FanHouse Matt Cooke

After losing No. 1 defenseman Sergei Gonchar to a broken a wrist over a week ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be without another top player as the reigning NHL scoring champion, Evgeni Malkin, will be out of the lineup for two-to-three weeks with a shoulder strain.

According to head coach Dan Bylsma the injury happened roughly 10 days ago, and sitting him out is a precautionary move at this point.

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.

So the rematch is set: Pittsburgh vs. Detroit. For the first time in 25 years, the same two teams will meet in back-to-back years for the right to fight for Lord Stanley's Cup, and while one of these teams is relatively similar to last year's version (with one big exception) the other is very, very different.

After suffering a "lower body injury" in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final, Erik Cole's status for Game 2 has been up in the air during this painfully long two-day break. Cole was injured during Monday's game when he was on the receiving end of a Matt Cooke hit that included knee-on-knee contact.

According to Adam Harris of WRAL, Cole participated in Thursday's morning skate, and it appears he will be available for the Hurricanes when they hit the ice for Game 2. The news doesn't sound quite as promising for his teammate, Tuomo Ruutu.

After asking where the bitterness was in the Penguins-Hurricanes series, it took us all of one game to potentially find some. Late in the third period of Pittsburgh's 3-2 win on Monday night, Penguins forward Matt Cooke and Hurricanes forward Erik Cole were involved in a knee-on-knee collision that resulted in Cole leaving the game and not returning. The Hurricanes, as one would expect, weren't all that happy with the play.

On Wednesday, the NHL announced there will be no punishment for Cooke in the form of a suspension, while Dave Molinari of the Pittsburgh Post Gazette reports there is no word yet on whether or not he will be issued a fine.

The Penguins and Flames played a highly entertaining game on Wednesday night, filled with outstanding goaltending, brutal physicality and an unlikely goal from hulking defenseman Hal Gill. It also featured the most ridiculous one-minute stretch of a team trying to score on an empty net in NHL history.

Trailing, 2-0, the Flames pulled goaltender Miikka Kipprusoff with just over a minute to play in regulation, and the Penguins suddenly became allergic to putting shots on goal.

When the Penguins entered the third period of Sunday's game against Boston trailing, 3-2, they had the Bruins exactly where they wanted them.

Thanks to a four-goal rally, including two from Chris Kunitz, who registered his second career hat trick, the Penguins pulled out a 6-4 win over the top team in the Eastern Conference.

Penguins 4, Lightning 3: I feel as if I've said this before, but this could be the game that turns the Penguins season around. It has to be. If it doesn't spark something with this group, nothing will.

Trailing 3-0 in the third period, Evgeni Malkin transformed himself into a one-man wrecking crew as he scored a pair of goals -- including the game-winner in overtime -- and assisted on another in Pittsburgh's 4-3 overtime win against Tampa Bay. After Malkin scored the Penguins first goal of the night, Mark Eaton and Petr Sykora scored a pair of goals in the final six minutes of regulation to send the game to overtime.

Sykora's goal came on the power play after Gary Roberts -- who became a cult hero of sorts during his year-and-a-half stay in the 'Burgh -- was suckered into a foolish penalty by Matt Cooke.

I'm just going to come right out and say it: Sidney Crosby is underrated. There. I said it. I said it because it had to be said. Somebody had to say it, and I'm saying it. The man the NHL force feeds down our throats on every broadcast, commercial and marketing campaign has become so overrated that he's actually underrated. And I'm completely serious.