Empty Netter Assists - 3-29-09

Penguins

-Dave Molinari's recap from yesterday's game. Remember the good old days when Sidney Crosby was the clear-cut MVP?

-The Associated Press' recap. It took him a while, but Sidney Crosby finally found the back of the net.

-Newsday's recap. The Rangers are baffled how a fine citizen such as Sean Avery might be targeted by officials.

-The New York Times' recap. Derek Morris took the heat for Sidney Crosby's goal.

-Sergei Gonchar gave Sidney Crosby a little advice on how to shoot against Henrik Lundqvist.

-Mark Eaton needed some stitches after yesterday's game.

-Here's how Eaton got banged up:

-Rangers coach John Tortorella was pretty mad about Colton Orr's penalty.

-Tyler Kennedy vs. Sean Avery:

-Eric Godard vs. Colton Orr:

-No more blue jerseys!!!! For this season at least. Even though they originally were scheduled to wear them for one more game, April 1 vs. New Jersey, the team will not dress in those rags again this season.

-The Penguins have some good public relations.

-Dan Bylsma and Ray Shero will be among the folks on the dias at the Dapper Dan.

-What would've happened if the Penguins and Avalanche met in the 1996 Stanley Cup final?

-Has anyone seen Petr Sykora (right)?

-The Penguins have had a much better record with Alex Goligoski out of the lineup.

-Chris Minard had two goals and two assists and led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 5-2 win against the Toronto Marlies. Jeff Taffe added two assists for the Penguins.

-John Curry tied Dany Sabourin's AHL Penguins record with his 30th win of the season.

-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton leads the AHL with 94 third-period goals this season.

-The AHL Penguins signed defenseman Lane Caffaro to an amateur tryout contract.

-Bryan Ewing had a goal and an assist for the Wheeling Nailers in a 3-2 win at Elmira. Tommy Goebel added two assists for Wheeling.

-Yesterday we introduced you to Colton Yellow Horn of the Elmira Jackals. Alert EN reader Jamie Peklicz spotted an even better name on the Jackals' roster. Bear Trapp. Seriously. The dude's name is Bear Trapp. That's his real name too.

-Should we ask the obvious lame joke and wonder why the Hershey Bears haven't signed him?

-The Nailers have averaged over 3,000 fans per game for the second consecutive month.

Atlantic Division

-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: Shootout goals by Daniel Briere and Mike Richards gave the Flyers a 4-3 road win against the Islanders. Joffrey Lupul had two goals in regulation for Philadelphia while loveable teammate Scott Hartnell added a goal and an assist. Martin Biron made 30 saves in the win. Kyle Okposo led New York with two assists. The Flyers, who have won four out of their past five games, are in fourth place in the Eastern Division with 92 points, two more than the Penguins who are in sixth place with 90 points.

-We watched this game last night and were happy to see the Islanders put in a solid consistent effort in regulation and overtime. They have nothing to play for but pride. So after that solid respectable effort, what does New York coach Scott Gordon do at the start of the shootout? He sends Brendan Flipping Witt out to take the first shot. Brendan Witt! He doesn't have a goal of any kind at all this season and hasn't scored one since Jan. 22, 2008. We know the Islanders don't have a lot of natural talent on their roster, and maybe they were just giving a hard-working veteran a bone, but sending Brendan Witt out as your first shooter in the shootout was totally absurd.

-The Islanders roll into Mellon Arena April 9. We say the Penguins should sign Mario Lemieux for one game and stick him just on the power play. Go for 20 goals, have Eric Godard do something worth of a suspension that doesn't involve badmouthing someone's girlfriend and totally embarrass the Islanders.

-On a positive note, Radek Martinek (below) and the Islander did wear their sharp throwback uniforms:

-The Flyers avoided a disaster last night.

-Is there any hope for the Islanders?

-Defenseman Niclas Havelid has been a solid trade deadline pick up for the Devils.

