Crosby scores, Letang reaches 600 career assists as Penguins breeze past Canucks 5-1

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (87) celebrates his goal with Rickard Rakell, left, and Parker Wotherspoon (28) during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Vancouver Canucks in Pittsburgh, Tuesday, Oct. 21, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Sidney Crosby scored his fourth goal and Kris Letang became the 20th defenseman in NHL history to reach 600 career assists as the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 on Tuesday night.

Crosby beat Kevin Lankinen from the slot in the later stages of the second period to extend his goal streak to three straight games. It also gave Pittsburgh’s longtime captain 1,896 career points combined between the regular season and the postseason, moving Crosby past Penguins icon and Hall of Famer Mario Lemieux and alone into seventh place in NHL history.

Letang set up Tommy Novak’s first goal with the Penguins 14:21 into the second period to reach 599 assists. Letang picked up No. 600 in the third period when he was credited with the secondary assist on Justin Brazeau’s fifth goal of the season. The 38-year-old Letang is just the 10th defenseman in league history to reach 600 assists with a single team.

Brazeau added two assists for the Penguins. Anthony Mantha and Connor Dewar also scored as Pittsburgh won its third straight.

Arturs Silovs, in a competition with two-time All-Star Tristan Jarry to become Pittsburgh’s No. 1 goaltender, allowed Vancouver’s Conor Garland to beat him on the first shot of the game but settled down from there and finished with 23 saves.

Lankinen stopped just 20 of the 25 shots he faced as Vancouver saw its three-game winning streak end.

Pittsburgh broke a tie game in the second period when Novak, Crosby and Mantha each scored in a span of just over three minutes to put the Penguins comfortably ahead as Pittsburgh improved to 5-2-0 under first-year coach Dan Muse.

Up next

Canucks: finish up a five-game road trip in Nashville on Thursday.

Penguins: visit two-time defending Stanley Cup champion Florida on Thursday.

Crosby and Malkin each have goal and assist, Jarry stops 31 shots as Penguins beat Sharks 3-0

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins center Sidney Crosby (87) is congratulated by defenseman Kris Letang (58) after scoring against the San Jose Sharks during the second period of an NHL hockey game in San Jose, Calif., Saturday, Oct. 18, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) — Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each had a goal and an assist, Tristan Jarry stopped 31 shots for his 22nd career shutout, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the San Jose Sharks 3-0 on Saturday night.

Anthony Mantha also scored for the Penguins, who improved to 4-2-0 on the season.

Alex Nedeljkovic made 24 saves for the Sharks, and San Jose outshot an opponent for the first time this season but was unable to score. The Sharks, an NHL-worst 20-50-12 last season, remained the league’s only winless team at 0-3-2.

San Jose has now started four straight seasons winless through five games.

Crosby opened the scoring 7:35 into the second period on a deflection off of a point shot by Kris Letang.

Mantha padded the Penguins’ lead 7:02 into the second period, and Malkin capped the scoring on an empty-netter with 22 seconds remaining.

Jarry lowered his goals-against average to 2.35 on the season.

Up next

Penguins: Host Vancouver on Tuesday.

Sharks: At New York Islanders on Tuesday to open a four-game trip.

Filip Hallander’s first career goal sparks Penguins’ comeback win over Kings

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Los Angeles Kings left wing Warren Foegele (37) attempts a shot under defense by Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon (28) during the second period of an NHL hockey game Thursday, Oct. 16, 2025, in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Filip Hallander scored his first career goal to give Pittsburgh the lead and the Penguins rallied to beat the Los Angeles Kings 4-2 on Thursday night.

Hallander, playing in his seventh NHL game, jammed in Rickard Rakell’s rebound at the near post for the short-handed goal at 6:50 of the third period to give Pittsburgh a 3-2 lead in the second game of a three-game California swing.

Evgeni Malkin, Connor Dewar and Sidney Crosby also scored, and Arturs Silovs made 30 saves for the Penguins.

Warren Foegele and Kevin Fiala scored in the first period to give the Kings a 2-0 lead after one, but LA lost its third in a row. Anton Forsberg made 22 saves.

The Penguins scored goals 41 seconds apart in the second period to tie it at 2-all, as Malkin kick-started the push back on the power play.

It was the 1,000th career game together for the Pittsburgh tandem of Crosby — who picked up a late empty-netter — and Kris Letang, making them the seventh NHL forward-defenseman duo to share the ice in that many games.

Despite being forced to shuffle three of their lines because of the absence of center Anze Kopitar, who is day to day with a lower-body injury, the Kings got off to their best first period of the season.

However, Los Angeles couldn’t overcome its leaky defense and penchant for committing unnecessary penalties.

In addition to being without their captain, the Kings were also missing starting goaltender Darcy Kuemper because of a lower-body injury. Forsberg was backed up by Pheonix Copley, who returned to Los Angeles on Wednesday in a trade with Tampa Bay.

Up Next

Penguins: Visit San Jose on Saturday.

Kings: Host Carolina on Saturday.

