Gillies Slapped with NHL ban

Gillies Slapped with NHL ban

The NHL came down hard late Saturday night on two Islanders deemed to be instigators in Friday's fight-filled 9-3 pummeling of the Penguins.

Trevor Gillies earned a nine-game suspension for an elbow to Eric Tangradi's head during a third-period melee, and Matt Martin was slapped with a four-game ban for ambushing Pittsburgh's Max Talbot from behind in the neutral zone to ignite the first scrum in the second period.

Gillies continued punching Tangradi after drilling him with his elbow, and then he appeared to taunt the Pens rookie as Tangradi, whom the Pens claim suffered a concussion, lay prone on the ice. Martin also was suspended two games in December for charging Phoenix forward Vernon Fiddler.

Penguins Re-Acquire Forward Alexei Kovalev

Penguins Re-Acquire Forward Alexei Kovalev

Penguins Re-Acquire Forward Alexei Kovalev

  

The Penguins acquired Kovalev in a trade with the New York Rangers in 1998, with Petr Nedved being the principle piece traded the other way. From then until 2003 Kovalev skated 345 games with Pittsburgh, putting up 347 points (149 goals, 198 assists). In 2003, with the team plunging into economic turmoil, the Pens had to trade Kovalev back to the Rangers, with this time the principle piece being $5 million dollars coming back to Pittsburgh.