Empty Netter Assists - 9-28-09

Penguins

-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. From left to right, Tyler Kennedy, Pascal Dupuis and Chris Conner (above) connected on the Penguins' only goal.

-The Detroit-Free Press' recap. Jimmy Howard finally got a win in the preseason.

-The Detroit News' recap. Things got testy late.

-Last night's highlights courtesy of EN commenter GhostWalker40:

-Ray Shero's roster will have between 20 and 22 players.

-Do the Penguins need a seventh defenseman right now?

-The Atlantic Division won't be a picnic.

-The PensBlog has your Penguins bars covered.

-PensBurgh has a picture of Brent Johnson's new mask.

-Happy 64th birthday to former Penguins defenseman John Arbour. He was part of a trade that brought Jean Pronovost to the Penguins from the Bruins in May 1968.

Atlantic Division

-The Flyers officially put defenseman Randy Jones (right) on waivers.

-The Devils demoted forwards Ben Walter, Vladimir Zharkov, Olivier Magnan-Grenier and goaltender Jeff Frazee to Lowell of the AHL.

-The Rangers demoted forward Evgeny Grachev to Hartford of the AHL.

Northeast Division

-The Maple Leafs demoted forward Christian Hanson, a native of Pittsburgh, and defenceman Jonas Frogren to their AHL affiliate also in Toronto, returned forward Nazem Kadri to his junior team and released defenseman Andy Rogers.

-The Canadiens demoted forward Sergei Kostitsyn to Hamilton of the AHL.

-Thomas Vanek scored two goals for the Sabres in a wild 7-6 defeat of the rival Maple Leafs.

Southeast Division

-The Hurricanes demoted defenseman Jamie McBain and forward Brandon Sutter, their first-round pick in 2007, to Albany of the AHL.

-Brooks Laich had a goal and an assist for the Capitals in a 4-3 defeat of the Rangers.

-Two goals and an assist from Steven Stamkos helped the Lightning stomp the Thrashers, 5-1.

Central Division

-Ryan Jones scored two goals for the Predators in a 4-2 win against the rival Blue Jackets.

Northwest Division

-Avalanche forward Darcy Tucker (right) is looking for a rebound season.

-The Flames demoted goaltender David Shantz to Abbotsford of the AHL.

-The Wild demoted forwards Danny Irmen, Robbie Earl, Matt Kassian and Cody Almond to Houston of the AHL and returned defenseman Marco Scandella to his junior team.

-Tom Gilbert's overtime goal gave the Oilers a 5-4 win against the Canucks.

-Canucks forward Jannik Hansen broke his hand in a fight with Oilers forward GIlbert Brule:

Pacific Division

-The Coyotes demoted forward Brett McLean and defenseman David Schlemko to San Antonio of the AHL.

-The Sharks released forward Dan Hinote from his tryout.

-Bobby Ryan had two goals and an assist for the Ducks in a 5-4 win against the rival Kings.

Patrick Division

-The NHL wants officials to call more instigator penalties.

-Former Lightning forward Dmitry Afanasenkov and former Maple Leafs forward Igor Korolev signed with Lokomotiv Yaroslavl of the KHL. The team just suspended former Senators forward Radek Bonk.

(Photos: Kennedy, Dupuis and Conner-Jerry S. Mendoza/Associated Press; Jones-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Tucker-Doug Pensinger/Getty Images)