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Eaves is expected to be out 4-to-6 weeks. .
Jim Rutherford didnt expect to fill all the holes on the Pittsburgh Penguins roster in a day. Willson Contreras Cubs Jersey . Good thing, because it didnt happen. Not even close. Still, the new general manager isnt panicking despite losing six players in free agency, including defencemen Brooks Orpik and Matt Niskanen, and talented winger Jussi Jokinen. Less than a month into the job, Rutherford is taking a pragmatic approach to replenishing the talent around stars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The process began Tuesday when the Penguins signed defenceman Christian Ehrhoff, forward Blake Comeau and goaltender Thomas Greiss to one-year deals. The team also retained forward Marcel Goc. Hardly the kind of splashy signings made elsewhere -- Washington spent $67.5 million alone to bring in Orpik and Niskanen -- but Rutherford isnt complaining. "We dont necessarily have to have our team all set for a playoff run in September," he said. Ehrhoff came onto the market over the weekend after the Buffalo Sabres bought out the final seven seasons his 10-year contract. The 31-year-old will make $4 million next season in Pittsburgh. The German-born Ehrhoff has 69 goals and 313 points in 692 games, and Rutherford believes Ehrhoffs skill set will fit in well under new coach Mike Johnston. "He plays a lot of minutes, 23-24 a game, can play right or left defence, power play, penalty kill," Rutherford said. "Hes in great shape and a great team guy. He can really skate and with the kind of team we have, having a guy back there that can skate and move the puck is important." Rutherford is confident the young defencemen in Pittsburghs minor league system will give the Penguins a solid blue line even without Orpik -- the longest-tenured defenceman in team history -- and Niskanen, who cashed in after a career year. Still, Rutherford didnt waste a chance to grab Ehrhoff despite the shortness of the deal. "He loved the opportunity to come with the Penguins," Rutherford said. "He just felt that, lets give it a one-year try with a good team and have a chance to win and then well look at it at the end of the season." Comeau provides depth as a third or fourth line forward. The 28-year-old had five goals and 11 assists in 61 games for the Columbus Blue Jackets last season. Greiss, who went 10-8-5 with a 2.29 goals-against average for Phoenix in 2013-14, will compete with Jeff Zatkoff for the backup spot behind Marc-Andre Fleury. The signings give the Penguins depth, but also leave plenty to address going forward, including who is going to play with Malkin after the departure of Jokinen and James Neal. The Penguins traded Neal to Nashville for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling on Friday, and Jokinen left on Tuesday to sign a four-year deal with the Florida Panthers. Hornqvist is a candidate to fill out a top six spot, and the return of Pascal Dupuis from a knee injury and Beau Bennett from a wrist injury should give the Penguins some options. Rutherford didnt rule out a run at free agent forward Nikolai Kulemin -- who happens to be a good friend of Malkins -- but isnt sure the money will work. "Theres always a chance but it would take someone getting very, very creative to figure out how that contract fits into our cap," Rutherford said. ------ AP Sports Writer John Wawrow in Buffalo, NY contributed to this report. Carlos Zambrano Cubs Jersey . The thinking at the time was Clowney could have already been promised he would be selected first overall by the Houston Texans, therefore negating any need to meet with any other teams. The plot took another twist this week. Carlos Zambrano Jersey . Aaron Hill and Cliff Pennington hit home runs in the first inning for the Diamondbacks, who beat the Miami Marlins 3-2 on Friday night.DETROIT - When the Detroit Red Wings get their offence rolling, they can be as dangerous as any team in the NHL.The Dallas Stars were firsthand witnesses on Thursday night as the Red Wings scored three goals in the first period en route to a 5-2 victory.The Red Wings have scored at least four goals in 14 games this season, including seven of the past nine.I dont know anything about that, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said. I just like scoring more than the other team, and I like when the other team gets less than two.The Red Wings got back on track after a 4-3 loss to Panthers on Tuesday snapped a four-game winning streak.We werent very happy after the Florida game, said Kyle Quincey, who scored his first goal of the season on a long slap shot in the third period. We put a lot of urgency on tonight, just getting back to doing what we do.Darren Helm, who gave Detroit a 1-0 lead in the first, netted his second goal of the game with 6:53 left to complete the scoring. The third period belonged to the Red Wings, who scored two goals and held a 9-3 edge in shots.Everyone is healthy for the first time in a long time, Helm said. Weve got good chemistry out there, and were a real confident group.Stephen Weiss and Pavel Datsyuk also scored for the Red Wings, and Jimmy Howard made 22 saves. Jussi Rynnas stopped 24 shots for Dallas.Detroit struck early when Helm dumped the puck toward the net from the red line, banking it in off the side of Rynnas pads 3:58 in.But 15 seconds later Dallas defenceman Jordie Benn led Colton Sceviour with a beautiful cross-ice pass. Willson Contreras Jersey. Sceviour poked it in to tie it.Midway through the period, Detroit struck again.Rynnas got turned around following a quick pass from Riley Sheahan to Stephen Weiss, who slipped in at 11:14.Detroit controlled the puck and the pace for the majority of the first period. With a minute to go, Datsyuk gave the Red Wings a 3-1 lead with a power-play goal.Goals-against is a team thing, Sceviour said. It doesnt take one guy. Weve left our goalies out to dry, unfortunately, too many times.This was the first start of the season for Rynnas, with Kari Lehtonen (3.1 goals against average) off to a slow start.Stars coach Lindy Ruff said he will take a game-by-game approach to the goalie situation, adding that both will continue to play.Were not going to win giving up five goals a night. No team is, he said.Tyler Seguin cut Dallas deficit to 3-2 at 14:26 of the second with a slot shot that hopped over Howards skate for a power-play goal.At the other end, Rynnas settled in and stopped all 10 Detroit shots in the second period, but the Red Wings pulled away in the third.NOTES: Dallas RW Patrick Eaves missed his first game after he broke his ankle while blocking a shot Tuesday in a loss to Toronto. Eaves is expected to be out 4-to-6 weeks. . Detroit RW Justin Abdelkader missed his second game due to a shoulder injury sustained Sunday against Vancouver. . Seguin played junior hockey with the suburban Detroit-based Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey league. ' ' '
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Activity: May 25 '20
