NHL Report

Cooke gets harsh penalty; Pens win shootout

Oft-penalized Matt Cooke received the stiffest sentence of his 12-season NHL career when the Pittsburgh Penguins' left winger was suspended Monday for the remainder of the regular season, and the first round of the playoffs, for elbowing defenseman Ryan McDonagh of the New York Rangers in the head one day earlier.

Pittsburgh has nine regular-season games to play after beating Detroit, 5-4, in a shootout on Monday night. They meet the Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center on Thursday and on March 29 in Pittsburgh. Cooke will lose $219,512.20 in salary.

Penguins general manager Ray Shero supported the penalty, saying in a statement that the suspension was "warranted because that's exactly the kind of hit we're trying to get out of the game."

It is Cooke's fifth suspension and the fourth since he signed with the Penguins in 2008. It was Cooke's unpenalized hit last season on Boston's Marc Savard that led to the creation of a rule that bans blindside hits to the head.

In the Pens' victory, James Neal scored the only goal in the shootout, and Pittsburgh pulled out the win over the Red Wings in Detroit after blowing a four-goal lead. Pascal Dupuis had two goals and an assist to help Pittsburgh build its big lead.

Noteworthy. Vancouver center Manny Malhotra is out for the rest of the regular season and the playoffs with an eye injury that required surgery, the team announced Monday. Malhotra was hit in the left eye by an errant puck during Wednesday's game against Colorado, and underwent surgery later that night. . . . San Jose rookie Logan Couture sat out practice Monday after leaving the previous game following a hard fall into the boards that injured his right leg. . . . Toronto signed 22-year-old forward Tyler Brenner of Rochester Institute of Technology to a two-year contract. . . . Last-place Ottawa signed 29-year-old goalie Craig Anderson to a four-year, $12.75 million contract. Anderson was acquired Feb. 18 in a trade with Colorado. He is 6-4-1 with one shutout, a .938 save percentage and 2.11 goals-against average.