pittsburgh the abbreviated division of Capitals allowed Washington to settle down after a busy start.

Brett Connolly and TJ Oshi were called to offense violations during the first 10 minutes, but the Capitals killed their 23rd and 24th fines. The murder in Washington's penalty area took the 15th place in the regular season by 80.2 percent, and this led to 86.3 percent through the first eight games in the playoffs of the capital.

The Penguins' secondary scoring is quickly becoming a primary problem

If penguins issues it on Tuesday night, without giving up the goal in the first two minutes of Game 3, it is considered progress.

The capital first scored points in both games of this semi-final series of the East Conference and has not wasted much time. They recorded 17 seconds in 1-0 and 1: 26 in the second game in the first leg.

Sydney Crosby said, "I do not know if it is the same or not." "They expect them to come out with enthusiasm, it's pretty standard, the team is defeated and in the second game, especially at home, I expect them to be a little more patient. I have to find a way to come and resist it.

Penguins made a right turn on Thursday 's first game, scored first with a late goal, with 1-0 getting out of the first game. However, in the second leg, he won the top two in the second half and won 2-0 in the second leg and won 4-1.

Washington Capitals moments in their playoff rivalry with the Pittsburgh Penguins

In this series of Penguins-Capitals there can be fights that make Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin similar in that they are tied to the hip joint. They can not escape from each other, on the ice or in the form of a conversation. Sid and Ovi joined the league together in 2005. They are very different players, and they had a very excellent career Hall of Fame, but in a sense they are inseparable.

Ovechkin has 1112 career points; Crosby has 1116 people.

As they arrived in the league, the Crosby Penguins accumulated 1,273 points in the regular season standings; In the capitals of Ovechkin accumulated 1253 people.

It is tempting to blame the failures in the postseason period of the Capitals on Ovechkin ("he's a loser!") And the temptation to completely release him. Both would be reductive and lazy. But there is a fundamental difference between Crosby and Ovechkin, and this manifested itself in the spring.

Crosby is a hockey sponge. He always watches the games. He remains after practice at all seasons to turn his weaknesses into strengths, even when no one has seen weaknesses. He loves playing as a kid loves his favorite toy. He takes it everywhere. It concerns all its parts. He can not imagine a day without him.

Ovechkin is not like that. It is quite competitive on the ice, but it may seem to him indifferent. He was never known as an excellent practitioner. He often appears on the Caps site, unaware of what happened in the league the day before.

Every time the penguins take ice, they know that their captain has done everything. Crosby is not just the most complete player of his generation; he is the most complete player he could be. Tim Duncan, his Brady. His attitude forms the whole of his franchise.

The penguins are falling in line for Crosby. Capitals must fall in line around Ovechkin. This does not keep Capital from winning the Cup, but this makes them difficult. In the playoffs, the difference between winning and losing is so thin. The whole series can end with a bounce rebound on two-on-one, which happened only because someone finished the check and the puck jumped in the right direction, and even the winning team does not know exactly why she won. But it certainly helps to understand that you have done everything you could have done before that moment.

When the team repeatedly loses in the postseason, we often say - or imply - that they are chokers: the pressure has reached them. Sometimes it's true, and the story of the postseason in Capitals is filled with so many collapses that it's easy to label their choker.

More often, however, there are other reasons for repeated failures after the season, in sports: injuries, luck, hot goalkeeper, repeatedly stumbling upon a super-team. And sometimes what seems suffocating is actually a team that is exposed. This, like everything that happened to Ovechkin and the capitals. The caps were very similar to their star: good enough to dominate the winter, but not full enough to win in the spring.

And that brings us to the Caps-Pens series this year. The capitals are in a rare position: they have experience in the postseason and an advantage on the ice, but they still lost. Perhaps this puts them in the right mental place to finally defeat the penguins. Perhaps these other factors - injuries, luck, hot goalkeeper - are finally on their side. Maybe Ovechkin has changed, slightly, or maybe it does not matter. Maybe the capital can do this year. A lot of strange things happened, especially in the playoffs of hockey. I'm sure Ovechkin's team is confident that they will win. But the Crosby team knows that this is possible.

Penguins To Face Washington Capitals In Round 2 Of Playoffs

For the third consecutive postseason it will be the Washington capitals and the Pittsburgh penguins in the semifinals of the capital division.

"Here we go," - said the center Nicklas Backstrom after the "Capitals" liquidated the "Columbus Blue Jackets" in victory 6-3 in Game 6 on Monday evening. Penguins also won in six games, destroying the Philadelphia flyers on Sunday.

Backstrom was asked whether the Capitals enter this autopsy as an outsider, despite winning the Metro division.

"Yes, but it does not really matter if we are outsiders or not," he said. "They won the Stanley Cup two years in a row. Good for them. We will play in the second round against them. It will be fun".

In 2009, the penguins won an epic series of seven games, in which the famous game 2 was presented, in which Alex Ovechkin and Crosby played tricks. The penguins captured game 7 in D.C., 6-2. In 2016, penguins replaced Capital in six games after losing the game 1 on the road in overtime. In 2017, rivals again went to seven games, and the winner of the "Penguins" won the game 7 in Washington with a score of 2: 0.

For this edition of the post-season rivalry, the capitals will again have their home ice. They will have Ovechkin and Backstrom, Evgeny Kuznetsov and goalkeeper Braden Holtby, as in the last two playoffs. This leads to an obvious question: how can this be otherwise for capitals, when so many seem strangely familiar?

"We knew that the chances were that we would need to go through them at some point. We were well prepared. We used a year to improve our team, "said Holtby, who was impressive in creating 35 saves in Game 6.

Winger T.J. Oshima believes that Holtby is locked up, and the defense improved before him, this time the result may be different.

"Defensively, we understand better the correct reading a little. Defensively, we are a bit more responsible. I think that in previous years our line was rather complicated. It seemed like we somehow left with good players reading, but at times Pittsburgh can use it when you're not sharp at your own end, with how they see the ice. I think that we are a little more responsible at our own end, and I hope this can deter their crime, "said Oshi,

Over the past two seasons, Washington and Pittsburgh were set to collide in the second round due to the NHL playoffs format, what Captain coach Barry Trotz complained about in the NHL National game earlier this season.

"I think the format worked well and I'm not going to go against the league, but when you win the Presidents Trophy, you will not need to play the second [best] team in the second round," Trotz said.

If the Stanley Cup playoffs were replaced after the first round, the penguins (100 points) faced Tempa Bay Lightning (113 points), and in Capital (105 points) would face the winner of the Boston Bruins (112 points) and Toronto Maple leaves (105 points).

But this is not a format. Bracket says it's "Capitals against penguins," again. And Ovechkin said he was ready.

HELLO PENGUINS FANS

HELLO EVERY ONE, I'M COMMING!

2018 NHL PLAYOFFS, Guentzel, Penguins advance to second round!