Islanders acquire rights to defenseman Dan Boyle

The New York Islanders have acquired the rights to San Jose Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle in exchange for a 5th round pick, Arthur Staple of Newsday Reports. Boyle who turns 38 in July, had 12 goals and 36 points in 75 games this season. The Islanders last month traded for the rights to goaltender Jaroslav Halak and recently signed Halak to a four year deal. Boyle has been looking for a multi-year deal.

Quick Analysis on the Islanders trading for Thomas Vanek

Big NHL trades in October don’t come often but we have one here. The New York Islanders have acquired Thomas Vanek from the Buffalo Sabres in-exchange for Matt Moulson, 2014 1st round pick and a 2015 2nd round pick, per Arthur Staple of Newsday. For the Sabres it’s about as good of a haul as they would have gotten at any point getting a first and second rounder, in addition to Moulson who is an unrestricted free agent at seasons end. Buffalo is a mess right now at the NHL level but they are deep on prospects and are very likely to turn around and trade Moulson for a first or second rounder before the trade deadline as I don’t

Game 5 Buzz: Reactions, Analysis to Penguins Goaltending Situation; On Lack of Adjustments & Lineup Buzz

GAME 5 BUZZ (1) Tonight we learn a lot about this Penguins team. “We’re preparing for best of three,” head coach Dan Bylsma said. Over in the West, what you see from a top Cup contender in the Chicago Blackhawks, No. 1 seed, is that they have a killer instinct and know how to put away an inferior team. Leading 2-1 in the series, they didn’t give the Minnesota Wild any breathing room in Game 4, and took command of their series with a 3-0 shutout win in Game 4 on Tuesday night to take a 3-1 series lead. By contrast the Penguins are regressing in this series after a dominating Game 1 performance. “This can be great for us,”

Game 1 Analysis: What We Learned – Speed, physicality of Penguins too much for Islanders to handle

GAME 1 ANALYSIS: WHAT WE LEARNED 1. Coming into the series, a glaring mismatch I felt strongly in the Penguins favor was going to be the the speed, physicality of the Penguins forwards going up against the Islanders smallish group of defensemen. That area of concern for the Islanders showed up all night in Game 1 and it’s going to be one of their downfalls in this series. The Penguins upfront are just too fast and too strong for the Islanders to handle and that was evident early on from Beau Bennett beating Andrew MacDonald wide on his first period goal to Brandon Sutter getting past Mark Streit wide and drawing a penalty with 43 seconds left in the first

Five point nights from Kunitz and Crosby lead Penguins to 6-1 win over Islanders

POST-GAME BUZZ Chris Kunitz (17) scored his second hat trick of the season, and Sidney Crosby added five assists, leading the Pittsburgh Penguins (18-8-0, 36 pts) to a 6-1 rout over the New York Islanders (11-12-3, 25 pts) on Sunday night at the Consol Energy Center. Pascal Dupuis (11) scored twice and James Neal (17) had a goal and two assists in the win. Defensemen Kris Letang also had two assists as five Penguins had multi-point games. Tomas Vokoun made 23 saves to record his sixth win of the season. The Penguins played very well in front of him and didn’t give the Islanders many second chances. Vokoun faced just 10 shots through the first forty minutes of the game.

Latest Penguins Buzz: Two bigger needs emerging for Penguins than a scoring winger

LATEST PENGUINS BUZZ Are people out of touch who feel the Penguins biggest need is a scoring winger for Evgeni Malkin? “Scoring is not the issue with that hockey club,” an NHL scout said. I polled six evaluators on Thursday and Friday of what the Penguins biggest needs are leading up to the April 3rd trade deadline with the question ranging from a third line forward with size/grit to make the Penguins tougher to play against, top-4 defenseman or a scoring winger. Three said a third line forward, two said a top-4 defenseman and one said a scoring winger. The Penguins needing to be tougher to play against is becoming an increasing concern for this team. From the players to

Penguins player reports vs Islanders: Despres, Jeffrey bright spots; Neal earns first “F”

Premium Post-Game Player Reports Game 6 – Tuesday, January 29, 2013 Islanders @ Penguins Centers Sidney Crosby| 1 Assist, even rating, 4 SOG, 1 GV, 21:00 TOI, 14 FW – 12 FL, 53.8% Crosby picked up a late assist but for the most part struggled in the Penguins 4-1 loss as his passes were off the mark for most of the night. The official scores sheet had Crosby listed with just 1 giveaway and that’s being awfully generous. Crosby, overall was 53.8% in the faceoff circle but was just 36% (4 of 15) in offensive zone  draws.| Grade: C- | Season Stats: 3 G – 3 A – 6 Pts – +1 Evgeni Malkin | 0 Goals, even rating, 3 SOG, 1 hit, 1 GV, 21:17 TOI, 8FW – 5 FL,

Morning Pens Buzz: Blueprint on attacking Pens offensively has emerged; Likely Playoff lines established; Post-Game Chatter

MORNING PENS BUZZ The Penguins dropping three of their last four games, continue to express frustrations over their struggles defensively. With the goaltending starting to take a step back in the past few games, issues defensively that have been there for the past six to seven games are starting to catch up. “We didn’t do a lot of good things and paid for it again,” captain Sidney Crosby said on the Penguins 5-3 to the Islanders Thursday night. “We made some mistakes and they capitalized on it.” A blueprint on how to attack the Penguins offensively is out there. Establishing a strong cycle in the offensive zone and spacing the Penguins out has been a prominent way to exploit the

Crosby and Pens to see Islanders rookie Anders Nilsson in goal tonight

The New York Islanders who were considered by many pundits as a potential sleeper this season are reeling, with just 5 wins and 13 points in their first 17 games. Coming off a 6-0 loss to the Defending Cup Champions Saturday night, the Islanders get a nice consolation prize of facing the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight in Sidney Crosby’s season debut. It what could be another long night for New York as Islanders head coach Jack Capuano will go with 21 year old goaltender Anders Nilsson in goal, who will make his first NHL start.

League strikes down on Islanders with 100k fine

The NHL has struck down on New York Islanders but was it hard enough? Trevor Gillies has been suspended 9 gms for his antics in Friday’s game and Matt Martin has been suspended 4 games for his near sucker punch to Maxime Talbot. Both suspensions were expected but the big news is the Islanders have been fined $100,000 dollars by the National Hockey League. But, coach Jack Capuano was not suspended and Martin getting only 4 games is very surprising considering the potential magnitude of his antics. NHL disciplinarian Colin Campbell said in a released statement: “The Islanders also must bear some responsibility for their failure to control their players.” The Penguins only suspension is Eric Godard who received an