Undying Pursuit. [NHL 20]

[GoldenJet]

TOTAL EMBARASSMENT
Penguins lose to third straight to bottom-feeding Red Wings.


ABOVE: The Penguins traveled to HockeyTown and dropped a rare third straight game.

Pittsburgh Penguins at Detroit Red Wings
Dec 7, 2019 1 2 3 F PIT (22-7-1) 0 0 0 0 DET (8-19-4) 2 2 0 4 Three Stars Detroit: Dylan Larkin - Center 1 goal, 1 assist Detroit: Jonathan Bernier - Goalie 17 saves Detroit: Dennis Cholowski - Defenseman 2 assists	Team Stats Comparison PIT DET Shots on Goal 17 29 Hits 21 7 Faceoffs Won-Lost 18-14 14-18 Penalty Minutes 10:00 04:00 Power Plays Converted 0 1 Power Play Opportunities 2 5 Time on Attack 04:12 05:41
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD DET 08:54 - Dylan Larkin (12) Assisted By: Dennis Cholowski & Filip Hronek DET 18:47 - Darren Helm (4) Assisted By: Filip Hronek & Dylan Larkin SECOND PERIOD DET 02:44 - Anthony Mantha (9) Assisted By: Tyler Bertuzzi DET 17:47 - Valterri Filppula (11) Assisted By: Dennis Cholowski
Pittsburgh Penguins - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Matt Murray 26 22 85% 4.00 Tristan Jarry 3 3 100% 0.00
Detroit Red Wings - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Jonathan Bernier 17 17 100% 0.00

[GoldenJet]

BACK ON TOP
Pens avoid further spiral with decisive victory over Montreal.


ABOVE: The Penguins returned home with a new sense of resolve, defeating the Montreal Canadiens.

Montreal Canadiens at Pittsburgh Penguins
Dec 10, 2019 1 2 3 F MON (14-15-2) 1 0 1 2 PIT (23-7-1) 3 0 0 3 Three Stars Pittsburgh: Tristan Jarry - Goalie 31 saves Pittsburgh: Evgeni Malkin - Center 1 goal Pittsburgh: Patrick Marleau - Center 1 goal	Team Stats Comparison MON PIT Shots on Goal 33 34 Hits 9 17 Faceoffs Won-Lost 87-9 9-27 Penalty Minutes 04:00 06:00 Power Plays Converted 1 1 Power Play Opportunities 3 2 Time on Attack 06:57 05:37
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD MON 08:26 - Tomas Tatar (13) Assisted By: Brendan Gallagher & Max Domi PIT 10:28 - Jared McCann (4) Assisted By: Conor Sheary & John Marino PIT 13:30 - Patrick Marleau (4) Assisted By: Patric Hornqvist PIT 17:00 - Evgeni Malkin (17) Assisted By: Kris Letang & Sidney Crosby THIRD PERIOD MON 05:17 - Joel Armia (12) Assisted By: Nick Suzuki & Jonathan Drouin
Montreal Canadiens - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Carey Price 34 31 91% 3.00
Pittsburgh Penguins - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Tristan Jarry 33 31 94% 2.00

[GoldenJet]

TOTAL COLLAPSE
Columbus scores eye-popping seven goals in third period to edge Pens.


ABOVE: Riley Nash of the Columbus Blue Jackets celebrates his third period goal.

