Ryan Reaves wasn't kidding.

The Pittsburgh Penguins grinder, who is black, followed through on a prediction to Willie O'Ree, who broke the NHL's color barrier about 60 years ago.

"I met Ryan for the first time (Thursday) in the dressing room, and he told me he was going to get a goal for me, (and) he got a goal for me," O'Ree told Penguins TV's Celina Pompeani, not long after Reaves opened the scoring against the Los Angeles Kings on Thursday night.

Here's O'Ree being interviewed at the game, and eventually confirming that Reaves predicted he'd light the lamp for the hockey icon.

After the game, the Penguins forward expressed how special it was, but clarified that he didn't exactly make a guarantee.

"I cannot promise goals," Reaves said, according to Michelle Crechiolo of the club's official website.

"I don't know if you've seen my scoring touch," Reaves added jokingly. "But I said I was going to have a good game for him, hopefully get him one, and I did."

O'Ree is an official ambassador for the NHL's Hockey is for Everyone Month.

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New York Islanders goaltender Jaroslav Halak turned in what was, by far, his best outing of the season on Thursday night.

The 32-year-old turned away all 50 shots thrown his way as the Islanders bested the New York Rangers 3-0. For Halak, the 50-save performance was just one save shy of Glenn Healey's 51-save shutout on Jan. 16, 1990 for the most saves in an Islanders shutout win.

Meanwhile, it marked the first shutout for Halak since Apr. 6, 2017, when he turned away all 29 shots against the Carolina Hurricanes.

As for the workload, it was nothing new for the goalie, who has now faced 50 or more shots in two straight games. He was peppered with 51 shots in the team's 4-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night.

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It's been a night of firsts for a couple of players who were recently dealt for each other.

Both of the principals in Tuesday's trade between the Ottawa Senators and the Los Angeles Kings paid rather instant dividends in their respective debuts.

After Dion Phaneuf scored in his first game with the Kings against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Thursday night, Marian Gaborik followed suit with the Senators, redirecting an Erik Karlsson point shot for his first goal with Ottawa in a game against the Buffalo Sabres.

Gaborik was traded by the Kings to the Senators along with forward Nick Shore for Phaneuf and center Nate Thompson.

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Thanks to an assist on Nico Hischier's third-period tally, New Jersey Devils forward Taylor Hall has now collected at least a point in 16 consecutive games.

The streak is now the longest in franchise history, according to NHL Public Relations.

During the streak Hall has picked up 11 goals and 24 points, giving him 60 points on the season, putting him clear of the 20 goals and 53 points he had all of last season.

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Defenseman Ryan McDonagh's camp recently submitted a 10-team no-trade list to the New York Rangers, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

The 28-year-old has one year left on his contract after this season with a $4.7-million cap hit, making McDonagh more than merely a rental player.

That being said, the Rangers' front office appears ready to sell its assets after releasing a statement notifying fans that they can expect many moves as the club looks to rebuild.

McDonagh is in his eighth season with the Rangers where he's put up two goals and 26 points in 49 games.

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Radim Vrbata could be sent packing ahead of the trade deadline.

The Florida Panthers forward gave the team a list of 10 teams he's willing to be traded to last month, according to TSN's Pierre LeBrun.

The 36-year-old is set to become an unrestricted free agent next season so the Panthers may look to collect some assets rather than let him walk for nothing.

In saying that, it's unlikely Vrbata will be able to garner much in any potential deal since he's managed just five goals and 13 points in 36 games this season.

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Mathew Barzal hit another impressive benchmark as his magical first season in the NHL continues.

The New York Islanders phenom nabbed the secondary assist on Josh Bailey's sweet power-play goal less than five minutes into Thursday's game against the New York Rangers, and in doing so, collected his 60th point.

Barzal became the first Islanders rookie to do that in 40 years, joining Bryan Trottier and Mike Bossy as the only first-year Islanders to reach the mark, according to statistician Eric Hornick.

Barzal might be hard-pressed to match Trottier's franchise rookie record of 95, and may find it tough to equal Bossy's mark of 91, but he's built himself a comfortable cushion atop the current NHL rookie crop in the points department.

He entered Thursday's action with a 10-point lead on Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks before at least temporarily padding it with his early helper.

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During a career that saw him play 953 NHL games with the Detroit Red Wings, Pavel Datsyuk accomplished almost everything professional hockey has to offer.

His resume includes two Stanley Cup rings, three Frank J. Selke trophies, and a World Championship gold medal from 2012. But the 39-year-old is still chasing an ever-elusive accomplishment - an Olympic gold medal. Being that the dynamic forward now plies his trade in the KHL in Russia, the opportunity to join the Olympic Athletes from Russia in PyeongChang 2018 could help him end his career in style.

Datsyuk is looking to redeem his international career and is likely trying to chase away a bitter feeling following Sochi 2014. Facing stratospheric pressure while his country hosted the Olympics, Datsyuk was named captain of Russia's 2014 squad. And though many were confident the country's hockey team would emerge victorious, Russia crumpled to an embarrassing fifth-place finish. It was a harrowing, nightmarish outcome with some fans defining the performance as "a catastrophe and shame for Russia" while others were too shell-shocked to vocalize their criticism. With NHL players barred from PyeongChang 2018, the Olympic Athletes from Russia are the odds-on favorite and there's no excuse for Datsyuk and Co. to walk away with anything less than gold this time around.

Quite simply, Datsyuk is the definitive two-way forward of his era while also boasting some of the best puckhandling skills hockey has ever seen. In fact, his style of play became a template that coaches look to when teaching young players how to play in the NHL.

And perhaps Datsyuk can put those skills to good use one last time. Over 20 years after he first broke onto the scene, an Olympic gold medal around his neck would put a bow on his decorated career.

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The Toronto Maple Leafs have traded forward Nikita Soshnikov to the St. Louis Blues for a fourth-round pick in 2019.

Soshnikov played only three games for the Leafs this season due to injury and simply being supplanted on the organization's depth chart.

The 24-year-old missed 28 games with an ailment the club would only classify as being of the "lower-body" variety. He was placed on injured reserve on Dec. 12.

He posted 17 points in 19 games with the AHL's Toronto Marlies in 2017-18 after appearing in 56 NHL games last season.

Soshnikov was signed by the Leafs out of the KHL in 2015.

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The Ottawa Senators traded forward Chris DiDomenico to the Chicago Blackhawks in exchange for defenseman Ville Pokka, the team announced Thursday.

DiDomenico joins the Blackhawks after splitting this season between the main club and the AHL's Belleville Senators and Syracuse Crunch. In 24 games with Ottawa, the 28-year-old put up six goals and 10 points, while recording another 15 points in 28 games in the minors.

In Pokka, the Senators get a 23-year-old defenseman who has played the past four seasons with the Rockford IceHogs of the AHL. Originally a second-round selection of the New York Islanders in 2012, Pokka has steadily produced in the minors, putting up 28 goals and 127 points in 266 games.

Pokka will report to the Senators' AHL affiliate. DiDomenico will become an unrestricted free agent this summer, while Pokka will become a restricted free agent.

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