Pens Tidbits

[SCMom]

Malkin Leads Penguins Past Red Wings


Sunday, 10.03.2010 / 11:12 PM / Features
By Jason Seidling
DETROIT – The Penguins closed the books on a solid preseason campaign Sunday night by beating one of their archrivals, the Detroit Red Wings, 5-2, at Joe Louis Arena.

Penguins 5, Red Wings 2

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Evgeni Malkin led the way for the Penguins, scoring a goal in the third period and adding three helpers for a four-point night.

Malkin wasn’t the only Penguin flying high in the exhibition-finale as Mike Comrie (2G), Zbynek Michalek (2A), Alex Goligoski (1G-1A) and Chris Kunitz (1G-1A) also posted multiple-point nights.

Pavel Datsyuk and Mike Modano scored for Detroit.

Pittsburgh scored on each of their first two shots and jumped out to a 3-1 lead after 20 minutes en route to victory.

Comrie opening the scoring for the Penguins, who were playing without the services of the injured Sidney Crosby, Arron Asham and Brooks Orpik, when a Michalek shot from the top of the near circle deflected off his shoulder and into the net behind Detroit netminder Chris Osgood just 4:19 into the game.

Kunitz increased that lead to 2-0 3:21 later when he finished off a nifty setup from Mark Letestu by one-timing a shot into an empty cage behind a prone Osgood off the rush.

Datsyuk got Detroit within one when he converted a Henrik Zetterberg miss off the end boards behind Marc-Andre Fleury at 10:24 of the opening frame.

That would be one of just two pucks that eluded Fleury, as the Penguins goaltender turned in yet another quality effort with 22 saves.

RELATED ARTICLE: Comrie's Strong Preseason Continues With Two Goals Versus Wings >>

Fleury finished the exhibition season with a perfect 3-0 record, stopping 88 of the 94 shots he faced for a .936 save percentage.

Comrie regained Pittsburgh’s two-goal advantage when he poked home a Goligoski rebound at 19:46 of the first period for a power-player marker that gave the Penguins a 3-1 lead.

The Penguins tacked on a fourth goal in the second period when Goligoski took a Michalek pass at the left point and ripped a laser past Osgood, who never saw the shot thanks to the presence of 6-foot-4 Eric Tangradi in his grill providing a screen.

Malkin finished off a spectacular preseason which saw him tie Letestu and Goligoski for the team-scoring lead with six points (3G-3A) when he picked up the Penguins’ final goal 2:43 into the final frame.

Malkin was all over the ice against Detroit, and he was rewarded for his efforts when he stole the puck off the Wings Jonathan Ericsson below the near faceoff dot, walked in and beat Osgood on a play that was very similar to the opening goal Maxime Talbot scored in Game 7 of the 2009 Stanley Cup Final.

Modano rounded out the scoring summary by slamming home a loose puck less than a minute after Malkin’s tally.

With the 5-1 preseason record under their belts, the Penguins must now spend the next four days getting their walking wounded back healthy as they prepare to open the 2010-11 regular season on Thursday night in the first-ever home opener at CONSOL Energy Center against the Philadelphia Flyers at 7 p.m.

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=539420

[SCMom]

Fedotenko signs with Rangers


Monday, 10.04.2010 / 1:00 PM / NHL Free Agency 2010
NHL.com
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Left wing Ruslan Fedotenko, who had been with the New York Rangers on a tryout contract, has signed with the team for the 2010-11 season. Terms of the deal were not released, but according to Newsday, it's a one-year, $1 million contract.

Fedotenko led the Rangers in preseason scoring with 7 points in five games. He also had a plus-5 rating.

Fedotenko is coming off the worst season of his NHL career in 2009-10, when he had just 11 goals, 30 points and a minus-17 rating in 80 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

In nine NHL seasons, Fedotenko has 150 goals and 308 points in 677 games with the Flyers, Lightning, Islanders and Penguins. He's a two-time Stanley Cup champion, having won in 2004 with the Lightning and 2009 with the Penguins. He had 12 goals in 22 playoff games for Tampa Bay, including both goals in the 2-1 win against the Calgary Flames in Game 7 of the Cup Final.


http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=539468

[SCMom]

Guerin released by Flyers


Monday, 10.04.2010 / 12:26 PM / News
NHL.com
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The Philadelphia Flyers have released veteran forward Bill Guerin from his tryout contract.

Guerin, 39, had been skating with the Flyers in hopes of extending his career to 19 seasons.

