Crosby Returns!

He’s baaaaaaaack

Game 2 of the Pittsburgh Penguins vs the New York Islanders just got a little more interesting.

The Penguins announced this morning captain Sidney Crosby, who has been out with a broken jaw since March 30th, will make his return to the lineup tonight. He missed the last 12 games of the regular season and the 1st game of the playoff series.

“I’m cleared to play tonight,” Crosby said. “I’m excited to get back in there and play in the playoffs.

“(The doctor) was around and I wasn’t sure if he would give me the OK or even consider it. I’m happy that he did and happy to be back.”

Speculation started mounting that he was ready to return when, instead of practicing with the spare line at practice, Crosby was reunited with his usual linemates Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz. He also took a spot on the first power play unit.

This isn’t the first time Crosby is making a comeback against the Islanders. We all remember what happened last time he did.

Puck drops for game 2 at 7:00pm. Let’s Go Pens!

The Perks Of Being A Wall, Flower

The Pittsburgh Penguins went into game 1 against the New York Islanders without Sidney Crosby or Brooks Orpik and managed to come out with a 5-0 win.

Beau Bennett opened up the scoring, scoring a power play goal. He was the first rookie to score the opening goal of the playoffs since Jordan Staal did against Ottawa in 2007.

Pascal Dupuis scored his first of 2 after that, and the Pens took the 2-0 lead into the second.

Kris Letang scored the third goal early into the second period, and less than a minute later, Pascal Dupuis scored again.

Tanner Glass sealed the deal by scoring the fifth goal. Yes, Tanner Glass.

Marc-Andre Fleury got the first shutout of the playoffs, and the 6th shutout of his playoff career, tying Tom Barrasso for the team record.

It wasn’t all fun though. James Neal took a hit and a slash from Travis Hamonic, played one more shift, than didn’t return for part of the second and the whole third period. Then near the end of the game, Jussi Jokinen was hit my Marty Reasoner. He left the game, but with only a few minutes left, it isn’t clear what the extent of the injury is.

This was a great effort, but let’s not get overly cocky. We need to win 3 more to make it to the next round.

The next game is on Friday, May 3rd at 7:00PM. Let’s Go Pens!

Crosby Out For Game 1

The Pittsburgh Penguins go up against the New York Islanders in game one of the Stanley Cup playoffs tonight. However, a couple of familiar faces won’t be playing.

Sidney Crosby, who has been out since March 30 after being hit with a puck and shattering his jaw, will not play tonight. He says that while his doctor thinks everything looks good, he still isn’t ready to give him the green light for full contact.

Brooks Orpik, who has been out with an undisclosed lower body injury, also won’t be playing tonight. He didn’t give any info on what was wrong with him.

With these two out of the lineup, Pens will have to make do with Evgeni Malkin, James Neal, Jarome Iginla, Kris Letang, Marc-Andre Fleury, Pascal Dupuis, Chris Kunitz, and Brenden Morrow. The horror.

Puck drops at 7:30 tonight. Let’s Go Pens!

What Could Have Been- Pens vs Isles

Not tonight

Today would have been the Penguins’ home opener against the New York Islanders. Obviously, it won’t be happening because our dear commissioner thinks a lockout is a great idea.

So, what will we be missing? For starters, we’re missing Sidney Crosby’s first home opener in about a year. When you hear about just how hard he worked out this summer, and how he’s in the best shape of his career, it stings all the more. What could he have done? Maybe a couple of goals and assists tonight. And what about the rest of the season? If he remained healthy, who knows how many goals and points The Kid could have put up.

It would also be the first time in a year we would have started the season with both Sid and Evgeni Malkin. Last year’s Art Ross winner and league MVP is finally 100% healthy and took his talents to the KHL. What could he have done this year? Would he have repeated the Art Ross trophy? Would he have scored 50 goals again this year? And to see him and Crosby on the ice together for more than just a handful of games would have been just beautiful.

There are so many more questions that we have. How would Brandon Sutter fit on the Pens? Would Kris Letang finally put up a Norris trophy worthy season? Would Marc-Andre Fleury recover from the disaster of a playoff series against the Flyers and become the goalie we all knew and loved? How would our penalty kill look without Jordan Staal?

Will these questions be answered? Who knows. Let’s hope there’s a season this year.

Game Day #30: Penguins @ Islanders

After an incredibly disappointing start to the season, the Islanders have managed to turn things around and are currently on a hot streak. Playing the Penguins will only be their next step in proving they are growing as a team.

Game Notes:

• The Islanders injury list is almost as long as ours. Injuries include goaltender Rick DiPietro, former Penguin Mark Eaton, and promising forward Nino Niederreiter.
• Matt Moulson is leading the pack with eight goals in his last 11 games.
• The Pens and Islanders won’t meet again until the end of the season in March.

Where to Watch/Listen:

The puck drops at 7:00 PM (EST).

ROOT Sports (Pittsburgh), Penguins Radio (Online).

Game Day #21: Islanders @ Crosby

HE'S BACK.

Game Day #12: Islanders @ Penguins

The Penguins host the Islanders in a rematch tonight!

On Tuesday, the hockey world was buzzing about the Penguins facing off against the New York Islanders. After a string of brutal–to say the least–games last season, everyone wanted to know who would be punching who. Fortunately, the Penguins avoided distractions, played a clean game, and came out on top.

Tonight…Round Two!

Game Notes:

• Keep your fingers crossed that the Hockey Gods will let Evgeni Malkin play more than one consecutive game.
• The Penguins will be wearing purple jerseys in support of Hockey Fights Cancer during warm-ups tonight. Snazzy!
• If you didn’t get James Neal on your fantasy team at the draft, you can probably kiss your hopes of a trade goodbye…

Where to Watch/Listen:

ROOT Sports (Pittsburgh), Penguins Radio (Online)

Kunitz has this covered, guys.

Game Day #11: Penguins @ Islanders

Oh, well this is embarrassing.