FanHouse Mike Rupp

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.

Devils 3, Rangers 0: Scott Clemmensen has been fantastic for the Devils this season in the absence of Martin Brodeur, and on Monday night he registered his first shutout in New Jersey's 3-0 win over the Rangers.

Zach Parise picked up a pair of goals for the Devils, while Bobby Holik scored what proved to be the game-winner midway through the second period.

For the most part, Jason Blake has been a rather large free agent bust for the Toronto Maple Leafs. After signing a five-year, $20 million deal with Toronto prior to the 2007 season, Blake scored only 15 goals for Toronto a season ago, and has been a healthy scratch on more than one occasion this season. On Tuesday, Blake scored the game-winning goal in a shootout in rather spectacular fashion -- shown above -- giving the Leafs a 3-2 win over New Jersey.

It's Toronto's third win a row, while the Devils drop their second straight.

After Mike Rupp gave New Jersey a 1-0 lead in the first period, the Leafs received a pair of second period goals from Jeremy Williams and Nik Antropov, before Zach Parise netted a power play goal with 20 seconds to play in the period, tying the game.

Vesa Toskala stopped 25 shots in the win, while also turning aside 3-of-4 shots in the shootout. Scott Clemmensen started for New Jersey, surrendering two goals in regulation on 27 shots.

It's official: Sidney Crosby is on a roll. The Penguins captain netted his second career hat trick on Saturday night, helping lead Pittsburgh to a 4-1 win over New Jersey. Crosby now has 13 goals on the season, and six in his past three games.

Crosby opened the scoring just over a minute into the game, when he spun around and slipped a blind backhander behind New Jersey goalie Scott Clemmensen. He also added goals in the second and third periods, and picked up an assist on Petr Sykora's power play goal.

Crosby is now second in the NHL's scoring race with 34 points, just five behind teammate Evgeni Malkin, who picked up two assists in the win. The duo has been white-hot the past three games, combining for 17 points and dominating just about every time they've been on the ice. Right now, these two guys are from another planet.

Mike Rupp scored New Jersey's only goal of the game early in the third period, and nearly found himself in a fight with Crosby. Instead of actually dropping the gloves and taking a few swings on one another, the two just sort of wrestled along the boards and picked up coincidental minors for roughing.

New Jersey's Dainius Zubrus entered play on Sunday with just two goals in his first 19 games this season. He had no trouble blowing that total out of the water during the Devils' 7-3 win over Tampa Bay, as he scored four goals on eight shots, while New Jersey won its fourth straight game.

During the current winning streak, the Devils have scored 21 goals after scoring just 22 in their previous nine games. As for the four-goal effort, it was the first such performance by a Devil since October 29, 2000, when John Madden and Randy McKay each scored four goals in a 9-0 win over the Penguins.

Zubrus scored a pair of goals in the second and third periods, while New Jersey also received tallies from Zach Parise, Brian Gionta and Mike Rupp. Scott Clemmensen earned the start in goal, turning aside 26 shots to pick up the win.

Olaf Kolzig started for Tampa Bay, in place of the injured Mike Smith, and surrendered five goals on 28 shots before being yanked in the second period in favor of Karri Ramo. I'm guessing it wasn't the result Rick Tocchet was looking for following his first NHL win behind the bench, as Tampa Bay has now won just three times its past eight games.

Martin St. Louis and Radim Vrbata picked up goals for the Lightning, while Ryan Malone scored on a penalty shot, his fourth goal of the season.

Can't believe I didn't see this earlier. Thanks to our buddies at Versus, Mike Rupp of the New Jersey Devils was wearing a microphone during Game Two of the series against the New York Rangers. Like just about every night in the playoffs, there was a bit of a fracas, and Rupp and Rangers defenseman Paul Mara squared off.

Which is when Versus started to listen in (NSFW!):


The NHL Playoffs: Feel the love!