Empty Netter Assists - 04-03-10

Penguins

-Brad Thiessen made 16 saves for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 6-2 loss to the Binghamton Senators.

-Adam Berkhoel made 23 saves in a 7-6 shootout loss to the Reading Royals.

-Happy 77th birthday to former Penguins forward Billy Dea (above). Claimed from Chicago in the 1967 expansion draft, Dea was a member of the Penguins for the first two years of their existence. In 139 games with the franchise, he had 46 points. Prior to the 1969-70 season, Dea was traded to the Red Wings for Mike McMahon.

-Happy 49th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Neil Belland. A free agent signing in the 1986 offseason, Belland appeared in three games and recorded one assist for the 1986-87 Penguins. He joined Lukko Rauma in FInland the following season.

Atlantic Division

-No One Wants the Eighth Seed in the Eastern Conference Watch: Henrik Lundqvist (above) made 30 saves and led the Rangers to a 5-0 shutout win at Tampa Bay. The Rangers have won four out of their past five games and are in ninth place in the conference with 80 points, two less than the eighth-place Flyers.

-Leave it to Lightning forward Steve Downie to spear himself by accident:

-Downie actually went to the hospital but returned to the game.

-Happy times for New York's Brandon Prust:

-Rangers forward Olli Jokinen, the Panthers former captain as well as the franchise's all-time leading scorer, returns to BankAtlantic Center for the first time since leaving Florida at the 2008 draft.

-"The last four games, I think we have to win [them] all to make the playoffs." - Flyers defenseman Kimmo Timonen.

-"It's kind of a shocker for me. I was expecting to be done for the year and got the phone call, so I'm ready to be a part of the team and finish the season with them." - Former Penguins goaltender Sebastien Caron on signing with the Flyers after finishing the season in Europe.

-Devils forward Dainius Zubrus is dealing with an illness.

Northeast Divison

-No One Wants the Eighth Seed in the Eastern Conference Watch: Jaroslav Halak made 35 saves and led the Canadiens to a 1-0 shutout of the Flyers. The win moved the Canadiens into sixth place with 84 points. The Flyers are in eighth place with 82 points, two more than the Rangers and Thrashers who are in ninth and 10th place respectively.

-Check out these three saves by Halak in the second period:

-Happy times for Montreal's Tomas Plekanec. Not so much for Philadelphia's Chris Pronger, left, or Claude Giroux:

-Pronger confronted an official about making fun of his gapped teeth:

-Funny Face of the Night: Philadelphia's Braydon Coburn battling with Plekanec:

-Here's a shocking image. Flyers captain Mike Richards leaving his feet to deliver a hit to Montreal's Josh Gorges:

-Philadelphia's mayor was apparently at the game:

-Pronger said Halak's shutout was "lucky."

-Canadiens defenseman Jaroslav Spacek is dealing with an illness.

Southeast Division

-Explain this to us. Capitals forward Jason Chimera is mad he was traded from a bad team in Columbus to a good team in Washington.

-The Capitals demoted forward Mathieu Perreault to Hershey of the AHL.

-The Hurricanes are 8-5-3 since the trade deadlne.

-Capitals owner Ted Leonsis guaranteed a Stanley Cup championship within three seasons.

Central Division

-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: Jonathan Toews' shootout goal gave the Blackhawks a 2-1 win at New Jersey. Kris Versteeg (above) tied the game for Chicago with a goal with 26 seconds left in regulation. Antti Niemi made 32 saves in the victory. The Devils are in second place in the Eastern Conference and first place in the Atlantic Division with 95 points, just as many as the Penguins who are in fourth and second place respectively. The Devils have a tiebreaker on the Penguins on account of having a winning record against the Penguins.

-Versteeg's goal:

-Cool photo of the goal:

-Versteeg had his eyes closed on the shot:

-The shootout:

-Niemi kept his eyes on this puck:

-Ditto New Jersey's Martin Brodeur:

-Niemi taking the ice:

-Cool Photo of the Day: Warmups in New Jersey:

-This might actually be the most entertaining hockey ever played in New Jersey:

-The Devils lost despite having the first penalty-free game in franchise history. It was the first such game in the NHL since 2001.