Northeast Division

-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: Toni Lydman's first career shutout goal gave the Sabres a thrilling and important 4-3 win at Montreal. Tim Connolly led Buffalo with a goal and an assist in regulation while Ryan Miller, making his second start in as many nights after missing 13 games due to an ankle injury, made 32 saves in the win. The Canadiens got two regulation goals from former Penguins forward Alex Kovalev. Fire Craig Patrick. The Canadiens are in eighth place with 86 points, four less than the Penguins. The Sabres are in 10th place with 82 points.

-Buffalo coach Lindy Ruff dug deep into his memory bank when he chose Lydman for the shootout.

-While the Canadiens have gone through five different coaches, the Sabres have stuck with Lindy Ruff the past 11 years.

-Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta is dealing with a concussion.

-Check out the dirty hit by Montreal's Maxim Lapierre that led to Kaleta's injury (And a solid fight between Tom Kostopoulos and Craig Rivet):

-Former Penguins forward Mark Recchi had two goals and helped the Bruins claim a 7-5 win at Toronto. Fire Ray Shero. David Krejci and Michael Ryder each added a goal and an assist for Boston while teammate Matt Hunwick and Dennis Wideman each recorded three assists. Alexei Ponikarovsky led the Maple Leafs with two goals and an assist.

-Boston's Milan Lucic tagged Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski with a questionable hit:

-Check out this hit Toronto's Jeff Finger put on Boston's Marc Savard:

-Boston's Steve Montador went at it with Toronto's Luke Schenn:

Southeast Division

-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: Cam Ward made 31 saves for the Hurricanes in a 2-1 win at New Jersey. Joe Corvo had two assists for Carolina which has won six consecutive games. From the "life isn't fair" department, Martin Brodeur made 46 saves and lost. The Devils have lost four straight games and had an 11-game winning streak at home snapped. The Hurricanes are in fifth place with 91 points, one more than the Penguins.

-Check out one of Ward's saves:

-Not to be outdone, check out one of Brodeur's saves:

-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: Cory Stillman had a goal and two assists for the Panthers in a 6-3 win at Dallas. Florida got a goal and an assist each from Jay Bouwmeester, Radek Dvorak, Nathan Horton and Stephen Weiss. The Stars were led by Mike Ribeiro who had a goal and an assist. The roof has just caved in for Dallas which has lost six consecutive games. The Panthers are in ninth place with 85 points, five less than the Penguins.

-Former Penguins goaltender Johan Hedberg made 18 saves and earned his 100th career win as the Thrashers beat the Senators, 6-3. Fire Craig Patrick. Tobias Enstrom and Slava Kozlov each had a goal and an assist for Atlanta while teammates Ilya Kovalachuk and former Penguin Colby Armstrong each recorded a goal and an assist. Fire Ray Shero. Jason Spezza had two goals and an assist for Ottawa.

-It wasn't all good for Hedberg last night. Check out this mistake he made on a goal by Spezza:

-Ilya Kovalchuk hit the 40-goal mark for the fifth consecutive season.

-Check out this hit Atlanta's Jim Slater stuck on Ottawa's Ryan Shannon:

-The Capitals demoted forward Keith Aucoin, Oskar Osala and goaltender Simeon Varlamov to Hershey of the AHL.

-For some odd reason, forward Marty Reasoner wants to stay in Atlanta.

-Carolina forward Jussi Jokinen has stepped up in the absence of injured forward Matt Cullen.

-Is the massive amount of ice time Florida defenseman Jay Bouwmeester has received this season finally catching up to him?

-Lightning forward Martin St. Louis has begun mentoring rookie forward Steven Stamkos.

Central Division

-Shootout goals by Brad Boyes and David Perron gave the Blues a 4-3 win against the Blue Jackets. Chris Mason made 24 saves in the win which was St. Louis' fourth in a row. The victory moves the Blues into eighth place in the Western Conference.

-Check out this hit St. Louis' T.J. Oshie stuck on Columbus' Rick Nash:

-Oshie's hit keyed St. Louis' comeback.

-EN is officially jumping on the Blues' bandwagon by the way. There's something about them that just appeals to us. At the trade deadline, they considered dealing veteran Keith Tkachuk for future assets but basically said nuts to that and made a pledge to stick with pursuing the playoffs. They have some nice young players like Perron, Boyes and David Backes and one of the cooler logos in all of hockey. For whatever reason, that's a nice recipe for us to get on board with.

