Empty Netter Assists - 03-28-10
Penguins
-Is the Winter Classic at Heinz Field close to being a done deal?
-Dave Molinari's recap from yesterday's game. Simon Gagne's non-goal in the second period was critical.
-The Philadelphia Inquirer's recap. "It was going to be 2-1 for us and could be a totally different game." - Gagne.
-NHL.com's recap. The Penguins officially claimed a playoff berth.
-The Associated Press' recap. "All of our goals were a result of going to the net, crashing there and getting second chances." - Dan Bylsma.
-Highlights:
-Consol Energy Center is going to have better acoustics than Mellon Arena.
-Matt Cooke realizes he'll still be a target should they meet the Bruins again.
-"I think there was an attempt to injure there." - Bruins forward Marc Savard on suffering a concussion off a hit by Cooke, March 7.
-What Eastern Conference team do you want to see the Penguins avoid in the first round (PG+)?
-John Curry made 21 saves for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 4-2 loss to the rival Hershey Bears.
-Adam Berkhoel made 25 saves for the Wheeling Nailers in a 5-1 loss to the Toledo Walleye.
-Happy 57th birthday to former Penguins defensemn Dennis Owchar. A second-round pick in 1973, Owchar spent parts of four seasons with the Penguins. Midway through the 1977-78 season, he was traded to the Rockies in exchange for Tom Edur. In 168 games with the Penguins, Owchar recorded 67 points.
Atlantic Division
-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: Martin Brodeur made 25 saves an led the Devils to a 4-3 win at Montreal. Ilya Kovalchuk recorded two assists for New Jersey. Andrei Kostitsyn led the Canadiens with a goal and an assist. The Devils, who clinched a playoff berth, are in second place in the Eastern Conference and first place in the Atlantic Division with 93 points, just as many as the Penguins who are in fourth and second place respectively. The Devils are ahead of the Penguins on account of having played on fewer game and recording one more win.
-Canadiens defenseman and former Penguin Hal Gill fought New Jersey's David Clarkson:
-Brodeur had issues with this puck:
-The Devils are in the playoffs for the 13th consecutive season.
-Devils forward Brian Rolston recorded his 700th career point with an empty-net goal.
-New Jersey forward Andrew Peters is dealing with an eye injury.
-An overtime goal and an assist by Josh Bailey led the Islanders to a 4-3 win at Columbus. Dwayne Roloson made 34 saves in the victory. Rick Nash led Columbus with a goal and an assist.
-Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro's wonky knee will officially end his season.
-With another goaltender in Johan Backlund going down to a groin injury, the Flyers recalled goaltender Carter Hutton from Adirondack of the AHL. Hutton was a college free agent signed out of Massachusetts-Lowell just last week.
-The Flyers are in the midst of another late-season collapse.
Northeast Division
-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: A hat trick and an assist from Derek Roy led the Sabres to a 7-1 rout of the Lightning. Jason Pominville added a goal and two assists while teammate Tyler Ennis recorded two assists. Former Penguin Patrick Lalime (above, with Chris Butler) made 22 saves in the victory. Fire Craig Patrick. The Sabres, who clinched a playoff berth, are in third place in the Eastern Conference with 92 points, one less than the fourth-place Penguins. The Sabres are ahead of the Penguins on account of being in first place in the Northeast Divisioin.
-After many tries, Lalime finally earned his 200th career win. Fire Craig Patrick.
-With forwards Tim Connolly ("lower-body") and Patrick Kaleta ("upper-body") dinged up, the Sabres recalled forward Tyler Ennis from Rochester of the AHL on an emergency basis.
-"It's embarrassing some guys packed it in." - Lightning coach and former Penguins forward Rich Tocchet.
-Erik Karlsson recorded three assists and led the Senators to a 3-2 win against the Panthers. Teammate Jason Spezza added two assists while Brian Elliott made 20 saves in the victory. Cory Stillman led Florida with two assists.
-Ottawa's Matt Carkner ran over Florida's Rostislav Olesz:
-Tim Thomas made 31 saves and led the Bruins to a 5-0 shutout of the Flames. Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara, David Krejci and Mark Recchi each recorded a goal and an assist. Fire Ray Shero. Dennis Wideman added two assists.
-Happy times for the Bruins. Not so much for the Flames:
-Boston's Shawn Thornton had issues with Calgary's Robyn Regehr:
-Tomas Kaberle, Nikolai Kulemin and John Mitchell each had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs in a 3-2 overtime win against the Rangers. Mikhail Garbovsky added two assists for Toronto while Jonas Gustavsson made 36 saves in the victory. Former Penguin Michal Rozsival led the Rangers with two assists. Fire Craig Patrick.
