Happy Halloween - 10-31-08

(No, that's not our pumpkin. But we would pay someone's rent/mortgage/alimony to have that.)

EMPTY NETTER ASSISTS

Penguins

-Jordan Staal (right) called out his teammates and himself. He apparently wasn't cool with the lack of Abraham Lincoln beards on the team.

-Audio of Staal venting his frustrations.

-Audio of Sidney Crosby talking about his injury.

-Shelly Anderson' recap from last night.

-Catching up with former Penguins defenseman Ulf Samuelsson.

-Does Tyler Kennedy deserve a shot on the top line?

-Why did the Penguins recall Chris Minard from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton instead of Janne Pesonen?

-Crosby thinks the Coyotes are on the verge of being a playoff team.

Atlantic Division

-Nikolai Zherdev had a goal and an assist for the Rangers who edged the Thrashers, 3-2.

-Check out this brilliant defensive play Zherdev also had last night:

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWK4SLwWM-o]

-Atlanta's Eric Boulton and New York's Colton Orr had a whale of a fight last night:

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BDYC1zGz2sY]

-Jeff Carter had two goals, including one in overtime, to lead the Flyers to a 3-2 win against the Islanders.

-The Rangers dealt 2003 first-round pick Hugh Jessiman to the Predators for future considerations. Jessiman, a forward, is the only first rounder of the 2003 draft class who has not played a single game in the NHL.

-The Devils are trying to weasel out of their rent for the Prudential Center.

-Forward David Clarkson (right) does a little bit of everything for the Devils.

-The Flyers acquired goon Josh Gratton from the Predators in exchange for defenseman Tim Ramholt. Apparently the Flyers felt they just didn't have enough untalented goons on the roster.

-As if that move wasn't enough, the Flyers recalled forward Steve Downie from their AHL affiliate.

-The Islanders officially put goaltender Rick DiPietro on injured reserve.

-Could the Islanders adopt their classic throwback third jerseys as their primary uniform by next season?

Northeast Division

-Two assists from Alex Tanguay lifted the Canadiens to a 2-1 win at Minnesota.

-Former Penguins enforcer Georges Laraque was a healthy scratch for the Canadiens again last night.

-Alex Auld made 26 saves for the Senators in a 2-1 at Florida.

-The Senators signed captain Daniel Alfredsson (right) to a four-year contract extension.

-Despite being under contract with the Canadiens, prospect Pavel Valentenko signed with a KHL team.

-Despite scoring fewer goals, the Maple Leafs are winning games.

Southeast Division

-Steven Stamkos scored the first two goals of his NHL career and had an assist for the Lighting in a 5-2 win at Buffalo. Ryan Malone scored his second goal as a member of the Lightning. Fire Ray Shero.

-Cam Ward made a whopping 19 saves for the Hurricanes in a 1-0 shutout win at St. Louis.

-Thrashers defenseman Zach Bogosian will miss six weeks due to a broken leg.

-The Panthers recalled forward Shawn Matthias from Rochester of the AHL.

Central Division

-The Predators got a goal and an assist from Shea Weber in a 3-1 defeat of the Oilers.

-Derrick Brassard and Jason Chimera each had a goal and an assist for the Blue Jackets in a 4-2 win at Colorado.

-Check out Chimera's goal:

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IC6BA8kbtMk]

-The Blues signed former Rangers goaltender Chris Holt.

-Today's "Marian Hossa is ripping things up in Detroit" article is brought to you by Helene St. James of the Detroit Free Press. Hossa is now the NHL's third-leading scorer with 15 points. Fire Ray Shero.

-The Blues contacted the agent for free agent forward Brendan Shanahan.

Northwest Division

-Roberto Luongo (right) made 28 saves for Vancouver and recorded his 40^th career shutout in a 4-0 win at Los Angeles.

-Mike Cammalleri and Dion Phaneuf each had a goal and an assist for the Flames in a 3-2 defeat of the Bruins.

-Oilers forward Erik Cole makes his return to Carolina tomorrow.

-A lot of people want to see the Koivu brothers play together with the Wild.

-Minnesota is having troubles on the power play.

Pacific Division

-A showdown between the two best teams in the Western Conference, and perhaps the NHL, saw the Sharks beat the Red Wings, 4-2. Jamie McGinn and Joe Pavelski each had a goal and an assist for San Jose.

-Two games off really benefited Coyotes goaltenders Ilya Bryzgalov in last night's win against the Penguins.

-Ducks forward Brad May is dealing with a sprained knee.

-Anaheim forward Teemu Selanne moved past Bruins great John Bucyk for 21^st on the NHL's all-time scoring list. Selanne now has 558 career goals.

-Check out this sneaky elbow Ducks defenseman Chris Pronger put into the head of Detroit's Pavel Datsyuk Wednesday night:

[View:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L394qk_chck]

(Kudos to Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! for the find.)

Patrick Division

-CHA, the division Robert Morris plays in, might fold.

(Photos: Staal-Paul Sancya/Associated Press; Clarkson-Rich Schultz/Associated Press; Alfredsson-Lynne Sladky/Associated Press; Luongo-Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)