Brooks Orpik sustained a knee injury in game 4 of ECSF and was out for the remainder of that series. He apparently planned to return for the SCF had the Pens lasted that long in the playoffs. As he enters free agency, he and his agent maintain he will be fully healthy well on time for training camp.
Apparently the Edmonton Oilers plan to sign UFA defenseman/utility forward Deryk Engelland. For his near-minimum salary and versatility, Engelland can give value to a young team such as Edmonton. Clearly the Pens have many more pressing puzzles to solve than retaining Engo. The guy did everything asked of him and then some.
After the Pens were eliminated by the Rangers, Geno ducked out of town without speaking to reporters, traveled to Minsk to join the Russian team for the remainder of the IIHF Worlds, scored the game winner in the finals against Finland, and was honored back in Russia.
Somewhere in there he managed to break a guy's jaw. Minnesota's Erik Haula joined the Finnish team after the Wild were eliminated and played in the finals as well. He ended up getting cross-checked in the face by Malkin (here is the video) and suffered a non-displaced jaw fracture that will require 3-4 weeks to heal.
Ray Shero was informed he will no longer be the GM exactly two weeks ago, and so the Pens search for a new GM enters third week. Here is an article comparing two internal candidates, Jason Botterill and Tom Fitzgerald, side by side.
On Tuesday night the Canadiens and the Rangers played a thrilling, seesaw game 5 in which Canadiens prevailed 7-4 to force game 6 back in New York. I read this column on "players who get you through" with interest in light of Mario Lemieux's comments on the type of players Montreal has and what he'd like to see on his own team.
Rangers' John Moore was suspended two games for his hit on Canadiens' Dale Weise. This series is featuring a host of infractions, fights, suspensions and broken bones. Derek Stepan returned to play while healing his broken jaw and sporting a Sid-like jaw shield. In the next game Prust will return after serving his suspension for that one.
Dan Carcillo is appealing his 10-game suspension for an infraction against an official and his in-person hearing with Gary Bettman is set for Friday morning in NYC. I'd pay good money to be a fly on the wall in that meeting.
If you went to bed too early last night and missed the end of the Blackhawks and Kings game 5, you also missed possibly the greatest OT period ever played. Tied at 4 at the end of regulation, the two teams went all-in on the 1st OT, completed in 26 minutes of real time. It was the greatest pace and the grittiest effort on both sides that I've ever seen. Then Handzus won it early into 2nd OT.
Game 6 will be on Friday night in LA, where police are investigating a fan report that Corey Crawford maliciously sprayed him with water during game 4.
In AHL playoff news, WBS Penguins dropped game 3 to St. John's IceCaps (Jets minor league team) with a final score 5-0. IceCaps now lead series 2-1. The next two games will also be played in Wilkes-Barre, so hopefully the baby Pens can get some momentum back.