Empty Netter Assists - 12-31-09

Penguins

-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. Brent Johnson (above, with New Jersey's Zach Parise) saw just about every shot he saw. He just didn't see that one.

-The Newark Star-Ledger's recap. Martin Brodeur had a nice day.

-The New York Daily News' recap. "It seems the bigger the game, Marty seems to rise up and comes up big." - Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner on Brodeur.

-The Bergen Record's recap. Brodeur pretty much owns the Penguins at the moment.

-The Associated Press' recap. "I know our team battled hard and we played a good game. We played the way we needed to play." - Dan Bylsma.

-NHL.com's recap. The Devils have won all four games against the Penguins this season.

-Highlights (so to speak) courtesty of EN contributor GhostWalker40:

-Brent Johnson speaks:

-New Jersey's went all Jimmy "Superfly" Snuka on Brooks Orpik:

-Mean Face of the Night: New Jersey's Brian Rolston laying into Mike Rupp:

-Bill Guerin getting stopped in tight by Brodeur:

-Ruslan Fedotenko and New Jersey's Travis Zajac going into the corner for a puck:

-Langenbrunner getting an empty netter:

-New Jersey's Coling White laying into Guerin:

-Brodeur kept his eyes on these pucks:

-Brodeur and Mottau almost seemed mesmerized by this puck:

-New Jersey's Vladimir Zharkov being popular:

-"There's a lot of great players on that team who deserve to be there. I have plenty of years ahead of me, I guess." - Jordan Staal on being left off Canada's Olympic roster.

-The Penguins are halfway done with their regular season. How are they doing (PG+)?

-What are the Penguins' plans with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton goaltender John Curry?

-Mario Lemieux was named as an appointment to the Order of Canada.

-The Pensblog takes a look at the Penguins' decade. Part 1 and Part 2.

-Faceoff-Factor takes a look at prospects Nicholas D'Agostino, Nathan Moon and Nick Petersen.

-Wyatt Smith had two goals and an assist for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 6-3 defeat of the Binghamton Senators. Chris Conner added three assists for the Penguins while teammates Luca Caputi and Eric Tangradi each had a goal and an assist. John Curry mad 24 saves in the win.

-Caputi, Smity and Conner have formed a nice line.

-T.J. Fox had two goals for the Wheeling Nailers who edged the Reading Royals, 3-2. Tomas Beauregard had two assists for the Nailers while Brad Thiessen made 31 saves in the win.

-Happy 61st birthday to former Penguins forward Rene Robert (right). Far more renown for his time as a member of the "French Connection" line with the Sabres, Robert appeared in 49 games for the Penguins in the 1971-72 season before being sent to Buffalo in exchange for veteran Eddie Shack. The Penguins dealt a young undeveloped player for a veteran with name recognition. The trade turned out to be a bad one as Shack would only last with the Penguins for two seasons while Robert would become of the the greatest Sabres ever and scored 20 or more goals nine times in his career.

-Happy 54th birthday to former Penguins forward Gary McAdam. Acquired in a 1979 trade that sent Dave Schultz to Buffalo, McAdam spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins and scored the team's only hat trick in the in the 1979-80 season.

-Happy 32nd birthday to former Penguins defenseman Dan Focht. Acquired along with Ramzi Abid and Guillaume Lefebvre in a 2003 trade that sent Jan Hrdina and Francois Leroux to Phoenix, Focht appeared in 82 games over the course of two seasons for the Penguins and was third on the 2003-04 team with 105 penalty minutes.

-Happy 62nd birthday to former Penguins forward Nelson Debenedet. Appearing in 31 games for the 1974-75 Penguins, the native of Italy scored a goal in the Penguins first home game against the Devils/Rockies/Scouts franchise, a 4-4 tie, Dec. 19, 1975.

-Happy 54th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Lex Hudson. One of two former 12th-round picks to make the Penguins, Hudson had a spectacular two-game run with the 1978-79 team.

Atlantic Division

-And all of the sudden, the Flyers are red hot. Michael Leighton made 22 saves and led the Flyers to a 6-0 shutout of the rival Rangers. Simon Gagne led Philadelphia with a hat trick and an assist while teammates Daniel Briere (above) and Claude Giroux each had a goal and an assist. The Flyers head into the Winter Classic on a four-game winning streak.

-"Every time you come here to Madison Square Garden, it's fun to beat them." - Gagne on beating the Rangers.

-Flyers forward and former Ranger Blair Betts was welcomed back to Madison Square Garden with a standing ovation.

-Check out Betts' effort on the Flyers' first goal:

-Happy times for Betts:

-Betts celebrated with Ian Laperriere and the missing link Daniel Carcillo:

-From the "Absolutely No One to Root For Department," New York's Sean Avery dropped the gloves with Philadephia's Scott Hartnell:

-Too bad a roof collapse wasn't an option there.

-We have so many mixed emotions over these photos:

-Hartnell hadn't eaten in so long he attempted to bite his own goaltender's fingers:

-We think.

-Lonely times for Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist:

-With Lundqvist pulled, the Rangers inserted former Penguins prospect Chad Johnson and his pretty sharp lid into the game:

-Devils forward Patrik Elias will serve as the captain of the Czech Republic's Olympic team.

-New Jersey forward Brian Rolston revealed he will not be included on the United States' Olympic roster.

-New Jersey forward David Clarkson left last night's game due after re-injuring a fractured leg.

Northeast Division

-The Bruins also head into the Winter Classic on a good note. Tuukka Rask (above) made all of 18 saves and led the Bruins to a 4-0 shutout of the Thrashers. Marc Savard had two assists for Boston which has won four out its past five games. The Thrashers have lost six consecutive games.

