---

The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed defenseman Nick D’Agostino, to a two-year entry-level contract, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Ray Shero.

The deal begins with the 2013-14 season and runs through the 2014-15 campaign.

D’Agostino, 22, played collegiate hockey the past four seasons at Cornell University after originally being drafted by the Penguins in the seventh round (210th overall) of the 2008 NHL Draft.

---

---

The Pittsburgh Penguins had all the answers Thursday night. As a result, they moved to within one victory of advancing to the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Asked troubling questions by the spirited, nothing-to-lose New York Islanders in losing two of the past three games, the Penguins finally found some answers in a dominant Game 5 performance, taking a 4-0 decision at the Consol Energy Center.

Game 6 of this best-of-7 series is Saturday night at Nassau Coliseum (7 p.m. ET; NBCSN, CBC, RDS). The eighth-seeded Isles need to win that game to force a winner-take-all Game 7 back here on Sunday.

---

---

Penguins veteran defenseman Mark Eaton has been paired with Kris Letang at times over the past several years, including the team's run to the 2009 Stanley Cup. There was a gap, though, when Eaton spent two seasons with the New York Islanders.

Look at how things have changed. Eaton rejoined the Penguins this season, the Islanders are the opposition in a first-round playoff series, and Letang has become one of the best at his craft.

Letang, 26, was one of three finalists announced Tuesday for the Norris Trophy, which goes to the top defenseman in the NHL, and Eaton can see why.

---

---

You would guess that when the first Islanders goal of Game 4 was the approximate length of a garden hose, it was a pretty clear indication Tuesday was not going to be a great night for the Penguins goaltender.

Marc-Andre Fleury has started every Penguins playoff game since 2007, all 78 of them, more than any of his teammates.

But the time has come for another man in another mask with another level of confidence. Perhaps any level of confidence.

---

---

In the end, the Pittsburgh Penguins had just a little too much star power for the New York Islanders.

Sidney Crosby drew a penalty in overtime, then set up Chris Kunitz's second power-play goal of the game, 8:44 into overtime, as the Penguins outlasted the New York Islanders, 5-4, in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference Quarterfinals series at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum on Sunday.

Islanders defenseman Brian Strait was called for holding Crosby as Crosby drove to the net, giving the Penguins their fifth power play. Crosby then set up wide in the left circle, took a pass from Paul Martin and found Kunitz in the slot for a quick shot that beat Evgeni Nabokov cleanly for the win.

---

---

JOKINEN OK, READY FOR GAME 2
Jokinen left in the third period of the Pens' 5-0 Game 1 victory after colliding with Reasoner in the neutral zone. He spoke with the media about his health...

On if he had any problems out there:
I felt all right.

On if he was concerned last night that he might have asignificant injury:
Yeah, obviously, those kinds of hits, lots of times you (lose) seasons, so those are dangerous hits and you could get hurt bad. But it’s part of the game and I’m lucky that I’m okay.

---

---

It's only one game, Douglas Murray reminds you, so temper the temptation to treat Game 1 of this
first-round Stanley Cup playoff series as anything but.

Not that I'd recommend disagreeing with Murray, mind you.

I mean, did you see how the New York Islanders were bouncing off the 6-foot-3, 245-pound defenseman Wednesday night in the Penguins' 5-0 victory? Even Isles left winger Matt Martin called playing against Murray “a challenge” he accepts.

---

---

For the Penguins, it was a tantalizing glimpse of what is to come.

There was Sidney Crosby, back between Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis on what had been hockey's most lethal line.

Crosby, back to enhance a No. 1 power-play unit that already looked as if it could score almost at will. While blindfolded.

---

---

Forwards Alexei Ponikarovsky, James Neal, Alex Kovalev, Jarome
Iginla, Brenden Morrow and Jussi Jokinen have at least two things in
common. All were brought to Pittsburgh by Penguins general manager Ray
Shero at or near the NHL trade deadline.

None bumped fourth-liner Craig Adams from the lineup.

"I think you would have to fight Dan to get Adams out," Shero said after the Ponikarovsky deal in 2010.

Some things never change.

---

---

The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward Anton Zlobin, to a three-year entry-level contract, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Ray Shero.

The deal begins with the 2013-14 season and runs through the 2015-16 campaign.

Zlobin, 20, was one of the top scorers in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) this season while playing for the Val-d’Or Foreurs, finishing ninth overall in regular-season scoring with 91 points (29G-62A) in 61 games.

---