Empty Netter Assists - 11-13-10
Penguins
-Shelly Anderson's recap from last night's game. "It was a good feeling. It was awesome." - Marc-Andre Fleury (above) on fans chanting his name.
-The St. Petersburg Times' recap. The Lightning had a season-low 16 shots on net.
-The Associated Press' recap.
-The Penguins' Web Site's recap. "There was no doubt from our bench that he was going to play well tonight and he did." - Maxime Talbot on Fleury.
-NHL.com's recap. Fleury became the seventh-youngest goaltender to record his 150th career win.
-Mike Lange's goal calls.
-Fleury's big save on Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis in the second period:
-Fleury's big third period saves on Tampa Bay's Steven Stamkos and Adam Hall on a five-on-three in the third period:
-Dan Bylsma speaks:
-Fleury alone in the dark:
-Fleury going to his buttlerfly in the snow:
-Fleury going to his fans:
-"Dude, I can't believe people thought I was better than you."
-Steely glaring times for Evgeni Malkin:
-Talbot being popular:
-Happy times for Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby:
-Happy times for Tyler Kennedy, Pascal Dupuis and Letang:
-Crosby making a stupid face while shooting:
-Crosby making a determined face:
-Crosby trying to tuck one by Tampa Bay goaltender Mike Smith:
-Letang attempting a poke check on Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis:
-Smith is an X-Men fan apparently:
-Talbot said he "blacked out" on his goal last night (PG+).
-Deryk Engelland said he would keep the stick and puck he scored his first career goal with forever (PG+).
-Engelland speaks, shows off his puck:
-Once again, the NHL's All-Star Lame Game ballot was released. Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin are the Penguins players on the ballot.
-John Curry made 18 saves for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 5-1 loss to the Binghamton Senators.
-Highlights:
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-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Zach Sill threw down with Binghamton's Zack Smith:
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-Mattais Modig made 39 saves for the Wheeling Nailers in a 5-3 loss to the Trenton Devils.
-The NHL's Web site has been compiling videos of some of the more memorable goal celebrations in league history. Here's the contributions of former Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr:
-Happy 45th birthday to former Penguins goaltender Steve Guenette. A free agent signing late in the 1984-85 season, Guenette spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins. As a rookie in 1986-87, Guenette appeared in two games, went 0-2-0, had a 4.25 goals against average, and a .852 save percentage. In 1987-88, he played in a career high 19 games, went 12-7-0 and had a 3.35 goals against average as well as an. .895 save percentage and one shutout. After seeing action in 11 games, going 5-6-0 with a 4.29 goals against average and an .867 goals against average, Guenette was traded to the Flames for a draft pick. In 32 career games with the Penguins, Guenette had a 17-15-0 record, a 3.71 goals against average, an .883 save percentage and one shutout.
Atlantic Division
-Two nights after his shootout blunder, Ilya Kovalchuk rebounded in a big way. His overtime goal gave the Devils a 4-3 win against the Oilers. Patrik Elias recorded two assists for New Jersey while Martin Brodeur (above) returned to the lineup and made 21 saves in the victory. Colin Fraser led Edmonton with two goals.
-Kovalchuk's goal:
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-It wasn't all bad for Edmonton. Check in this "bunted" goal by Oilers forward Sam Gagner:
-Check out his save by Edmonton's Devan Dubnyk:
-New Jersey's David Clarkson and Edmonton's Zach Stortini had issues:
-Devils coach John MacLean tried to explain to the officials how many players he was allowed to dress due to Kovalchuk's contract sucking up all their salary cap space:
-We think.
-Devils rookie forwards Mattias Tedenby and Alexander Vasyunov each scored their first career goals. It was the first time two Devils scored their first career goals in the same game since Denis Pederson and Jason Smith pulled the trick Oct. 12, 1995 against the Winnipeg Jets.
-Check out the pass by New Jersey's Travis Zajac to set up Vasyunov for his goal:
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-New Jersey forward Brian Rolston returned to the lineup after missing 14 games due to a sport hernia and netted a goal.
-New Jersey captain Jamie Langenbrunner missed the game due to an "upper-body" injury.