Anaheim Ducks defeat the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3

(File Photo of the Pittsburgh Penguins Logo)

(AP)

Pittsburgh 2 1 0 3
Anaheim 2 1 1 4

First Period_1, Pittsburgh, Brazeau 4 (Shea, Malkin), 1:03. 2, Pittsburgh, Rakell 2 (Shea, Crosby), 7:01. 3, Anaheim, Kreider 3 (Carlsson, Granlund), 9:42 (pp). 4, Anaheim, Gauthier 3 (Sennecke, Mintyukov), 19:25. Penalties_Dumba, PIT (Holding), 3:26; Crosby, PIT (Hooking), 8:52.

Second Period_5, Anaheim, Helleson 1 (Kreider), 9:48. 6, Pittsburgh, Mantha 1 (Crosby, Rust), 17:01. Penalties_Rakell, PIT (Slashing), 0:55; Anaheim bench, served by Vatrano (Delay of Game), 17:01.

Third Period_7, Anaheim, Kreider 4 (Carlsson, Terry), 18:33 (pp). Penalties_Karlsson, PIT (High Sticking), 3:18; Wotherspoon, PIT (Delay of Game), 18:26; Letang, PIT (Interference), 19:48.

Shots on Goal_Pittsburgh 15-9-4_28. Anaheim 6-10-5_21.

Power-play opportunities_Pittsburgh 0 of 1; Anaheim 2 of 6.

Goalies_Pittsburgh, Jarry 1-1-0 (21 shots-17 saves). Anaheim, Dostal 1-1-0 (28-25).

A_17,622 (17,174). T_2:33.

Referees_Gord Dwyer, Trevor Hanson. Linesmen_Brandon Gawryletz, Ryan Gibbons.

Adam Fox leads Rangers past Penguins 6-1 in coach Mike Sullivan’s return to Pittsburgh

(File Photo: Source for Photo: New York Rangers’ Adam Fox (23) celebrates as he returns to the bench after scoring the first of his two goals during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Oct. 11, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Adam Fox scored twice and added an assist as the New York Rangers beat the Penguins 6-1 on Saturday night to give new coach Mike Sullivan a victory in his return to Pittsburgh.

Sullivan, who coached the Penguins to consecutive Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017, was back for the first time since parting ways with the team in April. Pittsburgh spoiled Sullivan’s debut with the Rangers by winning the season opener 3-0 on Tuesday night at Madison Square Garden, but New York exacted a measure of revenge on Saturday.

Mika Zibanejad scored a short-handed goal, his 251st goal with the Rangers, surpassing Mark Messier for the eighth-most in franchise history. Will Cuylle added a power-play goal, and Matt Rempe and Taylor Raddysh also scored for New York, which announced on Saturday that center Vincent Trocheck — a Pittsburgh native — is out week-to-week with an upper-body injury.

Igor Shesterkin made 18 saves for the Rangers.

Ben Kindel scored his first NHL goal and Bryan Rust returned to Pittsburgh’s lineup after missing the first two games of the season because of a lower-body injury. The Penguins lost for the first time under new coach Dan Muse, a Rangers assistant from 2023-25.

Arturs Silovs stopped 24 shots after shutting out the Rangers on Tuesday.

Sullivan, in addition to his back-to-back championships, had 409 wins with Pittsburgh in 753 games, both team records.

Zibanejad scored at 7:40 of the first period, 23 seconds after a tribute video was played to honor Sullivan. It was Zibanejad’s 12th short-handed goal with the Rangers, tied for fifth-most in franchise history.

New York took command in the second with three goals and a 14-3 advantage in shots.

Fox helped the Rangers regain the lead, 2-1, just 3:02 after Kindel scored. Cuylle made it 3-1 when he tapped in a pass from Conor Sheary, who also won back-to-back championships with Pittsburgh.

Fox scored his second goal from the point five seconds into a power play as the Rangers opened a 4-1 lead.

Up next

Rangers: Host the Washington Capitals on Sunday night.

Penguins: Open a three-game West Coast trip Tuesday at Anaheim.

Justin Brazeau’s late goal propels Penguins to 4-3 win over Islanders

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins’ Sidney Crosby (87) celebrates after his goal with Evgeni Malkin (71) and Rickard Rakell (67) during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Islanders in Pittsburgh, Thursday, Oct. 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Justin Brazeau beat Ilya Sorokin on a breakaway with 5:39 left to lift the Pittsburgh Penguins past the New York Islanders 4-3 on Thursday night.

Brazeau collected a lead pass from Evgeni Malkin, then deked his way by a sprawled Sorokin as the Penguins won for the second time in as many games under first-year coach Dan Muse.

Malkin finished with a goal and two assists while Sidney Crosby added a goal and an assist.

Crosby’s second-period tally from one knee at the top of the crease gave him 626 goals in his career, broke a tie with Hall of Famers Jarome Iginla and Joe Sakic, and moved Crosby into 16th-place by himself on the NHL’s career list.