-If the Blues make the playoffs, we're picking them to sweep all of their series. To heck with logic.

-Steve Sullivan's (right) power-play goal in overtime gave the Predators a 4-3 win against the Kings. Sullivan also had two assists while teammate Martin Erat recorded assists on all of Nashville's goals.

-Nashville moved into seventh place in the Western Conference.

-The Blackhawks and Canucks have a big game tonight.

-Could the Central Division get all five teams into the playoffs?

-Two pretty gruesome injuries occured during a game Friday with the Grand Rapids Griffins, the Red Wings' AHL affiliate. First official Chris Cozzan took a skate to the neck and began to bleed. Cozzan was taken to the hospital and is expected to make a full recovery. Additionally, Griffins forward Ryan Oulahen suffered a broken left femur.(Kudos to EN reader Dave Wolf for the heads up.)

Northwest Division

-Jamie Lundmark had a goal and an assist for the Flames who edged the Wild, 3-2. Miikka Kiprusoff got the win despite allowing two goals on just 15 shots. Wild goaltender had a decidedly better performance by making 37 saves but still lost.

-The Flames actually had two goals called off within 42 seconds of each other:

-Wild forward Mikko Koivu is expected to return to the lineup tonight after missing three games due to a knee injury.

-Forward Owen Nolan's career has been given a kick start by joining the Wild.

-The Manitoba Moose, the Canucks AHL affiliate, will honor all of their former captains April 3. Among those who wore the "C" for the Moose include former Penguins Randy Gilhen and Nolan Baumgartner.

Pacific Division

-Two assists by Devin Setoguchi helped the Sharks edge the Coyotes, 3-2. Evgeni Nabokov made 25 saves in the win which pushed the Sharks ahead of the Red Wings in their seesaw battle for first place in the Western Conference.

-Coyotes forward Daniel Winnick abused Sharks forward Travis Moen's knuckles with his head last night:

-The Sharks set a franchise record by picking up their 109th point of the season.

-San Jose forward Patrick Marleau is dealing with a "lower-body" injury.

-With forward Jarrett Stoll out for the season due to a groin injury, the Kings recalled forward Brian Boyle from Manchester of the AHL.

-The Stars' playoff hopes are all but lost.

-Check out this crazy goal Dallas' Mike Ribeiro scored last night:

-Dallas defenseman Mark Fistric is dealing with an "upper-body" injury.

-Hey look at this. Another black and gold team with Ryan Whitney that can't do anything on the power play.

-Is it time for the Ducks to turn over their top goaltending job from Jean-Sebastien Giguere to Jonas Hiller?

NCAA Men's Tournament

-Vermont beat Air Force and got into the Frozen Four in really bizarre fashion. In the second overtime, Vermont defenseman Dan Lawson literally shot a puck through the net. It hit off the backboards so quickly, most folks didn't realize it. Play did not come to a halt for approximately five minutes when there was a scramble and a frozen puck near the Vermont net. The officials reviewed the shot by Lawson. After a delay of 12 minutes, a goal was verified and Vermont went on to win a crazy 3-2 game. We're still looking for a replay of this, but it sounds completely crazy.

-Also in the quarterfinals, Miami, Ohio moved on to the Frozen Four for the first time by beating Minnesota-Duluth, 2-1.

-Another No. 1 seed fell in the first round. Bemidji State knocked off Notre Dame, 5-1.

-New Hampshire beat North Dakota in a thriller, 6-5. Thomas Fortney tied the game up for New Hampshire with 0.1 seconds left in regulation then Peter LeBlanc's overtime goal sealed the win.

-Boston University stomped No. 4 Ohio State, 8-3. Boston University is the the only No. 1 seed left in the tournament.

-Also in the first round, Cornell edged Northeastern, 3-2.

Norris Division

-Latrobe is your Class AA Pennsylvania Cup champion.

-A preview of the USA Hockey 18-and-under Tier I and II national championships being held at Robert Morris' University Island Sports Center beginning Tuesday.

(Photos: Sykora-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Martinek-Paul Bereswill/Getty Images; Sullivan-Fredrik Breedon/Associated Press)