-The Devils demoted goaltender Mike McKenna to Albany of the AHL.
-New Jersey placed forward Brian Rolston (knee) on long-term injured reserve.
Northeast Division
-The Maple Leafs recalled forward Nazem Kadri and defenseman Keith Aulie from Toronto of the AHL.
-Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller is expected to return to the lineup tonight after missing five games due to a hip ailment.
-The Sabres signed goaltender David Leggio. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
-Remember that story about the female Bruins fan kicking a hole into a restroom pillar? Well there's a video. And the Bruins responded in kind:
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Southeast Division
-Tomas Vokoun made 22 saves and led the Panthers to a 2-1 defeat of the Wild. Florida has won three consecutive home games.
-Panthers forward Steve Bernier suffered facial injuries in a post-game scrum when Wild forward Brent Burns butt-ended him in the face:
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-Check out this "save" by Florida's Dennis Wideman:
-Forward Radek Dvorak appeared in his 574th game for the Panthers and set the franchise record for most games played. Defenseman Robert Svehla (573), a friend of Dvorak, previously held the mark.
-The Lightning is missing three of its top six forwards in Steve Downie, Simon Gagne and Vincent Lecavalier.
Central Division
-The Blues signed forward David Backes to a five-year contract extension worth a total of $22.5. He will have a salary cap hit of $4.5 million. Backes was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after the season.
-St. Louis demoted defenseman Ian Cole to Peoria of the AHL.
-Blue Jackets forwards Rick Nash and Derek MacKenzie missed last night's game due to "lower-body" injuries.
-The Blackhawks activated Dave Bolland ("upper body") from injured reserve.
-Forward Todd Bertuzzi (right) might be the Red Wings' best player right now.
Northwest Division
-David Jones had two goals and an assist for the Avalanche in a 5-1 rout of the Blue Jackets. Milan Hejduk recorded two assists for Colorado while Peter Budaj made 28 saves in the victory.
-The Wild recalled defenseman Marco Scandella from Houston of the AHL.
-Oilers coach Tom Renney returns to Madison Square Garden Sunday for the first time since he was fired as the Rangers' coach Feb. 23, 2009.
Pacific Division
-The Ducks are on fire. Two goals by Bobby Ryan helped Anaheim earn its sixth consecutive win, a 4-2 defeat of the Stars. Teammates Cam Fowler and Corey Perry each recorded two assists while Jonas Hiller made 27 saves in the victory.
-Check out this tight little pass by Perry to set up teammate Getzlaf for a goal:
-Hiller had issues with this puck:
-"We've clawed ourselves back into respectability, that's all it is." - Ducks coach and former Penguin captain Randy Carlyle downplaying his team's winning streak.
-Vernon Fiddler's hat trick led the Coyotes to a 5-4 defeat of the Flames. Lauri Korpikoski recorded three assists for Philadelphia while teammate Adrian Aucoin added two assists. Ilya Bryzgalov made 31 saves in the victory. Rene Bourque had a goal and an assist for Calgary.
-Fiddler's hat trick:
-Bryzgalov had issues with this puck:
-We don't want to suggest Coyotes tickets are easy to get, but...:
-The Coyotes demoted defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson to San Antonio of the AHL.
-Leave it to Coyotes forward and former Penguin Paul Bissonnette to be the reason NHL brass begins monitoring players on Twitter.
Adams Division
-Denny Urban had a goal and two assists for the Robert Morris men's team in a 4-4 tie with Sacred Heart.
-Robert Morris men's coach Derek Schooley is now on Twitter. (@derekschooley).
-Ryan Zapolski made 29 saves for the Mercyhurst men's team in a 4-0 shutout of Army.
-Thea Imbrogno had a goal and an assist for the Robert Morris womens' team in a 3-1 defeat of Wayne State.
(Photos: Lightning/Penguins-Justin K. Aller/Getty Images and Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press; Oilers/Devils-Bill Kostroun; Bertuzzi-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images Stars/Ducks-Chris Carlson/Associated Press; Flames/Coyotes-Paul Connors/Associated Press)