Columbus Blue Jackets at Pittsburgh Penguins
Dec 12, 2019 1 2 3 F CBJ (12-16-3) 0 1 7 8 PIT (23-8-1) 1 2 3 6 Three Stars Columbus: Pierre-Luc Dubois - Center 1 goal, 2 assists Columbus: Riley Nash - Right Wing 1 goal, 2 assists Columbus: Oliver Bjorkstrand - Left Wing 2 goals	Team Stats Comparison CBJ PIT Shots on Goal 33 30 Hits 11 15 Faceoffs Won-Lost 21-18 18-21 Penalty Minutes 07:00 22:00 Power Plays Converted 3 0 Power Play Opportunities 4 1 Time on Attack 08:20 06:57
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD PIT 00:17 - Sidney Crosby (18) Assisted By: Kris Letang SECOND PERIOD PIT 05:01 - Jared McCann (5) Assisted By: Conor Sheary & John Marino PIT 09:13 - Patrick Marleau (5) Assisted By: Patric Hornqvist & Jack Johnson CBJ 19:00 - Cam Atkinson (13) Assisted By: Nick Foligno & Seth Jones THIRD PERIOD CBJ 01:07 - Pierre-Luc Dubois (11) Assisted By: Seth Jones & Cam Atkinson CBJ 04:37 - Oliver Bjorkstrand (4) Assisted By: Riley Nash CBJ 05:15 - Oliver Bjorkstrand (5) Assisted By: Boone Jenner & Riley Nash PIT 05:47 - Conor Sheary (6) Assisted By: None CBJ 09:12 - Josh Anderson (7) Assisted By: None CBJ 11:43 - Riley Nash (6) Assisted By: Pierre-Luc Dubois CBJ 14:54 - David Savard (3) Assisted By: Brandon Dubinsky & Ryan Murray CBJ 17:31 - Nick Foligno (7) Assisted By: Seth Jones & Pierre-Luc Dubois PIT 18:40 - Sidney Crosby (19) Assisted By: Marcus Pettersson PIT 19:51 - Bryan Rust (13) Assisted By: Evgeni Malkin & Juuso Riikola
Columbus Blue Jackets - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Joonas Korpisalo 30 24 80% 6.00
Pittsburgh Penguins - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Tristan Jarry 33 25 76% 8.00

[GoldenJet]

CROWNED IN HOLLYWOOD
Despite near collapse, Penguins narrowly defeat Los Angeles.


ABOVE: Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins continues to lead the team to excellent heights.

Los Angeles Kings at Pittsburgh Penguins
Dec 14, 2019 1 2 3 F LAK (10-22-2) 0 0 2 2 PIT (24-8-1) 1 1 1 3 Three Stars Pittsburgh: Evgeni Malkin - Center 1 goal, 1 assist Pittsburgh: Jason Zucker - Left Wing 1 goal, 1 assist Pittsburgh: Matt Murray - Goalie 27 saves	Team Stats Comparison LAK PIT Shots on Goal 29 29 Hits 8 14 Faceoffs Won-Lost 16-18 18-16 Penalty Minutes 02:00 10:00 Power Plays Converted 0 0 Power Play Opportunities 5 1 Time on Attack 06:44 06:46
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD PIT 19:28 - Jason Zucker (19) Assisted By: Evgeni Malkin & Kris Letang SECOND PERIOD PIT 03:49 - Evgeni Malkin (18) Assisted By: Jason Zucker & Bryan Rust THIRD PERIOD PIT 03:17 - Jack Johnson (2) Assisted By: Patric Hornqvist LAK 03:57 - Thomas Vanek (11) Assisted By: Sean Walker & Dustin Brown LAK 12:45 - Adrian Kempe (4) Assisted By: Paul LaDue & Anze Kopitar
Los Angeles Kings - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Jonathan Quick 29 26 90% 3.00
Pittsburgh Penguins - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Matt Murray 29 27 93% 2.00

[GoldenJet]

Coach Sullivan: Crosby out

December 15th, 2019

PITTSBURGH - Whether it was in the second period when a Brian Dumoulin-blast from the blueline caught him around the upper leg area or whether it was when he got tied up with Los Angeles Kings captain Anze Kopitar in the corner during the third period, it doesn't really matter.

Sidney Crosby is out.

However, despite the ominous feeling at the Coach Mike Sullivan-led press conference the day after the Penguins won yet again against the Kings, he offered some good news.

"It's not as bad as you think; we're holding him out for precautionary reasons. If this were the playoffs, I'm sure he would muster up the willpower to play. [Sidney Crosby] will be joining us on our West Coast tour, but we can confirm that he won't be in the lineup for at least next game."

Crosby has reportedly been skating with the strength and conditioning coach and was briefly on the ice during practice. He participated in no line rushes and didn't finish the practice.

Crosby, 32, has had a long history with injuries but has had some success as of late staying healthy. For him, this is a mere blip in the road.

"You never like to miss time, but you have to take care of yourself," Crosby mentioned. "As you get older, you've got to watch out for things like this and sit if you have to. I'll be back and ready to go in no time."

Evgeni Malkin will hop up to the top line, bringing leading scorer Jason Zucker with him. Jake Guentzel will flank the other side. Winger Patric Hornqvist will don an alternate captain's 'A' with Crosby out of the lineup. Forward Evan Rodrigues will be thrust into the lineup for the time this season.

