Seth Rorabaugh stories, Page 15

Pittsburgh Penguins rookie defenseman Owen Pickering was absent from practice Thursday in Cranberry because of an unspecified illness. He was scratched from a 5-4 home win against the Vancouver Canucks on Wednesday for the same reason. After Thursday’s practice, coach Mike Sullivan indicated Pickering is still being evaluated, and it...

Mike Sullivan doesn’t believe in the significance of Thanksgiving. To be clear, he’s totally cool with the holiday. Turkey, pumpkin pie, family, football, the whole deal. He digs it. But the Pittsburgh Penguins head coach doesn’t put much weight into the notion that has become popular in recent years that...

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Valtteri Puustinen cleared waivers Wednesday and was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. That transaction allowed the team to activate forward Blake Lizotte from injured reserve prior to Wednesday’s home game against the Vancouver Canucks. Lizotte has missed the previous five games due to a...

It’s not an apples-to-apples comparison. Maybe apples-to-hot dogs. But the Pittsburgh Penguins traded for a right winger named Phil who is looking for a fresh start. In 2015, they brought in All-Star forward Phil Kessel, and that maneuver led to two Stanley Cup banners as well as countless memes about...

Everything came down to a one-on-one confrontation Monday in Cranberry. Forward Matt Nieto vs. goaltender Tristan Jarry. Nieto attacked. Jarry reacted. Nieto scored. As Nieto skated toward the left-wing boards to celebrate, half of the Penguins roster — all clad in yellow practice jerseys — mobbed Nieto to celebrate winning...

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic didn’t have to ruminate a great deal when asked how to describe his team last week. “Inconsistent is probably a good word, a good way to describe it,” Nedeljkovic said in Cranberry on Wednesday. “Game to game, period to period, sometimes even shift to shift....

Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic is scheduled to start Saturday’s home game against the Utah Hockey Club at PPG Paints Arena. Coach Mike Sullivan announced Nedeljkovic’s status approximately two hours before the opening faceoff. In 10 games this season, Nedeljkovic has a 3-3-3 record, a 3.17 goals against average and...

Coming home is always special for Logan Cooley. It’s even more special when his mother, Cathy, offers a grand feast in their West Mifflin abode. Such was the case on Friday as Cooley, a forward with the Utah Hockey Club, had a day off before facing the Pittsburgh Penguins on...

Mike Sullivan has directed a blunt missive to his team in recent days. “We’ve got to be harder to play against,” the coach said Wednesday. That may leave some room for interpretation, but in practice Thursday, it translated into a physically demanding session. Players hit the ice — literally —...

It was a pretty sedate offseason for the Pittsburgh Penguins this past summer. After splurging on the likes of defensemen Ryan Graves and Erik Karlsson the year prior, management mostly operated with a frugal budget and looked for the clearance rack of dented cans or torn boxes in the rear...

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Kevin Hayes is closing in on a potential return to the lineup as he recovers from an undisclosed injury that has sidelined him for the past seven games. On Thursday in Cranberry, Hayes skated in practice in a full capacity. He engaged in full contact but did...

The Pittsburgh Penguins had only 14 players on the ice for practice Wednesday in Cranberry. It wasn’t an optional practice. Specific players — i.e. the ones who have played the most minutes recently — were told to stay off the ice for what was termed as a “recovery day,” a day...

Tristan Jarry was booed before the game even began Tuesday. When the Pittsburgh Penguins’ starting lineup was announced over the public address system at PPG Paints Arena, there was a mix of cheers and jeers as Jarry’s name was read. And on the occasions he played a puck dumped into...

Pittsburgh Penguins assistant coach Mike Vellucci will be away from the team for approximately a week after undergoing an undisclosed medical procedure that was labeled as minor. Head coach Mike Sullivan announced Vellucci’s status following practice in Cranberry on Monday. Vellucci did not participate in the practice session. The procedure...

Over the span of five days, the Pittsburgh Penguins’ active roster saw a considerable decline. In age. When they took the ice for a 7-1 home loss to the Dallas Stars on Nov. 11, they had an average age of a ripe 30.2. By the time they dispatched the San...

Mike Sullivan professes a base consideration when he crafts each and every lineup he writes out as coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. “Which guy gives us the best chance to win,” Sullivan said as recently as Nov. 10. “That is what pro sports is all about. Performance is always going...

Jack St. Ivany reached a minor milestone Friday, but he wasn’t aware it was approaching when the topic was brought up earlier in the week. The right-handed defenseman set a career high in games played when he dressed for his 15th contest of the season Friday, a 6-2 road loss...