Empty Netter Assists - 10-23-10

Penguins

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-TGI Fridays and Qdoba are coming to Consol Energy Center.

-Two goals by Joe Vitale led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 3-2 win against the rival Hershey Bears. Steve Wagner added two assists for the Penguins while Brad Thiessen made 30 saves in the win.

-Highlights courtesy of The Pensblog's Eric Politowski:

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-At 5-0-0, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are the AHL's only remaining undefeated team.

-An overtime goal by Andrew Orpik - brother of the Penguins' Brooks - gave the Wheeling Nailers a 3-2 win against the Elmira Jackals. David Marshall scored both of Wheeling's regulation goals while teammate Darryl Smith recorded two assists. Patrick Killeen made 32 saves in the victory.

-The Nailers will face the Trenton Devils tonight in Johnstown.

-Happy 51st birthday to former Penguins defenseman Bennett Wolf. A third round pick in 1979, Wolf spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins. As a rookie in 1980-81, Wolf appeared in 24 games and recorded an assist - the only point of his NHL career. He followed that up with one game in 1981-82 and five games in 1982-83. He was released from the organization in the 1985 offseason.

Atlantic Division

-Former Penguins goaltender Johan Hedberg will make his first career start for the Devils tonight against the Sabres.

-Flyers forward Ville Leino is dealing with a charley horse in his righ leg.

-Islanders defenseman Andrew MacDonald will be sidelined four to six weeks due to a broken hand.

Northeast Division

-A hat trick by captain Daniel Alfredsson (above) led the Senators to a 4-2 win at Buffalo. Alfredsson's third goal made him the 75th player in NHL history to reach the 1,000-career point plateau. Former Penguin Sergei Gonchar and teammate Erik Karlsson each recorded two assists for Ottawa while Brian Elliott made 34 saves in the victory. Fire Ray Shero. Tim Connolly scored both of the Sabres' goals.

-Alfredsson's hat trick:

-Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta managed to take out Ottawa's Jesse Winchester and Chris Neil with one check:

-Not that the victim here has a great history, but check out this cheap shot by Buffalo's Thomas Vanek on Senators forward and former Penguin Jarkko Ruutu:

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-Alfredsson being popular:

-Happy times for the Senators. Not so much for the Sabres:

-Buffalo's Ryan Miller kept his eyes on this puck:

-Senators forward and former Penguin Alex Kovalev challenging another former Penguin, Sabres defenseman Jordan Leopold:

-Senators forward Jason Spezza was sidelined due to a groin ailment.

-Bruins forward Brad Marchand is dealing with a wonky foot.

Southeast Division

-A hat trick and an assist by Steven Stamkos led the Lightning to a 5-2 win at Atlanta. Captain Vincent Lecavalier added a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay while teammate Martin St. Louis (above, with Lecavalier and Stamkos) recorded two assists. Mike Smith made 28 saves in the victory. Dustin Byfuglien led the Thrashers with a goal and an assist.

-Stamkos' hat trick:

-Stamkos got a nice pat on the head from teammate Victor Hedman:

-Atlanta's Chris Mason had issues with this puck:

-Mason being popular:

-Pittsburgh Forge alumni Peter Mannino saw some action for Atlanta:

-A good look at Mannino's lid:

-Thinking Out Loud: How big of a trainwreck are the Thrashers uniforms? Look at those socks:

-Lightning forward Simon Gagne was sidelined due to a neck ailment and illness.

-Capitals owner Ted Leonsis called out his underpreforming team.

-Washington's power play has struggled with defenseman Mike Green sidelined due to an "upper-body" injury.

Central Division

-Two goals by David Perron helped the Blues beat the rival Blackhawks, 4-2. Teammate T.J. Oshie added two assists while Jaroslav Halak (above) made 23 saves in the victory.

-Check out this goal by Perron:

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-What was Marian Hossa doing there?

-Cool Photo of the Night: St. Louis' Barrett Jackman taking a shot against Chicago's Dave Bolland:

-Happy times for St. Louis' Patric Berglund:

-Oshie went all out for a puck here:

-Chicago's Marty Turco kept his eyes on this puck:

-Chicago's John Scott and St. Louis' Brad Winchester had issues:

-Racecar driver Danica Patrick handled the ceremonial faceoff between St. Louis' Eric Brewer and Chicago's Jonathan Toews:

Northwest Division

-It was a good night for hat tricks. A hat trick and an assist by Rene Bourque led the Flames to a 6-2 win at Columbus. Captain Jarome Iginla added three assists for Calgary while teammates Olli Jokinen (above, with Bourque), Matt Stajan and Robyn Regehr each recorded two assists. Henrik Karlsson made 20 saves to earn the win in his NHL debut.

-Bourque's hat trick:

-Happy times for Karlsson:

-Karlsson kept his eyes on this puck:

-There were all kinds of funny faces in this game. Calgary's Jay Bouwmeester and Columbus' Jakub Voracek:

-Voracek and Calgary's Matt Stajan:

-Calgary's Mark Giordano and Columbus' Rick Nash:

-Calgary's Jarome Iginla and Columbus' Rostislav Klesla:

-Two goals and an assist by Manny Malhotra led the Canucks to a 5-1 rout of the rival Wild. Raffi Torres added a goal and an assist for Vancouver while teammate Jannik Hansen recorded two assists. Cory Schneider made 23 saves in the victory.

-Malhotra's first goal was pretty nifty:

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-Check out this breakaway goal by Vancouver's Jeff Tambellini:

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-Happy times in Vancouver:

-The NHL officially suspended Canucks forward Rick Rypien six games for making contact with a fan in Minnesota Tuesday.

-NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman called James Engquist, the Wild fan Rypien grabbed, to apologize for the incident. Bettman also offered Engquist dinner and tickets to a game.

-Avalanche captain Adam Foote (right) is sidelined due to a concussion.

Pacific Division

-The Sharks are kicking around the idea of reuniting Dany Heatley, Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton on a line.

Smythe Division

-Does Winnipeg have the corporate support to back another NHL franchise?

-The Belorussian Hockey Federation signed a transfer agreement with the NHL.

-Sara O'Malley scored two goals for the Robert Morris women's team in a 3-2 loss to Cornell.

-Today would've been the 97th birthday of former Pittsburgh Yellowjackets forward Gordie Drillon. He was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1975.

(Photos: Senators/Sabres-Dave Sandford/Getty Images; Lightning/Thrashers-Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images and David Goldman/Associated Press; Blackhawks/Blues-Jeff Roberson/Associated Press and Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images; Flames/Blue Jackets-John Grieshop/Getty Images and Jay LaPrete/Associated Press; Wild/Canucks-Canadian Press; Foote-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)