[johnstone1987]

Losing Crosby is a blow. But you still got Malkin man.

[GoldenJet]

NO SID, NO PROBLEM
Rust's pair leads Captain-less Penguins past pesky Flames.


ABOVE: Bryan Rust of the Pittsburgh Penguins continues his ascent into stardom with a pair of goals against the Calgary Flames.

Pittsburgh Penguins at Calgary Flames
Dec 17, 2019 1 2 3 F PIT (25-8-1) 3 0 2 5 CGY (19-13-4) 0 1 2 3 Three Stars Pittsburgh: Bryan Rust - Right Wing 2 goals Calgary: Noah Hanifin - Defenseman 1 goal, 1 assist Pittsburgh: Jake Guentzel - Left Wing 1 goal	Team Stats Comparison PIT CGY Shots on Goal 29 31 Hits 20 8 Faceoffs Won-Lost 17-19 19-17 Penalty Minutes 02:00 00:00 Power Plays Converted 0 0 Power Play Opportunities 0 1 Time on Attack 05:48 08:06
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD PIT 03:14 - Jake Guentzel (9) Assisted By: Patrick Marleau & Marcus Pettersson PIT 06:56 - Bryan Rust (14) Assisted By: Conor Sheary PIT 07:44 - Dominik Simon (3) Assisted By: None SECOND PERIOD CGY 19:45 - Noah Hanifin (6) Assisted By: Mark Janikowski & Tobias Rieder THIRD PERIOD PIT 00:27 - Evgeni Malkin (19) Assisted By: Patric Hornqvist & Kris Letang CGY 11:16 - Sean Monahan (11) Assisted By: Noah Hanifin & Johnny Gaudreau CGY 15:41 - Mikael Backlund (8) Assisted By: Derek Ryan & Matthew Tkachuk PIT 18:26 - Bryan Rust (15) Assisted By: Zach Aston-Reese
Pittsburgh Penguins - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Matt Murray 31 28 90% 3.00
Calgary Flames - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA David Rittich 29 24 83% 5.00

[GoldenJet]

GUENTZ-GOAL
Guentzel's overtime marker has Penguins shifting past Oilers.


ABOVE: After Evan Rodrigues' late game-tying goal, Jake Guentzel was able to steal the game right from under the Oilers' nose.

Pittsburgh Penguins at Edmonton Oilers
Dec 20, 2019 1 2 3 OT F PIT (26-8-1) 1 2 1 1 5 EDM (23-10-5) 0 3 1 0 4 Three Stars Pittsburgh: Conor Sheary - Left Wing 2 goals, 1 assist Edmonton: Alex Chiasson - Left Wing 1 goal, 2 assists Edmonton: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins - Center 1 goal, 1 assist	Team Stats Comparison PIT EDM Shots on Goal 39 27 Hits 17 10 Faceoffs Won-Lost 20-19 19-20 Penalty Minutes 00:00 04:00 Power Plays Converted 1 0 Power Play Opportunities 2 0 Time on Attack 05:35 06:50
Scoring Summary FIRST PERIOD PIT 12:20 - Conor Sheary (7) Assisted By: John Marino & Dominik Simon SECOND PERIOD EDM 06:14 - Zack Kassian (11) Assisted By: Ryan Nugent-Hopkins PIT 07:00 - Zach Aston-Reese (5) Assisted By: Conor Sheary & John Marino EDM 18:13 - Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (11) Assisted By: Alex Chiasson & Andreas Athanasiou EDM 19:17 - Alex Chiasson (11) Assisted By: Leon Draisaitl & Connor McDavid PIT 19:35 - Conor Sheary (8) Assisted By: Zach Aston-Reese & Bryan Rust THIRD PERIOD EDM 13:17 - Leon Draisaitl (21) Assisted By: Connor McDavid & Alex Chiasson PIT 19:57 - Evan Rodrigues (1) Assisted By: Nick Bjugstad & Jason Zucker OVERTIME PIT 02:40 - Jake Guentzel (10) Assisted By: Bryan Rust & Justin Schultz
Pittsburgh Penguins - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Matt Murray 27 23 85% 4.00
Edmonton Oilers - Goalies GOALIES SHOTS SAVES SV % GAA Mike Smith 39 34 87% 5.00