Bruins rookie defenseman Torey Krug is eager to atone for his costly Game 1 gaffe. (Robin Alam/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

An annotated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• That Game 1 marathon is already forgotten, at least according to what the players were saying during Thursday’s press conferences. The focus now is on Game 2.

• “It really was a great hockey game,” said Boston coach Claude Julien, but now it’s time for the Bruins to turn the page.

• The versatility to play the game any way they need to is Chicago’s trump card as the series moves on.

• Our own Stu Hackel looks at some things the Hawks and the Bruins could try to do in Game 2.

• He was too much for the Bruins to handle in Game 1. Turns out that Andrew Shaw is a handful in the locker room as well. There are plenty of stories like this one out there today, and they offer some insight into what appears to be a colorful kid. What you won’t find is a piece where Shaw talks about himself. For some inexplicable reason, he wasn’t made available to the media the day after scoring the goal that ended the fifth-longest Cup final game in history. Can you imagine that happening in any other sport? Just another solid effort from the NHL.

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Despite the rumors, trading Evgeni Malkin was never really an option for the Penguins. (Fred Kfoury/Icon SMI)

By Allan Muir

Shortly after the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they’d signed Evgeni Malkin to an eight-year, $76 million extension this morning, the blog Russian Machine Never Breaks tweeted a pretty tidy perspective on the deal. The numbers illustrate the massive risk that the Pens have exposed themselves to with this contract and the 12-year, $104.4 million deal signed by Sidney Crosby last year. But when you’ve got the chance to lock down the two best players in the world, what else are you gonna do?

The Penguins will spend 28.3% of their salary on two players that have missed 32.7% of the last four seasons.—
RMNB (@russianmachine) June 13, 2013

Risk aside, this agreement is still a big win for GM Ray Shero, who is doing a nice job of getting his house in order ahead of the draft and the start of free agency. Trading a game-breaking talent like former MVP Malkin, or worse, letting him escape for nothing next summer, was never an option. This deal keeps the player happy, and ensures that Pittsburgh employs the best 1-2 center punch in hockey for nearly a decade to come.

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Many people figured Dan Bylsma was a goner after his Penguins were swept by the Bruins. (Gene J. Puskar/AP)

By Allan Muir

Instead of holding his coach accountable for the team’s four-game ouster in the Eastern Conference Finals, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ray Shero gave Dan Bylsma a strong vote of confidence.

“I really believe we have a great head coach in Dan Bylsma…he’s the coach to move us forward,” Shero said in announcing a two-year extension for Bylsma and assistants Tony Granato and Todd Reirden.

Bylsma had a year remaining on his current deal, so the extension keeps him under contract through the 2015-16 season.

“I have a very good coach that I want to work with to lead this team,” Shero said. “I believe in Dan Bylsma. I believe in our coaching staff.”

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After proving he’s a bona fide workhorse No. 1, Ryan Suter will be tough to beat. (Dustin Bradford/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

This morning, the NHL announced the three finalists for this year’s Norris Trophy, given annually to “the defense player who demonstrates throughout the season the greatest all-around ability in the position,” as chosen by the Professional Hockey Writers Association. And not one of them was named Lidstrom, Chara or Weber.

In fact, all three of this year’s nominees — Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang, Montreal’s P.K. Subban and Minnesota’s Ryan Suter — are first-timers. A signal of a changing of the guard among the league’s elite blueliners? That’s never a bad thing. All three deserve the recognition.

So, who’s going to win it?

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Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin, who has missed 17 games this season, will return to action tonight. (USA Today)

By Allan Muir

Good news tonight in Pittsburgh — and bad news for the rest of the league.

Local media are reporting that Evgeni Malkin will check back into the lineup for tonight’s home game against the Buffalo Sabres. The reigning Hart Trophy winner has missed 17 games this season, including the last four with a lingering upper body injury.

Other sources say that Marc-Andre Fleury and Kris Letang also are set to play. Fleury missed the last game in Ottawa to stay by the side of his pregnant wife. Letang missed the trip with food poisoning.

There’s no word yet on possible return dates for the players remaining on the sidelines, including Sidney Crosby, James Neal and Paul Martin.

The Pens are currently on a seven-game winning streak that already has seen them clinch the top seed for the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Marc Staal’s injury reignited the visor debate and postponed the NHL’s first three-Staal game. (Elsa/Getty Images)

By Allan Muir

A notated guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• The NHLPA refuses to agree to a common sense rule mandating the use of visors for its members, but the demands of insurance companies may take the issue out of their hands. Visors will be among the agenda items when the NHL’s general managers meet Wednesday in Toronto.

• Marc Staal’s lingering eye injury means tonight’s Hurricanes-Rangers matchup won’t be the first three Staal game in NHL history.

• The Penguins held on to beat the Bruins in Sunday’s nationally televised game, but lost defenseman Kris Letang. The Pens don’t skate today, so we may not know until Tuesday the nature and severity of his ailment. If it’s for any kind of term, Boston’s domination of the second and third periods suggests that Pittsburgh will need to look into a replacement. Meanwhile, Evgeni Malkin skated Sunday, but his availability for Tuesday remains TBD.

• Dejan Kovacevic breaks down how all hands have been on deck during Pittsburgh’s nine-game winning streak.

• No word yet on the status of David Krejci. Boston’s top center took the full force of a Johnny Boychuk point blast off the top of his knee in Sunday’s loss. Krejci was seen walking to the bus, albeit gingerly, so there’s hope that it’s just a deep (and probably very painful) bruise.

• Kevin Allen examines the sign or trade options facing top free agents-to-be.

• Is it time for the Winnipeg Jets to free first-rounder Alex Burmistrov from his press-box exile?

• Progressing contract talks could pull the names of Islanders’ veterans Mark Streit, Evgeni Nabokov and Lubomir Visnovsky out of the rumor mill.

• It took Ryan Suter 10 games to get comfortable in his new surroundings, but he’s catapulted himself back into Norris contention with a tremendous stretch of hockey over the last six weeks.

• “I don’t want to be the guy that crashes Terry’s car.” Check out this behind-the-scenes look at the parent/mentor trip the Buffalo Sabres put on this season. Guess it wouldn’t suck to be an NHL player after all.

• The return of Ryan O’Reilly is bringing out the best in Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog. Meanwhile, Bob McKenzie tweeted that 2010 first rounder Joey Hishon is set to play his first game in nearly two years after suffering a concussion in the 2011 Memorial Cup.

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Stephane Robidas and Corey Perry dropped the gloves after some early physical play. (LM Otero/AP)

By Allan Muir

An extended Snowmaggedon guide to this morning’s must-read hockey stories:

• A couple of nasty spearing incidents marred an otherwise entertaining game between Dallas and Anaheim Friday night. Problem for the Ducks is that Stars’ defenseman Stephane Robidas got away with his when he jabbed Corey Perry.

• The winter storm has pushed the start time of today’s Boston-Tampa Bay game from 1 PM to 7 PM. The caution amuses Tuukka Rask and Claude Julien.

• Several Bruins players opened up about former teammate Tim Thomas. Lots of reading between the lines to be done here.

• Sean Avery decided to pop on TSN’s Between The Line. Not surprisingly, he offered up some hot sports opinions.

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