Pittsburgh rookie Harrison Brunicke became the first South African to score in the NHL when he beat Sorokin between the legs in the second period. Tristan Jarry finished with 34 saves, including a couple of key stops in the frantic final seconds.

Jonathan Drouin, Kyle Palmieri, and rookie Max Shabanov scored for the Islanders. Sorokin stopped 24 shots.

Islanders rookie defenseman Matthew Schaefer, the top overall pick in this year’s draft, picked up the first point of his career when the 18-year-old set up a knuckler from the slot by Drouin just past the midway point of the opening period.

Schaefer, who had around 30 friends and family in the stands, played 17:15 while becoming the second youngest defenseman to make his NHL debut in the last 70 years. Schaefer hardly looked out of place and showcased his dazzling speed on a handful of occasions while racing through the neutral zone to jump into the play.

Up next

Islanders: Host Alexander Ovechkin and the Washington Capitals in their home opener on Saturday.

Penguins: Welcome former coach Mike Sullivan and the New York Rangers on Saturday.

Penguins beat Mike Sullivan’s Rangers 3-0 in coach Dan Muse’s debut

(File Photo: Source for Photo: Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Caleb Jones (82) clears the puck in front of goaltender Arturs Silovs (37) in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the New York Rangers, Tuesday, Oct. 7, 2025, in New York. (AP Photo/Adam Hunger)

NEW YORK (AP) — Justin Brazeau scored twice, Arturs Silovs stopped all 25 shots he faced for his first regular-season NHL shutout, and the Pittsburgh Penguins beat the New York Rangers 3-0 on Tuesday night in each team’s opener.

Dan Muse won his debut as Penguins coach with his predecessor, Mike Sullivan, on the other bench running his first game with the Rangers. Sullivan guided Pittsburgh to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and ’17 as part of a nearly decade-long run there before parting ways in April.

Brazeau and Silovs were also playing for the Penguins for the first time. Brazeau signed as a free agent, while Silovs joined in a trade from Vancouver.

Evgeni Malkin led off his 20th season in the league by setting up Brazeau’s goal. Malkin beat Vincent Trocheck on an offensive zone faceoff to get the puck to Brazeau, who was alone in front and roofed a backhander past Igor Shesterkin.

Brazeau’s first goal with 32 seconds remaining in the first came near the end of a period that Pittsburgh controlled the play for much of the time. Silovs blockered away a shot from Alexis Lafrenière in the final seconds of an early Rangers power play but did not have to make too many other spectacular saves to get the win.

With Shesterkin pulled for an extra attacker, Brazeau had an empty-netter with 2:12 left, and Blake Lizotte sealed it with another 20 seconds later.

Mika Zibanejad, who Sullivan put on new captain J.T. Miller’s right wing to start the season, was one of the most noticeable players for New York. Zibanejad missed the net on a couple of scoring chances but also had a game-high seven shots on goal.

Defeating the Rangers gave the Penguins something to celebrate on opening night as Malkin, Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang made some history. They became the first trio in the four major North American men’s professional sports leagues to play 20 seasons together with the same team.

CCBC Players of the Game: Friday September 5 2025

 

 

Your CCBC Players of the game for Avonworth and Aliquippa are:

Avonworth: Dimitri Velisaris
Aliquippa: Marques Council

You can see all of the past CCBC Players of the Game for High School Sports by clicking on the CCBC Logo Below:

 

 

Steelers star linebacker TJ Watt skips the start of mandatory minicamp

FILE – Pittsburgh Steelers first round draft pick linebacker T.J. Watt participates in a drill during an NFL football rookie minicamp, May 12, 2017, in Pittsburgh. (AP Photo/Keith Srakocic, file)

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Aaron Rodgers might be ready to take the practice field for the Pittsburgh Steelers. T.J. Watt is not. The star outside linebacker is skipping the start of mandatory minicamp. Watt likely is eyeing a new deal as he enters the final year of his current contract. The seven-time Pro Bowler and 2021 NFL Defensive Player of the Year signed a four-year extension in September 2021 that was scheduled to pay him $112 million and made him the highest-paid defender in the league at the time. Cleveland defensive end Myles Garrett now holds that honor after signing a deal worth $40 million a season in March.

Penguins Hire Rangers assistant Dan Muse as New Coach

New York Rangers assistant coach Dan Muse, right, watches during the third period in Game 4 of an NHL hockey Stanley Cup second-round playoff series in Raleigh, N.C., Saturday, May 11, 2024. (AP Photo/Karl B DeBlaker File)

Jun 4, 2025 2:30 PM

PITTSBURGH (AP) — Dan Muse is the new head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins hired the former New York Rangers assistant and tasked him with helping the franchise navigate a rebuild during the twilight of longtime captain Sidney Crosby’s career. Muse replaces Mike Sullivan. Sullivan and the Penguins split in April after a nearly decade-long tenure that included a pair of Stanley Cup titles. The Rangers scooped up Sullivan, naming him their coach in May. The 42-year-old Muse was hired after a monthlong search by Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas. Muse’s hiring leaves the Boston Bruins as the last of eight teams with offseason head coaching vacancies.