FanHouse JohnCurry

I don't know how Penguins general manager Ray Shero pulled it off, but he managed to not only retain the services of Ruslan Fedotenko and Bill Guerin, two of the teams top-six forwards from their Stanley Cup winning team, but he did so while getting them to take paycuts.

After signing Guerin to a one-year deal on Monday, the Penguins announced that they agreed to terms with Fedotenko Friday afternoon. Rob Rossi of the Tribune Review reports the deal as being worth $1.8 million, down from the $2.25 million he made a season ago.

Entering Thursday's game against the Islanders, Pittsburgh found itself with a three-game losing streak. Consider the streak over, as the Penguins systematically dismantled New York with a 9-2 thumping at Mellon Arena. The Penguins received hat tricks from both Petr Sykora and Pascal Dupuis (each player's first ever hat trick) as they never let up, while fans chanted "we want 10" during the final minute of regulation.

The Penguins scored four goals in both the first and second periods, before Dupuis completed his hat trick late in the third period. Defensemen Mark Streit and Andy Sutton scored the only goals for New York, as Penguins goalie John Curry picked up his second NHL win (both against the Islanders) making 24 saves.

The biggest problem for the Islanders was the fact they couldn't stay out of the penalty box, picking up 34 penalty minutes throughout the game, including three separate occasions where they handed Pittsburgh five-on-three advantages.

Pittsburgh had eight different players finish with multiple points, including Evgeni Malkin (goal, assist) and Sidney Crosby (three assists) who continue to distance themselves from the rest of the pack in the NHL scoring race. Amazingly, Jeff Taffe, recently called up from the minors, found a way to finish the game as a -1.

Should you feel sorry for the Islanders after a loss like this? Of course not. This is the big leagues, and as long as they're going to keep playing hard and physical (as they did), you should expect the other team to keep clicking on all cylinders in an effort to score as many goals as possible. You never know when the other team could mount an unexpected, late-game comeback.

There was a time when Dallas Stars goalie Marty Turco was among the best in the National Hockey League. It appears as if those days are over, at least for this year, as the 33-year old netminder was lifted for the third time this season, after giving up five goals on just 19 shots Friday night. In the end, the Stars fell to the runaway locomotive that is the San Jose Sharks, 6-2.

Honestly, San Jose may never lose again, as it now has a league-best 39 points.

Turco's save percentage is just about ready to drop below the .870 mark, which is pretty hard to comprehend for an NHL goalie, and Stars head coach Dave Tippett sort of agrees, saying "our goaltender has to be better." Indeed he does. And while he wouldn't announce anything after the game, Tippett left open the possibility that Tobias Stephan could start Sunday's game against Edmonton. I guess the question is: could he really be any worse?

San Jose received a pair of goals from Dan Boyle, while Joe Pavelski, Milan Michalek and Rob Blake slipped shots behind the struggling Turco before he was lifted following the second period.

Evgeni Nabokov, making his second start since returning to the lineup, turned aside 25 of 27 shots in the win.

What an incredible night of hockey. Let's get right to it.

The last time the Lightning and Rangers met, way back on November 6, Tampa Bay goalie Mike Smith went crazy on Rangers forward Aaron Voros, giving him a few subtle hacks to the leg, shots to the head, and various other random acts of violence. As a result, the two had a "fight" that led to Voros trying to punch Smith through his mask, and Rangers coach Tom Renney calling for the Tampa goalie to face some sort of suspension.

This time around, there was another fight involving two unlikely participants, as Rangers forward Nikolai Zherdev squared off against No. 1 overall pick, Steve Stamkos. And it was actually a pretty good showing.

Every week there are minor moves and stories around the National Hockey League that tend to fall through the cracks. Consider this our weekly roundup of those stories from the previous week, all wrapped up in one neat little package.

It didn't take Steve Downie long to leave his mark on his new team, as the feisty forward earned his first suspension as a member of the Tampa Bay Lightning organization. It probably won't be his last suspension, either.

Downie, a former first-round pick of the Flyers, was sent to Tampa Bay a couple of weeks ago, along with Steve Eminger, in exchange for Matt Carle. After playing in just six games in Norfolk, Downie was suspended for three games this past week by the American Hockey League for checking Kyle McLaren from behind.

New team. Same player.

Downie could be a useful asset to some team if he would simply use his head a little more often, and avoid taking dirty runs at players. As long as he's good for two suspensions a year (especially if they happen to be 20-game suspensions) and is a 5-minute major waiting to happen every time he steps on the ice, he's not going to be of any real use to any team, regardless of how talented he may be.

Since I don't think that's going to happen anytime soon, I'd say the Flyers made themselves a fantastic trade, regardless of whether or not Carle fulfills expectations.

While the Penguins offense was still shaking off some early season rust, goalie Marc-Andre Fleury was, essentially, carrying the team on his back, continuing to establish himself as one of the premier young netminders in the National Hockey League.

During Pittsburgh's 5-2 win over Buffalo on Saturday night, the 23-year old Fleury suffered some sort of "lower body injury" and did not start in the teams 2-1 shootout loss against Minnesota on Tuesday. And he's not with the team in Atlanta for tonight's game against the Thrashers, as reported by Shelly Anderson of the Post-Gazette. The Penguins maintain that the injury is not serious, but there's a chance he could miss Saturday's game against Vancouver, as well.

In his place, the Penguins will be turning to backup goalie Dany Sabourin, with John Curry backing him up.

Fleury missed an extended period of time last season with the dreaded high-ankle sprain, which the Penguins were able to survive thanks to an unexpected emergence by then-backup Ty Conklin, who proceeded to stand on his head seemingly every night. It's doubtful Sabourin could duplicate such a feat, so it's crucial that Fleury remain healthy this season for the Penguins to make any sort of serious run for the Stanley Cup.