Bob Frid-USA TODAY Sports Catch up on the latest hockey headlines in today’s Pens Points. Here are your Pens Points for this Thursday morning... This is the time of year when we look around the league and examine how former Pittsburgh Penguins players are faring during the Stanley Cup playoffs. [PensBurgh] The Penguins may be out of the postseason, but the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are ready to fight the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in a best-of-three series. Here are a few players to watch during the series. [Penguins] “It didn’t go as well as I would have liked to,” forward Rickard Rakell sai ..read more

Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images We set some over/unders for the Pittsburgh Penguins core group before this season. This is how they (and you) did in getting to them. Before the start of the 2023-24 NHL season we posted some over/under numbers regarding the Pittsburgh Penguins core group of players — Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Jake Guentzel and Bryan Rust. Now that the season is complete, let’s take a look back at how we did. Sidney Crosby: Over/Under 95.5 points How you voted: Under (51 percent) How Crosby did: 94 points (under) That is almost as close as you can get ..read more

Photo by Lawrence Scott/Getty Images The season is over in Pittsburgh, but many old friends are chasing the Cup elsewhere this year Thatcher Demko’s injury in Game 1 for the Vancouver Canucks suddenly put Casey DeSmith back in the playoff spotlight. The last time DeSmith was in it was 2022, the Pens’ starter in Tristan Jarry was injured ahead of the playoffs and it would be DeSmith to suffer an injury in Game 1 — leading to the brief Spicy Pork guy playing hero for a night (before quickly turning into a pumpkin). Reports are hitting social media that although Demko was officially termed with ..read more

Photo by Mark LoMoglio/NHLI via Getty Images A full week removed from from the Penguins elimination, Pens Points examines where everything stands. Last Wednesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins were preparing for its final game of the 2023-24 season with the knowledge they had already been eliminated from playoff contention the night before. Now a full week removed from the end of the season, discussion flips to what lies ahead in the offseason while we still dissect that season that was. Pens Points... When your goalie scores a goal, that is automatically your best goal of the season, regardless of ..read more

Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images The money was donated as part of the ‘I’m Score for Kids’ initiative. Evgeni Malkin’s ‘I’m Score for Kids’ initiative has helped donate nearly $100,000 towards the Ronald McDonald House charity. Malkin’s campaign is based on a donation of $710 for each point he scores and this past season his 67 points brought a total of $47,750 and McDonald’s matched that number, bringing the grand total to $95,140. Evgeni Malkin and local McDonald's restaurants have donated $95,140 to @RMHCPghMgtn as part of Malkin's 'I’m Score for Kids' initiative. That makes a grand t ..read more

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports Tristan Jarry’s historic empty-netter ranks No. 1 as the Penguins rank the team’s five best goals of the season. With postseason interviews winding down, the Penguins are bidding a final farewell to the 2023-24 campaign by ranking Pittsburgh’s top five goals of the season. Here’s a rundown of the five best Penguins goals of 2023-24, according to the team, as well as full clips of each tally. We're counting down the best goals of the 2023.24 season pic.twitter.com/aFui6dMVSu — Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) April 22, 2024 No. 5: Bryan Rust scores two overti ..read more

Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports Catch up on the latest hockey headlines in today’s Pens Points. Here are your Pens Points for this Tuesday morning... Contract extension talks and a shift back to international hockey are on the docket for Sidney Crosby this offseason. [PensBurgh] For their impending playoff run, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have added four young players: Ville Koivunen, Cooper Foster, Owen Pickering and Emil Pieniniemi. [WBSPenguins.com] The Penguins are expected to have 20 pending free agents. Here is a look at each free agent and where they may stand heading into the ..read more

Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Contract extension talks and shift back to international hockey is on the docket for Sidney Crosby this offseason It may feel far off but July 1st hits exactly ten weeks to the day from today. It’s a significant date in the hockey world for the start of free agency and the changing of the calendar that officially allows contracts ending in 2024-25 to be extended. Sidney Crosby is in that category and last week at Penguins breakaway day both the Penguin captain and general manager offered some general thoughts about it. Kyle Dubas knows ..read more

Dennis Schneidler-USA TODAY Sports Here are some postseason Pens Points for your Monday morning. Here are some postseason Pens Points for your Monday morning... The 2023-24 regular season proved how unpredictable and chaotic the NHL can be. Look back at these PensBurgh season predictions, and have a good chuckle (or a cry) at how things played out in the months following this story. [PensBurgh] A Ron Hextall-era prospect has agreed to terms with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Tristan Broz, the team’s 2021 second-round draft choice, was signed to an entry-level deal over the weekend. [PensBurgh] The ..read more

Photo by Gregory Fisher/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images Some not bad, some show how unpredictable the NHL season can be Making NHL predictions is a lesson in humility when you circle back and look at them six months later when the season is over and the dust settles. Even the best models or individual predictions are considered a success when coming within an average of 10 points of how it plays out, so we all deserve a little grace in remembering that. With that disclaimer out of the way, it’s time to see what went as expected and what unfolded that wasn’t on anyone’s bingo card. (That’s a p ..read more