NHL Draft: Islanders win draft lottery

1. New York Islanders 2. Tampa Bay Lightning 3. Colorado Avalanche 4. Atlanta Thrashers 5. Los Angeles Kings 6. Phoenix Coyotes 7. Toronto Maple Leafs 8. Dallas Stars 9. Ottawa Senators 10. Edmonton Oilers 11. Nashville Predators 12. Minnesota Wild 13. Buffalo Sabres 14. Florida Panthers Top Prospects

Penguins rout Islanders 6-1 in regular season home finale

The Penguins hopes of getting home-ice in the first round of the playoffs remain somewhat alive as the Penguins thumbed the NHL worst New York Islanders 6-1 Thursday night at Mellon Arena and got some help from the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers who both lost this evening. After a slow the start, the Penguins proved to be too much for the lowly Islanders as 13 players registered a point. Evgeni Malkin had two assists to lead the Penguins offensive attack. Malkin increased his scoring lead to four points over Alexander Ovechkin. Ovechkin was held scoreless against Tampa Bay. Both players have one game remaining.

Morning Skate Update: Garon, Boucher, Adams, Godard in

As expected Mathieu Garon will start in goal tonight. Marc Andre Fleury will get the night off after making 28 starts in 29 games. A source at the arena tells me Eric Godard, Craig Adams and Philippe Boucher will all be in the lineup tonight. Boucher was paired with Rob Scuderi in practice on Wednesday and in today’s morning skate. Interesting scratches tonight as Hal Gill will get a night off. Gill has been bothered by a lower leg injury and needs some rest. Upfront forward

Hurricanes rout Islanders, Rangers get key win

Playoff positioning heating up The Carolina Hurricanes (97 pts) won their 9th straight game, routing the NHL-worst New York Islanders 9-0 Tuesday night. The Hurricanes kept pace with the Philadelphia Flyers for the #4 spot in the Eastern Conference The Flyers currently hold the tiebreaker because they have three games remaining while the Hurricanes only have two games remaining. In Tuesday’s win Eric Staal had three goals and an assist, and finished with a club-record fourth hat trick of the season, while Cam Ward made 12 saves to record his 39th win of the season. The Islanders were outshot 57-12 Rangers 3 ‚Äì Canadiens 1 The Rangers got a much a needed win and are now two points ahead of

Tyler Bozak sweepstakes down to Av’s, Isles, Sens, Leafs & “mystery team”

As of late Wednesday night, University of Denver Bozak was considering five teams according to a source close to Bozak: The New York Islanders, Ottawa Senators and Toronto Maple Leafs and Colorado Avalanche are the four main teams who remain in talks with Bozak. Bozak informed the Columbus Blue Jackets Wednesday night that he would not be signing with them according to the Columbus Dispatch. The Jackets were in Bozak’s top 6. There is still believed to be one more team that is being described as a “wildcard” that Bozak is still considering. A team official with the Penguins told me late Wednesday afternoon that the Penguins and Wade Arnott

Sunday’s NHL roundup

Rangers a team to watch in the East? The Rangers got a big win Sunday afternoon, beating the Eastern Conferences top seed the Boston Bruins 4-3 at Madison Square Garden. While I’m still not sold on Nik Antropov, the Rangers are a much better team with the additions of Derek Morris, Sean Avery, Antropov then they were two weeks ago. Glen Sather hasn’t done many things right during his tenure as General Manager with the New York Rangers but bringing in John Tortorella as head coach was the right decision. Coaches like Tortorella do have an expiration date but the Rangers needed to move to an up-tempo style. Tortorella will get the most out of underachievers Scott Gomez and Chris

Senators acquire Comrie, Campoli

The Ottawa Senators have acquired forward Mike Comrie and defenseman Chris Campoli from the New York Islanders on Friday in exchange for Dean McAmmond and a first-round draft pick. Comrie, 28, is currently earning $4 million and will be an unrestricted free agent in the summer. The first-round pick heading to the Islanders originally belonged to San Jose. Source: TSN.CA

Game 58: Penguins fall to Islanders 3-2

The Dan Bylsma era begins The Dan Bylsma era didn’t get off to the best start as the Penguins suffered a 3-2 shootout loss to the New York Islanders (17-33-6) who are the worst team statistically in the National Hockey League. Ryan Whitney (2) and Evgeni Malkin (25) scored for the Penguins. Marc Andre Fleury made 28 saves on 30 shots but was beaten twice in the shootout. Penguins RW Petr Sykora was the Penguins lone goal scorer in the shootout. The Penguins registered 37 shots ( a season high)

Sunday’s Practice Report: Lineup changes coming for Monday’s game

The Penguins just concluded their practice around 3:00 p.m. in New York. As expected the mood wasn’t very good after the team’s performance last night. As I mentioned on Thursday the plan this week was for Mathieu Garon to start in goal against the Islanders. Based on practice today that still appears to be the plan. Don’t look into it that the team is benching Marc Andre Fleury for giving up 6 goals Saturday night. My source tells me there will be one lineup change (not counting Garon) and possibly two against the Islanders tomorrow afternoon.