In five preseason games, Guerin had 1 goal, seven shots and a minus-2 rating. He also had missed time with an elbow injury.

In 78 games last season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he had 21 goals and 45 points.

Guerin is the only player in NHL history to score at least 20 goals with seven different teams. In 1,263 NHL games with the Devils, Oilers, Bruins, Stars, Blues, Sharks, Islanders and Penguins, he has 429 goals and 856 points.

The Flyers also sent seven players to their AHL affiliate, the Adirondack Phantoms -- goalie Johan Backlund; defensemen Erik Gustafsson and Marc-Andre Bourdon; and forwards Mike Testwuide, Ben Holmstrom, Jon Kalinski and David Laliberte.

http://www.nhl.com/ice/news.htm?id=539459


I hope he finds another team to play with...but thankfully we don't have to see him in prison orange!

[SCMom]

Crosby, Orpik Practice; Expect to Play in Thursday's Opener


Monday, 10.04.2010 / 12:40 PM / Features
By Sam Kasan
Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and defenseman Brooks Orpik, both of whom have missed some practices and preseason games with injuries, were back at practice Monday at CONSOL Energy Center, and both expect to be in the lineup when Pittsburgh opens the regular season Thursday against Philadelphia in the first official game in the new arena. "I feel better; those couple of days (off) were good," said Crosby, who has been dealing with a hip injury. "I was glad to go through a full practice.

"I'm optimistic (of playing Thursday). Hopefully, I won't have to deal with it anymore."
"I felt better as the practice went on," said Orpik, who suffered a groin strain. "Thursday won't be a problem at all. It definitely needed a few days off to get back to this point. Hopefully, there are no more setbacks."

"We’ve managed their aches and pains and hoped that they would be able to get back on the ice," head coach Dan Bylsma said. "I haven’t talked to a trainer about how they did on the ice, but it looked like they were skating well."

Crosby and Orpik missed the Penguins' last two preseason game.


Brooks Orpik (left) and Sidney Crosby (right)

The status of Arron Asham, who suffered an upper-body injury at Chicago Oct. 1, is still not known for the opener against his former team, the Flyers.

"Arron is seeing our doctors in Pittsburgh (Monday), so he’s being re-evaluated on his status," Bylsma said. "We know he wants to play against Philly."

Updated: 1:23 PM

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=539465

[SCMom]

Penguins Assign F Jeffrey to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton


Monday, 10.04.2010 / 11:17 AM / News
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins have assigned forward Dustin Jeffrey to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Ray Shero.

The transaction leaves 29 players on the Penguins’ roster: 17 forwards; 10 defensemen; and two goaltenders

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=539446

[SCMom]

Penguins Report: Practice 10/4/10


Monday, 10.04.2010 / 9:26 AM / Penguins Report
By Sam Kasan
MONDAY’S WRAP:

• Sidney Crosby (12:40 PM) and Brooks Orpik (12:33 PM) both practiced Monday and each expects to play Thursday in the season opener against Philadelphia.
• Arron Asham (1:26 PM) is being re-evaluated Monday; while Ryan Craig skated (9:30 AM) for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury Sept. 25.
• Dustin Jeffrey was sent to WBS (11:31 AM).
• Practice pics (11:47 AM).
• The lines and D are starting to come together as the season draws near (11:34 AM).
• Dan Bylsma discussed cuts, the power play and faceoff strategies (1:46 PM).
• PensTV also chatted with Zbynek Michalek and Mike Comrie (2:21 PM).
• Some interesting stats from the preseason (2:03 PM).
• The Penguins ran an awesome drill Monday (12:06 PM).
• CONSOL Energy Center is gearing up for the home opener and official unveiling (10:49 AM).

Details, pics and videos here...http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=539442

[SCMom]

Pittsburgh Penguins Elite Squad Captures Championship


Monday, 10.04.2010 / 4:30 PM / Features
By Jason Seidling
The Pittsburgh Penguins Elite Team, a local travel squad comprised of the top amateur players from Pittsburgh at the 1996 birth year, recently opened up its season by capturing the title in the first of five ’96 Super Series held throughout the season. The tournament was hosted by the Tampa Bay Lightning, Sept. 24-26.

The Pittsburgh Penguins Elite, a joint venture between the Pittsburgh Hornets and Amateur Penguins, is coached by Penguins Owner & Chairman Mario Lemieux.

The Pittsburgh Penguins Elite secured the championship in dramatic fashion Sept. 26, defeating the hosting Tampa Bay Lightning squad, 5-4, in overtime on a Davis McNulty goal.

