By John Solomon
How the government's punishing of the exposure of official wrongdoing can linger for years
The Penguins should feel confident — and a bit fortunate — to escape the relentless Islanders. New York dominated for long stretches in the series, using its speed to fluster Pittsburgh's talented but sometimes plodding roster of veterans.
Pittsburgh Penguins coach Dan Bylsma insists he still believes in Marc-Andre Fleury, that the issues for the reeling Penguins go far beyond the struggles of their Stanley Cup-winning goaltender.
Budding New York Islanders star John Tavares anticipated the open space he found so easily during the regular season to be whittled away by the Pittsburgh Penguins in their opening-round playoff series.
A year ago, Brandon Saad was just a footnote when he made his postseason debut for Chicago against the Phoenix Coyotes. He skated for just over 10 minutes in two games and picked up his first career NHL point on an assist, but the Blackhawks were eliminated in the first round.
Sidney Crosby's smile betrays a jagged ridgeline of enamel along his bottom row of teeth, evidence of the extensive damage inflicted to Crosby's jaw by a wayward shot a month ago.
Pittsburgh Penguins star Sidney Crosby skated before the team's practice Monday.
Crosby, the NHL's leading scorer, was struck in the face with a puck in the first period of the Penguins' 2-0 win on Saturday. The team said Crosby also had "major dental work" and will have more work done later in the week.
Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin will return to the lineup Monday night against the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Oates and Bylsma sat next to each other on bus rides and plane trips. On the road they flew into a city and found a coffee shop to visit and talk hockey. Back then the Pittsburgh Penguins coach saw a future behind the bench for Oates, who is just 11 games into his tenure with the Washington Capitals.
Ovechkin has no even-strength goals (and just two power-play ones total) through the Caps' first 10 games. It's a topic of conversation because he's a two-time MVP but especially so at Consol Energy Center where Ovechkin vs. Crosby is in the spotlight.
He changed up his lines again Wednesday in preparation for Thursday night's game against the Pittsburgh Penguins. This time Marcus Johansson joined Nicklas Backstrom and Troy Brouwer on one line, while Alex Ovechkin remained on right wing alongside Wojtek Wolski and Mike Ribeiro.
This one had all the makings of a Washington Capitals-Pittsburgh Penguins Classic. Penguins coach Dan Bylsma worried about Sunday's game being an afterthought with the Super Bowl hours later, but with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom all on the ice at Verizon Center, it was the center of attention in the hockey world.
Vokoun was handed the No. 1 goaltender job with the Washington Capitals last season, but because of injuries, the coaching change and more, the season didn't go as planned.
Anthony Stolarz tried to drink in the biggest moment of his life.
The Vancouver Canucks carry the NHL's best record into the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second year in a row. The New York Rangers are on top of the Eastern Conference for the first time since they won it all in 1994.
"We started with 30 (teams) then 16 and now we're down to eight," Bylsma said. "And now we're moving on focusing on winning the next four."
"We brought Tomas Vokoun in to play big games for us," Bylsma said.