-The Blackhawks assigned forward Kyle Beach, a first-round pick in 2009, to Rockford of the AHL.

-Toews' isn't exactly crazy about a mural in the Chicagoland area depicting him with the Stanley Cup. And a pig nose apparently.

-The Blue Jackets demoted forward Trevor Frischmon to Syracuse of the AHL.

-Columbus defenseman Kris Russell (arm) and goaltender Steve Mason (shoulder) are dinged up.

-Fifth place in the Western Conference is on the line when the Predators visit Detroit.

-The Predators signed forward Ryan Flynn, a sixth-round pick in 2006, to a two-year entry-level contract.

Northwest Division

-Miikka Kiprusoff (above, with teammate Niklas Hagman) made 35 saves and led the Flames to a 2-1 win at Colorado. The Flames are in ninth place in the Western Conference with 89 points, just as many as eighth-place Colorado. The Avalanche is ahead of the the Flames on account of having more wins.

-Two weeks ago, the Flames had a nine-point lead on the Avalanche.

-Shootout goals by Kyle Wellwood and Pavol Demitra gave the Canucks a 5-4 win at Anaheim. Vancouver's Michael Grabner had his first career hat trick while teammate Ryan Kesler recorded three assists. Andrew Raycroft made 30 saves in the victory which secured a playoff win. Saku Koivu and Teemu Selanne each had two goals and an assist for the Ducks. Dustin Penner led Edmonton with a goal and an assist.

-Check out Grabner's first goal:

-Grabner's second goal:

-Check out the re-direction by Grabner for his third goal:

-The shootout:

-Fight of the night goes to Ducks forward and Washington, Pa. native George Parros versus Vancouver's Darcy Hordichuck:

-Cool photo of the night:

-Happy times for Raycroft and his teammates:

-Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer snuck an elbow in on Vancouver's Ryan Johnson:

-Happy times for Selanne and Koivu:

-Selanne scored his 603rd career goal and passed his idol Jari Kurri for the most goals in NHL history by a Finnish-born player.

Pacific Division

-Evgeni Nabokov (above, stopping Minnesota's James Sheppard on a penalty shot) made 27 saves and led the Sharks to a 3-2 win at Minnesota. Rob Blake had two assists for San Jose which has won four out its past five games. The Wild was officially eliminated from playoff contention with the loss.

-Jamie Benn had two goals and an assist for the Stars in a 6-3 win against the Oilers. Jere Lehtinen had a goal and two assists for Dallas while teammates Mike Ribeiro and Brad Richards each had a goal and an assist. Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves in the victory which kept Dallas' faint playoff hopes alive.

-Edmonton's Devan Dubnyk, right, and Dean Arsene and Dallas' Loui Eriksson all kept their eyes on this puck:

-Modano recorded his 800th career assist.

-The Ducks signed forward Peter Holland, a first-round pick in 2009, to a three-year entry-level contract. Additonally, the team recalled goaltender Joey MacDonald from Toronto of the AHL and demoted goaltender J.P. Levasseur to Springfield of the AHL and defenseman Brendan Mikkelson to Toronto.

-The Kings demoted goaltender Jonathan Bernier to Manchester of the AHL.

-The Coyotes signed defenseman Mathieu Brodeur a third-round pick in 2008, and assigned him to San Antonio of the AHL.

Norris Division

-Gopher Hunting Network Versus added a whole bunch of games to its schedule down the stretch.

-Forward Zack Torquato, formerly of the Erie Otters of the OHL, signed with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL.

(Photos: Rangers/Lightning-Chris O'Meara/Associated Press; Canadiens/Flyers-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images and Matt Slocum/Associated Press; Blackhawks/Devils-Bill Kostroun/Associated Press; Flames/Avalanche-/David Zalubowski/Associated Press; Canucks/Ducks-Jeff Gross/Getty Images and Gus Ruelas/Associated Press; Wild/Sharks-Tom Olmscheid/Associated Press; Stars/Oilers-Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)