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Gene J. Puskar | Associated Press
The Ducks’ Teemu Selanne backhands the puck past Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury for the go-ahead goal in the third period.
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Puck Rakers
A blog about the Blue Jackets and the NHL
One Signed, Two Set Free
The Blue Jackets have agreed to terms with defenseman Austin Madaisky on a three-year, entry-level contract, and the official deal should be announced shortly. Madaisky was a fifth-round pick (No. 124 overall) in the 2010 NHL entry draft.
Two other picks - right winger Petr Straka (2nd round, No. 55) and defenseman Brandon Archibald (4th round, No. 94) - have been informed by the Blue Jackets that they won't be signed, sending them back in the pool of draftable players for next month's draft in Pittsburgh.
Of those two, Straka is the mild surprise.
He had 28-36-64 in 62 games with Rimouski (QMJHL) during his draft year, but tailed off badly the last two seasons. In 2010-11, he had 10-15-25 in 41 games. This season, he had 18-19-37 in 54 games. That's fewer points the last two seasons -- 62 in 95 games -- than he scored as a 17-year-old.
However, Straka made a pretty good last-best argument for a deal with his performance in the QMJHL playoffs. He had 10-12-22 in 21 games, becoming a point-a-game player once again. The bet here is that he gets drafted his June, but certainly on Saturday (2nd through 7th rounds) and probably later in the day.
The Blue Jackets acquired the pick used on Straka with the 2010 trade deadline deal that sent winger Raffi Torres to Buffalo.
Madaisky, meanwhile, blossomed this season in his fourth year of juniors, the last three spent with Kamloops (WHL). He had 13 goals, 37 assists, 50 points and a plus-20 rating, all career highs. He also had 87 penalty minutes. He could play a fifth year of junior next season, or begin his pro career, likely with AHL Springfield.
Blue Jackets GM Scott Howson and the hockey operations department face one last difficult decision as it pertains to the 2010 draft class. Goaltender Mathieu Corbeil remains unsigned, and the Jackets still aren't sure if they want to keep him in the fold.
"We'll evaluate him in the Memorial Cup and make a decision," Howson said. "Not sure right now."
Corbeil is 50-11-2 in the last two seasons with Saint John of the QMJHL, which won the Memorial Cup last season and is a favorite to repeat. Corbeil, named the QMJHL's goalie of the year, is 16-0-1 in this year's playoffs, with a 2.18 goals-against average and .917 save percentage.
Those numbers will cause many readers to scratch their temples and wonder: "How could they possibly not want this guy?" What the Blue Jackets are trying to determine is if Corbeil is a product of a powerhouse hockey club or a goaltender with legitimiate NHL potential. These are the questions that keep scouts up late at night.
Two weeks ago, the Blue Jackets seemed to be leaning away from signing Corbeil. These days it seems to be leaning back the other direction, though no decision has been made.
-- Aaron Portzline
twitter: @aportzline
TOP GAME
Ducks 2, Penguins 1
Selanne’s goal helps Anaheim get first win in Pittsburgh in 11 years
Teemu Selanne beat goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury midway through the third period, and Anaheim snapped Pittsburgh’s six-game home winning streak last night.
Corey Perry added his 28th goal and Jonas Hiller made 25 saves for Anaheim, which won in Pittsburgh for the first time in 11 years by slowing down Penguins star Evgeni Malkin.
The NHL’s leading scorer was held pointless for the second time this month, and his eight-game goal streak at home ended, too. Jordan Staal scored for Pittsburgh, but the Penguins’ high-flying offense was bottled up over the last two periods.
Selanne’s 19th goal of the season was the 656th of his career, moving him into a tie with Brendan Shanahan for 12th place in NHL history.
Selanne gave the Ducks the lead after he took a long pass from Matt Beleskey and backhanded a shot past Fleury 7:51 into the third. Hiller made the goal stand up, though he had help from a defense that limited Pittsburgh to 26 shots, eight below its average.
For the first 40 minutes or so, however, it looked as though one goal would be enough for the Penguins.
Staal gave Pittsburgh an early lead when a turnover led to a two-on-one break with Matt Cooke. Staal faked a pass to Cooke and then fired a shot over Hiller’s stick side for his 17th goal of the season.
Anaheim finally broke through with less than a minute to play in the second period when Perry fired a low wrist shot past Fleury from in close for his fifth goal in three games.
OTHER GAMES
• Senators 6, Panthers 2: Craig Anderson made 42 saves, six Ottawa players scored, and the Senators ran their winning streak against Florida to nine games.
• Bruins 4, Canadiens 3, SO: Tyler Seguin’s shootout goal gave Boston a victory after the Bruins squandered a two-goal lead in the third period.
NOTABLE
• Ruutu expected out three weeks: The Carolina Hurricanes said they expect forward Tuomo Ruutu to miss three weeks because of an unspecified upper-body injury.
The Hurricanes called up forward Jerome Samson from Charlotte of the American Hockey League.
Ruutu was injured in the first period of a 5-3 victory at Montreal on Monday night and did not return. He has a team-best 17 goals and is tied for second on the team with 30 points.
— Associated Press
