Jason Spezza is living large with some mad money after signing his extension with the Senators.

Considering that Alex Rodriguez and Joe Torre got more media coverage than the World Series when they were not even playing in it, and the New York Islanders have to battle about 100 teams for news coverage, it’s not surprising when they need to resort to publicity stunts. Like signing goalie Rick DiPietro to a 15-year contract. Or getting Christie Brinkley to drop the puck in their home opener. This weekend, the Islanders pulled another trick from their bag, bringing back legendary coach Al Arbour to lead the team for one more game. The 75-year old Arbour, who retired in 1984, coached his 1500^th game with the Islanders, earning his 740^th win in the process. It was a one-shot deal for the Islanders, but considering that they beat a more talented Penguins team 3-2 with “Radar” behind the bench, maybe they should consider doing it more often.

The game marked the second consecutive time that the Penguins had blown a 2-0 lead, and the Islanders out-shot them 39-25. Pittsburgh also lost 3-2 to the Avalanche after taking a 2-0 first-period lead on a pair of Sidney Crosby goals. Colorado winger Ben Guite scored his first goal of the season with 6:04 remaining in the second period and the Avalanche held on for the win. Crosby has now scored in 12 consecutive games after being held scoreless in the Pens’ season opener, but the Penguins are just 6-6-1 on the season.

It is still early in the season, but so far, Pittsburgh has a long way to go if they are going to contend for the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference as many analysts expected they would. The Penguins are already nine points behind the East-leading Senators, who went into Sunday night’s game against Boston with a record of 11-1-0. Riding high from signing Jason Spezza to a seven-year, 49 million dollar extension on Friday, Ottawa beat the Bruins 3-2 on Saturday for their sixth straight win. Mike Fisher scored a pair of goals and Martin Gerber won his eighth game of the season while the Senators out-shot Boston 45-19.

The Anaheim Ducks got some good news of their own Thursday night, as off-season acquisition Mathieu Schneider made his debut on the blue line. Schneider scored the only goal in the shootout as the Ducks defeated the Blue Jackets. (Really, with all the Ducks’ firepower, putting a defenseman on the shootout list was quite a hunch, wasn’t it?). Schneider then scored a goal and two assists for Anaheim in a 5-2 win over the Coyotes on Saturday. Scott Niedermayer certainly flourished alongside Chris Pronger, so the early returns indicating that Schneider can do a creditable impression must be very encouraging.

The Blue Jackets, who had defeated the Los Angeles Kings 4-1 earlier in the week, rebounded nicely from their loss to the Ducks by shutting out the Blues 3-0 on Sunday. The win gave Pascal Leclaire his league-leading fifth shutout of the season and improved Columbus’ record to 8-3-2. The Jackets aren’t a threat to catch the Central Division-leading Red Wings (11-2-1) but they are making it hard to doubt their ability to earn a playoff berth. Did you know that the Jackets are the only NHL team that has never made the playoffs? Food for thought.

In San Jose, the Jeremy Roenick countdown has officially reached a fever pitch: Roenick scored his 499th career goal against the Kings on Saturday; his second-period goal proved to be the game winner as the Sharks beat Los Angeles 3-1. It was Roenick’s fourth goal of the season, and in typical JR fashion, he said that he would be happy to reach the milestone wherever it happened, but he was glad it didn’t happen in Los Angeles. After all, it would not be Roenick without some controversy, right? Amazingly enough, three of Roenick’s four goals have been game winners, and the only non-game winner came in a game where he scored two goals. The Sharks’ next few games: home vs. Dallas, at Anaheim, and then two consecutive home games against the Coyotes. Somehow I don’t think it will break Roenick’s heart if his milestone has to wait until he faces his old teammates from the desert.

Here is my top 10 list of places that Roenick would probably like to score his 500^th goal:

1. Boston – Roenick grew up in Massachusetts


2. Chicago – Roenick started his career with the Blackhawks


3. San Jose – Roenick would like to be cheered; no better place than at home


4. Phoenix – Roenick spent a long time in the desert, still has some fans there


5. Toronto – site of the Hockey Hall of Fame, where Roenick would like to go someday without having to buy a ticket


6. Philadelphia – Roenick could at least get some cheesesteaks, maybe see some fans wearing his jersey


7. Minnesota – site of the US Hockey Hall of Fame, where Roenick will be able to go someday without buying a ticket


8. Anaheim – for practical reasons: the Sharks’ next road game


9. New York – who wouldn’t want to achieve a milestone in Madison Square Garden?


10. Detroit – Roenick was never loved by the Red Wings’ fans, but he could get the last laugh