Penguins/NHL
Petr Sykora ended the Penguins 0-33 slump on the power play at 17:10 in the first period and Evgeni Malkin added three assists as the Penguins snapped their five game losing streak Tuesday night beating the Atlanta Thrashers 3-1 at Mellon arena. Sykora had two goals on the night and Sidney Crosby scored his 16th goal of the season at 15:41 of the second period to put the Penguins up 3-0. Goaltender Marc Andre Fleury made 27 saves to record the win. The Atlanta Thrashers have lost six out of their last seven games. The Penguins are 20-17-4 at the halfway point.
Ruslan Fedotenko is believed to have a broken bone in his right hand following a first period fight with former Penguins forward Colby Armstrong. Forward Pascal Dupuis also left the game with an undisclosed injury.
Defensemen Hal Gill, Alex Goligoski, and Forward Tim Wallace were healthy scratches
Mark Eaton (22:41) led the Penguins in ice time
The Penguins have cancelled their practice for Wednesday.
More to come in the morning
10:43 a.m. – From Earlier
The Rangers came into yesterday’s game winning one out of their last five and the Panthers came into Saturday’s game with a four game losing streak. Pittsburgh lost both games and has been outscored 10-1 in that two game span. The Penguins power play went 0-8 against the Rangers and is now 0-32 in their last seven games. There is a lot of heat on the coaching staff most notably assistant coach Mike Yeo. Michel Therrien and Andre Savard are defensive minded coaches. While the head coach oversees everything, there is a lot of pressure on Mike Yeo right now.
The top three lines are expected to remain the same today.
There will be no major deals until after all-star break. The All-star break is like the MLB Winter meetings for NHL General Managers.
Aaron Portzline of the Columbus Dispatch reports permission has been granted from management to spend more money, and GM Scott Howson has spoken with several teams, specifically Toronto, Atlanta, Ottawa, Pittsburgh and the NY Islanders. Portzline mentions the Jackets would love to get Jordan Staal but i can confirm there has been no talks between the two teams regarding Staal. Columbus has nothing to offer and Pittsburgh would have no interest in a Kristen Huselius/ 1st round pick for Jordan Staal swap. Pittsburgh had their chance at Huselius in free agency. The only player off of the Penguins roster that has been discussed between Shero and Howson
Is defensemen Phillipe Boucher.
The front office has discussed placing Miroslav Satan on waivers. It seems like a decision will be made by next week. The first step is seeing if he responds to playing on the fourth line. If he doesn’t Shero will make a statement. Pittsburgh has talked to Edmonton and St. Louis about unloading Satan.
There is more interest in Alex Goligoski league wide than there is in Ryan Whitney. LA, OTT, TB are the three teams I keep hearing that have been scouting Goligoski. I expect that list to grow.
Shero and Thrashers GM Don Waddell had a lengthy discussions at Mellon Arena according to a source. The Penguins have inquired about Slava Koslov but I don’t see the Penguins landing him.
The Penguins are interested in Martin Erat not J.P. Dumont.
Pen’s management had a brief talk with Brendan Shanahan when the Penguins were recently in Boston. Shanahan has been working out at Harvard and four Eastern Conference teams are semi Рinterested in his services. The Bruins, Capitals are among the teams who have kept him in touch with him. Shanahan recently turned down deals from the Blackhawks and Blues.
