Empty Netter Assists - Eastern Conference - 12-28-08

Written by Seth Rorabaugh on Saturday, 27 December 2008 9:35 pm.

Penguins

-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. Michel Therrien said Carey Price stole the game.

-The Associated Press' recap. Therrien like his team's effort.

-Habs Inside Out's recap. The Canadiens need more games like that out of Andrei Kostitsyn.

-The Montreal Gazette's recap. The Habs have been telling Kostitsyn to shoot more.

-Sidney Crosby hates Evgeni Malkin for trying to steal the Art Ross Trophy.

-Don Cherry thinks Sidney Crosby, the league's second-leading scorer, needs to cut out all the "extra" stuff in order to jump start his game:

-Carey Price after the game:

-According to the Post-Gazette's powers-that-be, the Penguins' Stanley Cup run was the fifth biggest story of 2008 in Pittsburgh.

-Crosby is no Kyle Quincey.

-Want to see why the All-Star Lame Game is a joke?

-We're not really complaining so much about Gonchar being second in voting. Our biggest beef is with him even being on the ballot at all. We could see if it was still 1993 and paper ballots being used but it's 2008. They can't take Gonchar off the electronic ballot? It wasn't like he was injured a week or two into the season. He's been hurt since the preseason.

-Jeff Taffe had two goals and two assist for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins who edged the Bridgeport Sound Tigers, 5-4. Chris Minard scored two goals while Ryan Stone added three assists.

-Minard moved into a tie for the AHL's scoring lead.

-The AHL Penguins' power play came through last night.

-Tobias Holm and Andrew Lord each had a goal and an assist for the Wheeling Nailers who lost to the Cincinnati Cylcones, 5-4.

-Former Penguins broadcaster Joe Starkey (no, not that one) is retiring from his job as a broadcaster for the San Francisco 49ers. Starkey is probably best remembered for calling "The Play" between Cal and Stanford in 1982:

Atlantic Division

-Travis Zajac had a goal and two assist for the Devils in a 4-2 road win against the Rangers. Teammates Patrik Elias and Zach Parise each added a goal and an assist. Scott Clemmensen made 31 saves in the win.

-Rangers defenseman and former Penguin Michal Rozsival did not play last night due to personal reasons.

-Flyers defensemen Matt Carle (ankle), Kimmo Timonen (ankle) and forward Scott Hartnell (toe) are dinged up.

-Devils defenseman Bryce Salvador revealed he is dealing with an inner-ear infection. There was speculation he was dealing with a concussion.

-Is Rangers forward Scott Gomez (right) the NHL's most overrated player?

-Islanders forward Bill Guerin doesn't want to hear the "R" word.

Northeast Division

-Blake Wheeler had two goals for the Bruins who recorded their seventh consecutive win in an 4-2 win at Carolina. Marc Savard and Dennis Wideman each had two assists for Boston while goaltender Tim Thomas made 29 saves in the win.

-Shootout goals from Ales Kotalik and Drew Stafford gave the Sabres a 4-3 win against the Islanders. Kotalik and Islanders forward Bill Guerin each had two assists in regulation. Buffalo's Ryan Miller made 32 saves in the win.

-Check out Kotalik's and Stafford's goals:

-After putting forward Paul Gaustad on injured reserve due to an "upper-body" injury, Buffalo recalled forward Tim Kennedy from Portland of the AHL.

-Check out this pretty neat photo gallery of the Buffalo Memorial Auditorium.

-The Canadiens demoted forwards Kyle Chipchura and Max Pacioretty to Hamilton of the AHL.

-Maple Leafs forward Matt Stajan is dealing with blurry vision.

-The Maple Leafs demoted goaltender Justin Pogge to their AHL affiliate.

-If there's one rule in life we pretty much never question, it's that Bruins play-by-play guy Jack Edwards is almost legally insane:

Southeast Division

-Start printing the Southeast Division title t-shirts. The Lightning has won three in a row. Former Penguins forward Ryan Malone and Martin St. Louis each had a goal and three assists for Tampa Bay in a 6-4 defeat of the rival Panthers. Fire Ray Shero. Teammate Vincent Lecavalier added 2 goals and an assist. David Booth led Florida with two goals and an assist. Another former Penguin, Mark Recchi, recorded an assist for Tampa Bay and tied Bruins great Phil Esposito for 20th place on the NHL's all-time assist list with 873. Fire Ray Shero.