-We don't want to say the Maple Leafs don't get a lot of respect, but referee Kerry Fraser isn't exactly helping matters:
-Check out this goal by New York's Brandon Dubinsky:
-Canadiens forward Glen Metropolit is dealing with a separated shoulder.
Southeast Division
-Former Penguin Johan Hedberg made 34 saves and led the Thrashers to a 4-0 shutout win at Carolina. It was Hedberg's second shutout of the season. Atlanta is in ninth place in the Eastern Conference with 78 points, two less than seventh-place Boston and eighth-place Philadelphia.
-The Thrashers swept the Hurricanes this season.
-The Lightning recalled defenseman Vladimir Mihalik from Norfolk of the AHL.
-Panthers forward David Booth (concussion) was officially shut down for the season.
-The Capitals can clinch the first oveall seed in the Eastern Conference today with a win against the Flames.
Central Division
-Goals by Todd Bertuzzi and Niklas Kronwall gave the Red Wings a 1-0 win in an 11-round shootout victory. Detroit's Jimmy Howard made 33 saves in his shutout while Nashville's Pekka Rinne made 38 saves in his own shutout. The Red Wings have won five consecutive games and have moved into sixth place in the Western Conference.
-Detroit's Patrick Eaves attempted probably the worst shootout shot ever:
-The Blue Jackets recalled forward Trevor Frischmon from Syracuse of the AHL.
Northwest Division
-Avalanche forward Peter Mueller is dealing with a hip injury.
Pacific Division
-Patrick Marleau had a goal and three assists for the Sharks in a 4-2 defeat of the Canucks. Teammate Rob Blake added two assists while Evgeni Nabokov (above) made 35 saves in the victory. Alex Burrows led Vancouver with a goal and an assist.
-Sharks forward Joe Thornton suffered what looked like a knee injury:
-Lee Stempniak had two goals and an assist for the Coyotes in a 6-2 rout of the Avalanche. Former Avalanche Wojtek Wolski added a goal and two assists for Phoenix while teammates Vernon Fiddler and Taylor Pyatt each recorded a goal and an assist. Ilya Bryzgalov made 27 saves in the victory which gve the Coyotes 100 points for the first time in franchise history.
-Happy times for the Coyotes. Not so much for The Avalanche:
-Acquired at the trad deadline from the Maple Leafs, Stempniak has 12 goals in 12 games with Phoenix.
-Brad Richards had two goals and an assist for the Stars in a 4-1 win at Los Angeles. Teammates Mike Ribeiro and Stephane Robidas each added two assists while Kari Lehtonen made 29 saves in the victory.
-Bloody times for Kings captain Dustin Brown:
-Los Angeles' Jack Johnson kept his eyes on this puck:
-"I still kind of looked around during the TV timeout and thought I'm playing in the NHL right now." - Ducks forward Nick Bonino on making his NHL debut Friday.
NCAA Tournament - Regionals
-The improbable run of No. 4 seed RIT continued as Tyler Brenner scored two goals in a 6-2 upset of No. 3 New Hampshire.
-Curtis McKenzie had a goal and an assist for top-ranked Miami of Ohio which held off No. 4 Alabama-Huntsville, 2-1.
-Two goals from John Mitchell led No. 1 Wisconsin to a 5-3 against No. 2 St. Cloud State.
-Carl Hagelin had two goals and led No. 3 to a 5-1 defeat of Bemidji State.
-Matt Price had a goal and an assist for No. 1 Boston College which beat No. 4 Alaska, 3-1.
-Happy times for Nanooks fans:
-Two goals from Denny Kearney led No. 3 Yale to a 3-2 defeat of No. 2 North Dakota.
Patrick Division
-Mike "Doc" Emrick took a unique route towards his 3,00th professional game.
(Photos: Heinz Field-Scott Cunningham/Getty Images; Devils/Canadiens-Canadian Press; Lightning/Sabres-Don Heupel/Associated Press; Flames/Bruins-Michael Dwyer/Associated Press; Rangers/Maple Leafs-Canadian Press; Canucks/Sharks-George Nikitin/Associated Press; Avalanche/Coyotes-Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press; Stars/Kings-Danny Moloshok/Associated Press; RIT/New Hampshire-Steve Jacobs/Associated Press; Michigan/Bemidji State-Tom Strattman/Associated Press; Boston College-Mary Schwalm/Associated Press)