The win gave the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite a 4-1 overall tournament record, and allowed the team to avenge an earlier loss in the tournament to the Lightning.

During the round-robin portion of the tournament, the Pittsburgh Penguins Elite posted victories over the Dallas Stars Elite 96 (4-1) and 96 Syracuse Nationals (3-2), while dropping a 7-3 decision to the Lightning.

Pittsburgh Elite advanced to the championship matchup by defeating the Stars Elite a second time, 3-2, in the semifinal round.

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=539517

[SCMom]

Martin Adjusts To Penguins Up-Tempo System


Monday, 10.04.2010 / 4:00 PM / Features
By Jason Seidling
Changing teams is never a seamless transition for players when they do it for the first time like Paul Martin did this summer.

Related Articles

Crosby, Orpik Practice; Expect to Play in Thursday's Opener
Penguins Report: Practice 10/4/10
Comrie's Strong Preseason Continues With Two Goals Versus Wings
Malkin Leads Penguins Past Red Wings

But the 29-year-old Minneapolis, Minn. native feels as if exchanging his New Jersey Devils sweater for a Penguins jersey has gone very smoothly during his first month in the black-and-gold.

“It is different than what I am used to, but each game it is becoming more natural with what I am doing as opposed to thinking what I should be doing,” Martin said. “I feel like with each passing game I keep getting better.”

Long regarded as one of the top two-way skating defensemen in the game, Martin joined the Penguins as an unrestricted free agent on July 1 following six seasons playing in the Devils’ defensive-minded system.

After four exhibition games and several weeks of playing in head coach Dan Bylsma’s aggressive, up-tempo system in Pittsburgh, Martin is excited to play a more offensive style of attack, something he believes coincides well with the strengths he brings to the table.

“Some of the things systems-wise are a little bit more aggressive, especially defensively the way we get out of our zone,” Martin said. “Offensively, we have a couple different forechecks where we can create some offense by using the D. I’ve also noticed that we really like to use the D coming up the ice on the breakout, which really plays to our strength because all of the D here can skate very well and move the puck.”

Martin feels as though being allowed to help spearhead the attack on the breakout will allow his game to thrive.

“If you are able to get the puck broke out to the weak side, the D can have some room and get a good look up the ice to make a play,” Martin said. “I think (against Chicago and Detroit) we did that well. We’ll be able to use that breakout more against some teams than others to get out of the zone quicker.”

While nothing has been written in stone yet, especially with the Penguins having to battle the injury bug for a majority of camp, it appears as though Martin will open the season paired with fellow swift-skating, two-way defender Kris Letang.

Martin and assistant coach Todd Reirden, who runs the team’s blueliners cited the emphasis on puck-moving defensemen following the lockout as a reason for the pairing.

“Neither is a strict offensive player,” Reirden said. “Those are the kind of guy we want to have in our organization because we want to defend a certain way – and a lot of that involves using our feet and using our sticks. They are both similar players.”

“In the past, people always thought that you needed to have a big stay-at-home guy along with an offensive guy,” Martin said. “When you pair two guys who can do both of those things, especially when they are comfortable with each other and can read off one another, it creates more opportunities to get out of your zone quicker and be more productive offensively.”

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=539507

[SCMom]

Mario Mosaic Revealed Today (Mario's Birthday!)

Check out the pics here...http://penguins.nhl.com/club/gallery...id=DL|PIT|home

[SCMom]

Penguins Trim Training Camp Roster By 2 Players
Wednesday, 10.06.2010 / 8:45 AM / News
Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins have trimmed their training camp roster by two players, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Ray Shero.

Forward Ryan Craig and defenseman Andrew Hutchinson were placed on waivers. Both will be assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League if they clear waivers by Wednesday at noon.

(Update: both players cleared waivers and were assigned to WBS).

The transaction leaves 27 players on the Penguins’ roster: 16 forwards; nine defensemen; and two goaltenders.

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=539671


12:30 PM:
Head coach Dan Bylsma just said that defenseman Simon Despres will be returned to his junior team, Saint John of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

"He's a great player and we think he can play in the National Hockey League right now," Bylsma said. "For our team and opening night roster, he's not going to be there. We have to decide what's best for his development. ... He's going to return to his junior team."

Despres' assignment leaves the Penguins with 26 players on their roster. Since three will be placed on injured lists, Pittsburgh has parred down to the NHL mandated 23.

http://penguins.nhl.com/club/news.htm?id=539672