Pens Points: Islanders Double Dose

It's November 21, and the Pens are playing the Islanders? If that sounds familiar, it's because three years ago to the day Sidney Crosby came back after missing nearly a full year with concussion-like symptoms, and boy he did not disappoint. [Penguins.com]

Islanders captain John Tavares is sacrificing some personal stats for team wins. [Pro Hockey Talk]

The New York Islanders are much improved on paper, and much improved on the ice. Here is your scouting report. [Penguins.com]

Mike Johnston is treating the two-game home-and-home stretch with the Islanders like a playoff series, including in-game and post-game adjustments. The A-word sent sent Pens fans into a tizzy of delight, while others were rolling their eyes. Fun times. [Hockey Buzz]

Pascal Dupuis will be sidelined for at least 6 months, but the team will work out a role for him in order to keep the team's emotional leader around during this time. [PPG]

Marc-Andre Fleury continues to clear mental hurdles and is off to one of the best starts of his excellent regular-season career. [NHL.com]

Flower currently sits at 299 career wins. Will he become only the 4th goalie in NHL history to win 300 games before turning 30 a week from now? [Trib - Mackey]

Simon Despres has altered his game and as a result won the confidence of the new coaching staff and earned regular playing time on the bottom pairing. [PPG]

New assistant coach Gary Agnew has the Penguins defense and penalty kill among the league's best. [Trib - Yohe]

The Pens are auctioning their camo jerseys worn during warmups on November 15 to benefit the Wounder Warrior Project. Go bid on some sweaters! [Penguins.com]

The Canadiens have traded forward Rene Bourque to Anaheim for defenseman Bryan Allen, in what should be a win-win for both team. [The Hockey News]

Did you see this Ovechkin game winner against the Avs last night? That was crazy. [Sporting News]

This John Klingberg goal is simply phenomenal. Oh, and it was the first of his career. [NHL.com]

Due to the continuing weather-related difficulties in Buffalo, tonight's Sabres-Rangers game has been postponed. [NHL.com]

John LeClair and Eric Lindros, two-thirds of the Legion of Doom, were inducted into the Flyers Hall of Fame before last night's game. [NHL.com]

Then the Flyers went and lost their fourth straight game. [CSN Philly]

Kings defenseman Slava Voynov has been charged with a felony count of corporal injury to a spouse and will be arraigned in the first week of December. If convicted, he could face deportation and a voided contract. [Forbes]

Oh my. The Leafs actually beat a good Tampa team last night, but ditched the post-game salute to the fans, causing an avalanche of outrage. Never a dull moment in Toronto. [The Score]

UPDATE

Jason Spezza is expected to sign a 4-year contract extension with Dallas today. The AAV will be $7.5M. [Sportsnet.ca]