NHL: Western Conference GM has his sights set on Jordan Staal

NHL Draft will see plenty of trade talk The NHL Draft is less than 4 weeks away and there will be plenty of movement as teams look to shed salary in the wake of the salary cap decreasing by $2-$2.5 million. Among the big names currently being shopped are Anaheim’s Chris Pronger, and Tampa Bay’s Vincent Lecavalier, Ryan Malone. We’re hearing

Lightning to grant Malone’s wish and shop him at the draft

Tampa Lightning forward Ryan Malone is expected to be one of the most sought out players at the NHL draft as sources tell Inside Pittsburgh Sports, Malone approached Lightning management about being moved at the trade deadline. Lightning GM Brian Lawton was Malone’s former agent and the two sides have a close relationship. We’re told Lawton will at least look into the possibly of granting Malone’s wish at next month’s draft. During the trade deadline, the Lightning held talks with the Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Rangers and the Minnesota Wild regarding Malone. Malone expressed a strong desire to former teammates about returning to Pittsburgh. Among the teams already expressing interest are the Ottawa Senators,

Penguins edge Lightning 6-4, Clinch playoff berth

Sidney Crosby scored two power play goals to hit the 100 point plateau and the Penguins held off a late Lightning rally to clinch their third straight playoff berth in a 6-4 win Tuesday night at the St. Pete Times Forum. Pittsburgh went up 4-0 with goals from Ruslan Fedotenko (16), Sidney Crosby (31, 32) and Matt Cooke (12) but the last place Lightning fought back and scored three unanswered goals to get within one goal of the Penguins at 9:43 of the third period Two minutes later, Petr Sykora scored on a Ruslan Fedotenko rebound to put the Penguins up 5-3 at 11:43 in the third. Sykora’s third period tally was his 300th goal of his career and his

Lightning wanted Goligoski, 1st round pick for Ryan Malone

I have never seen a season where the Penguins were linked to so many former players. This year the media had the Penguins going after Adam Hall ( which was false), Colby Armstrong ( somewhat true), Ryan Malone (true) and Jarkko Ruutu ( true) Just days before the March 4th Trade deadline, the Tampa Bay Lightning began shopping forward Ryan Malone. The Penguins, Rangers, Wild and Canucks all expressed interest. Sources tell Inside Pittsburgh Sports

Sunday’s Rumor Mill; 4 Days until the trade deadline

Malone on the Trade Block: Kevin Dupont of the Boston Globe reports, The Lightning are rumored to be dangling Ryan Malone. Dupont reports If Malone and St. Louis aren’t moved, look for rumors once more to circulate prior to July 1 that the Bolts will entertain offers for Vincent Lecavalier. After July 1, the Big Vin’s contract (11 years/$85 million) converts to a no-trade. Source close to Malone indicate he is very frustrated in Tampa Bay and he doesn‚Äôt have anything to do with the losing. It‚Äôs the way the organization is ran. Bruins looking to make major splash: The Boston Bruins remain highly involved in talks with the Ducks about Chris Pronger and the Toronto Maple Leafs about Tomas

Morning Buzz

Down 3-1 the Penguins played like a desperate team in the third period but it wasn‚Äôt enough as the Boston Bruins won their 10th straight game beating the Penguins 4-2 Thursday night at Banknorth arena. The Bruins may not be the most talented team in the league but they have bought into Claude Julien’s system and they know how to win games. They win games by driving to net, winning battles in the corners and clearing the front of the net. All things the Penguins are struggling at and maybe the Penguins don‚Äôt have the personnel to improve in those areas. The Bruins 29-5-4 lead the NHL in points and also lead the NHL in goals with 141. While the

Rangers go 2-for-2 in Prague

Goals by Scott Gomez and Wade Redden was all the Rangers needed this afternoon as they beat the Tampa Bay Lighting 2-1, the identical score they beat the Lighting Saturday afternoon. The Rangers played a strong defensive game this weekend and were clearly the better team during the two game series. The Lighting couldn’t match the Rangers team speed and struggled on the power play As expected the Lighting were physical. The Lightning outhit the Rangers 31-10 but they were outshot 39-19. They Lighting made too many attempts to go out of their way to be physical. Ryan Malone seems more focused on stirring things up than trying to score. The Lightning have to be floured with the play of