Empty Netter Assists - 11-17-10

Penguins

-Dan Bylsma (above) is definitely a glass is half full kind of guy.

-Sidney Crosby? He's kind of good at playing hockey.

-Byslma speaks:

-The Penguins are good people:

-A goal and two assists by Dustin Jeffrey led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 4-1 defeat of the Albany Devils. Andrew Hutchinson added a goal and an assist while Chris Collins recorded two assists. Brad Thiessen made 18 saves in the victory.

-Highlights courtesy of The Pensblog's Eric Politowski:

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-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's Jesse Boulerice and Albany's Pierre-Luc Letourneau-Leblond busted each other wide open:

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-At one point, the AHL Penguins had a 24-3 lead in shots.

-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is now 8-0-0 on the road this season.

-Happy 40th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Chris Tamer (right). A fourth-round pick in 1990, Tamer, one of the toughest players in franchise history, spent parts of six seasons with the Penguins. As a rookie in 1993-94, Tamer saw action in 12 games and failed to record a point. He also appeared in five postseason games in 1994 failing to record a point. During the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign, Tamer played in 36 games, scored two goals and recorded 82 penalty minutes. In the 1995 playoffs, Tamer played in four games and was held without a point. Arguably his best season with the Penguins was 1995-96. He played in 70 games, scored 14 points and was second on the team with 153 penalty minutes. He appeared in 18 playoff games that spring and recorded a career-high seven assists. Tamer was limited to 45 games, seven assists and 131 penalty minutes in 1996-97. In the 1997 postseason, Tamer appeared in four contests and was held without a point. In 1997-98, Tamer played in 79 games, recorded seven assists and led the team with 181 penalty minutes. He played in all six of the team's postseason games that spring and recorded one assist. After 11 games and 32 penalty minutes in 1998-99, Tamer was traded to the Rangers along with Petr Nedved and Sean Pronger in exchange for for Alex Kovalev and Harry York. In 253 regular season games for the Penguins, Tamer scored 29 points and accumulated 588 penalty minutes, 17th-most in franchise history. In 37 postseason games, Tamer had eight assists and 52 penalty minutes. He is currently the owner/trainer of Sticks Training Center in Brighton, Mich.

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-Happy 54th birthday to former Penguins forward Bobby Simpson. A free agent signing just prior to the 1981-82 season, Simpson spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. In 1981-82, he appeared in 26 games and scored 18 points. He appeared in two postseason games that spring and failed to record a point. He followed that up in 1982-83 by only playing in four games and scoring one goal. After spending the entire 1983-84 offseason with the Penguins' AHL affiliate in Baltimore, Simpson was released in the 1984 offseason.

Atlantic Division

-Flyers forward and former Penguins prospect Daniel Carcillo will be sidelined three weeks due to a knee sprain.

-With defenseman Jack Hillen dealing with a concussion, the Islanders recalled former Pittsburgh Forge defenseman Dylan Reese (right), a native of Pittsburgh, from Bridgeport of the AHL.

Northeast Division

-Carey Price made 41 saves and led the Canadiens to a 3-0 shutout of the Flyers. Captain Brian Gionta had a goal and two assists for Montreal while teammate Tomas Plekanec added a goal and an assist.

-There aren't too many scenarios where you pretty much root for a Flyer all the way. Darroll Powe provided one such scenario with this beat down of Montreal pest Maxim Lapierre:

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-Lapierre was making Powe answer for this hit to Montreal's Jeff Halpern:

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-Funny Photo of the Night: Philadelphia's Claude Giroux invading the personal space of Canadiens defenseman and former Penguin Hal Gill:

-Price kept his eyes on this puck:

-Remember how Flyers defenseman Chris Pronger caused a firestorm during last season's Stanley Cup final by trying to take the final game pucks off the ice after losses? Well he was up to his old tricks again last night. But Gionta and teammate Scott Gomez got the puck off him before he left the ice and handed it to Price. What did Price do? He flipped it into the stands to a fan.

-Two goals by Kris Versteeg helped the Maple Leafs rally from two three-goal deficits and beat the Predators, 5-4. Clarke MacArthur recorded three assists for Toronto while teammate Mikhail Grabovski added a goal and an assist. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 24 saves in the win which snapped an eight-game losing streak. David Legwand led Nashville with two assists.

-Check out this goal by Toronto's Luke Schenn:

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-Check out Grabovski's goal:

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-Check out this pass by Legwand to set up J.P. Dumont for a goal:

-Check out the moves by Marcel Goc on this breakaway goal:

-Cool Photo of the Night: Toronto's Phil Kessel kicking up some ice in front of Nashville's Shane O'Brien:

-Giguere left the game in the third period due to a groin ailment.

-The Canadiens finally officially revealed defenseman Andrei Markov re-injured his right knee. They declined to give a time table for his return but acknowledged it is a "long-term" injury.

-With Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta dealing with an "upper-body" injury, forward Nathan Gerbe (jaw) was given medical clearance to resume playing.

-The Senators came home in the middle of an eight-day, four-game road trip to attend a ceremony to honor assistant coach Luke Richardson's daughter who committed suicide Saturday.

Southeast Division

-Lightning forward Simon Gagne (right) resumed practicing for the first time since suffering a neck injury Oct. 21.

-The Panthers recalled forward Michal Repik from Rochester of the AHL and demoted defenseman Keaton Ellerby to Rochester.

-The Hurricanes claimed forward Troy Bodie off waivers from the Ducks.

Central Division

-The Blues demoted forward Nick Drazenovic to Peoria of the AHL and recalled forard T.J. Hensick from Peoria.

-Due to his Apocalyptic slap shot, Predators captain Shea Weber breaks approximately one stick per game.

-After scoring 10 goals in his first 11 games, Blackhawks forward Patrick Sharp has been blanked in his last four games.

Northwest Division

-Avalanche goaltender Craig Anderson (right) resumed practicing for the first time since suffering a knee injury three weeks ago.

-The Oilers recalled forward J.F. Jacques and defenseman Shawn Belle from Oklahoma City of the AHL.

-Chance are no one would have ever predicted forward Rene Bourque would be the Flames' leading scorer with 14 points in 14 games.

Pacific Division

-A goal and an assist by Brad Richards helped the Stars beat the Ducks, 2-1. Kari Lehtonen made 26 saves in the victory.

-Anaheim's Corey Perry found a unique way to make a line change:

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-Dallas' Krys Barch had issues with Anaheim's George Parros:

-"I think I screamed like a 10-year-old girl when I saw it go in on the Jumbotron with all of the fans." - Stars forward Steve Ott on a video review of Richards' goal.

-Kings forward Scott Parse is expected to be sidelined three to four months due to an injured hip labrum.

-The Kings officially placed former Penguins forward Alexei Ponikarovsky (finger) on injured reserve.

(Photo: Bylsma-Justin K. Aller/Getty Images; Tamer-Penguins Hockey Cards; Reese, Gagne and Anderson-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Flyers/Canadiens-Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images; Predators/Maple Leafs-Abelimages/Getty Images; Ducks/Stars-Tony Gutierrez/Associated Press)