Empty Netter Assists - Eastern Conference - 1-31-09
Penguins
-Shelly Anderson's recap from last night. The Devils claimed their eighth consecutive win.
-The Associated Press's recap. New Jersey forward Jamie Langenbrunner is on fire.
-The North Jersey Media Group's recap. Langenbrunner is clutch.
-The Newark Star-Ledger's recap. Brendan Shanahan has added a new element to New Jersey's power play.
-Evgeni Malkin's 100th career goal:
-If You Feel Like Vomiting YouTube Find of the Day: Langenbrunner's tying and winning goals:
-Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell is gambling Penguins tickets with Arizona Gov. Janice Brewer over the outcome of the Super Bowl. Shockingly, Rendell isn't putting Flyers tickets on the line.
-Random YouTube Find of the Day: A 1992 profile of Jaromir Jagr:
-Shootout goals from Janne Pesonen and Connor James lifted the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 4-3 home win against the rival Hershey Bears. Dustin Jeffrey had a goal and an assist for the Penguins in regulation.
-John Curry came up big in the shootout.
-Hershey outplayed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but still lost.
-Curtis Darling made 22 saves for the Wheeling Nailers in a 3-1 loss at Reading.
Atlantic Division
-Mike Richards had two goals and an assist for the Flyers in a 6-1 rout of the Lightning. Richards recorded his 31st and 32nd goals of the season and overtook the league's goal-scoring lead from Washington's Alex Ovechkin. Teammates Scott Hartnell and Randy Jones each added a goal and an assist. Antero Niittymaki made 41 saves in the win.
-Is Niittymaki overtaking Martin Biron as the Flyers' top goaltender?
-If you want to beat the Devils in overtime, you better throw a smoke bomb on the ice.
-New Jersey forward Brendan Shanahan has three goals in the first five games of his comeback.
-No deficit is too big for the Devils.
-Here's the ceremony the Devils put on for broadcaster Mike Emrick:
-It's a shame FSN Pittsburgh didn't stick with the ceremony at all last night. You won't find anyone in the media who cares more about the sport than Emrick.
-Here's a better view of the painting Emrick was giving that included an image of him in a Pirates hat:
-The Islanders' Kid Line of Josh Bailey, Blake Comeau and Kyle Okposo is starting to come around.
Northeast Division
-Forward P.J. Axelsson has filled a variety of roles for the Bruins as of late.
-Defenseman Chris Phillips has been pretty bad for the Senators this season.
-The Canadiens are good people.
Southeast Division
-It's nice to see a move to Tampa Bay hasn't cooled former Penguins forward Ryan Malone's feeling for the Flyers. He went at it with defenseman Braydon Coburn last night:
-The Thrashers recalled forwards Colin Stuart and Joe Motzko from Chicago of the AHL and demoted forward Joey Crabb.
-Jason Kay of The Hockey News makes the case for Washington's Alex Ovechkin being the face of the NHL.
-The Capitals held an outdoor practice and U.S. Supreme Court Justice John Roberts took it in.
-Washington needs to get its penalty kill in order.
-Capitals forward Sergei Fedorov is finally feeling his way back into the lineup after an ankle injury early in the season.
-The Panthers are happy to be in the Eastern Conference's top eight, but they're not settling for eigth place.
-Tampa Bay's defense is finally getting healthy.
-Lightning forward and former Penguin Mark Recchi had a goal reversed last night.
(Photo: Bill Kostroun/Associated Press)