-Happy times for Boston's Steve Begin. Not so much for Atlanta's Ondrej Pavelec:

-Squinty times for Thrashers goaltender and former Penguin Johan Hedberg:

-Tomas Plekanec's overtime goal gave the Canadiens a 2-1 win at Tampa Bay. Carey Price made 34 saves in the victory which was Montreal's fifth in six games. Mike Smith made 33 saves for the Lightning.

-Plekanec's goal:

-Smith laid the smack down on Montreal's Marc-Andre Bergeron:

-We think.

-Canadiens defenseman Roman Hamrlik returned to the lineup after missing six games due to a knee injury.

-Two years after nearly having his career ended, Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron was named to Canada's Olympic team.

-Has the Winter Classic become bigger than the Stanley Cup?

-The Winter Classic is expected to pull in $8 million in ticket revenue.

-Senators forward and former Penguin Jarkko Ruutu is excited to be part of Finland's Olympic team. He started his NHL career in Vancouver.

Southeast Division

-"I always feel like when things don't go well, or people have their own opinions of you, you strive to prove them wrong." - Capitals defenseman Mike Green on not being selected to Canada's Olympic roster.

-Dan Steinberg of the Washington Post ranked the Capitals' acquisition of former Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr (right) as the second biggest bust of the decade in Washington D.C. sports. Fans in Pittsburgh weren't crazy about it either.

-"To be told you're not going to participate … it's hard to take. But life is full of disappointment." - Lightning forward Martin St. Louis on not being selected for the Canadian Olympic team.

Central Division

-The Predators recalled forward Mike Santorelli and defenseman Alexander Sulzer from Milwaukee of the AHL.

-The Blues recalled forward Derek Armstrong from Peoria of the AHL.

-Blackhawks forward John Madden faces his former team, the Devils, for the first time tonight.

-"For us, the tandem of Duncan Keith and Brent Seabrook was important. They are a very good pair that played well together. Our decision kind of hinged on that a little bit." - Canada Olympic general manager Steve Yzerman on why he chose the Blackhawks defensemen for the team.

-"I might have sworn on accident." - Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith on his reaction to being names to the Canadian Olympic team.

-The Blue Jackets put forward Michael Blunden on waivers.

-Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood is getting kind of cranky about not playing that much as of late.

Northwest Division

-Craig Anderson's (above) 27 saves led the Avalanche to a 4-3 win at Ottawa. Colorado has won four out its past five games. Ryan Shannon led the Senators with two assists.

-The Senators' bench:

-Colorado's Chris Stewart couldn't beat Ottawa's Pascal Leclaire here:

-Anderson getting sprayed down:

-Leclaire denying another shot:

-With defenseman Kyle Cumiskey returning after missing 16 games due to a foot injury, the Avalanche benched defenseman John-Michael Liles.

-Two goals from Patrick O'Sullivan helped the Oilers beat the Maple Leafs, 3-1. Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers mad 25 saves for Edmonton which snapped a seven-game losing streak. Toronto has lost four out its past five games.

-"We needed this -- for a lot of reasons." - Oilers coach Pat Quinn.

-Drouin-Deslauriers and Ryan Potulny were rocking the Oilers' sweet throwback uniforms:

-Drouin-Deslauriers went all-out for this shot:

-A goal and an assist from Rene Bourque helped the Flames edge the Kings, 2-1. Miikka Kiprusoff made 23 saves in the victory. The Kings have lost their last four consecutive games.

-Check out this hit by Calgary's Dion Phaneuf on Los Angeles' Anze Kopitar:

-Phaneuf was given a boarding major and a game misconduct. We're not sure about the boarding call. We'd buy an interference major though. Kopitar didn't even have the puck.

-"I was saying Happy New Year." - Kings coach Terry Murray on an argument he had with Flames coach Brent Sutter following the hit:

-Flames forward Craig Conroy scored his first goal of the season last night.

-Los Angeles' Erik Ersberg kept his eyes on this puck:

-Los Angeles' Raitis Ivanans had issues with Calgary's Aaron Johnson:

-Canucks defenseman Mathieu Schneider cleared waivers.

-Vancouver goaltender Roberto Luongo doesn't care if he gets playing time along with Marc-Andre Fleury or Martin Brodeur. He's just happy to be on the team.

-The Czech Republic's Olympic team snubbed Avalanche forward Milan Hejduk.

-After a rough start, former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins coach Todd Richards has turned the Wild around.

Pacific Division

-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: Two goals from Joe Pavelski helped the Sharks beat the Capitals, 5-2. Ryane Clowe (above, with Pavelski) and Joe Thornton each scored on penalty shots for San Jose with became the first time in 27 years to accomplish that feat. Evgeni Nabokov made 24 saves in the victory. The Sharks have won six games in a row. The Capitals are in second place in the Eastern Conference with 54 points, one more than the fourth-place Penguins.

-Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray held Washington's Alex Ovechkin in check mostly.

-Ovechkin had some issues with San Jose's Dan Boyle:

-The Capitals have not won in San Jose since 1992.

-Ducks forward Kyle Calder cleared waivers and was demoted to Toronto of the AHL.

-The Stars demoted forward Fabian Brunnstrom and defenseman Maxime Fortunus to Texas of the AHL.

-Dallas forward Jere Lehtinen is going to his fifth Olympic Games for Finland.

-"I couldn’t sleep last night. I’m going to be honest. It was a pretty tough night for me last night." - Kings defenseman Drew Doughty on being selected to Canada's Olympic roster.

-"I believe they picked the 23 guys for a reason. I know there’s a lot of hockey between now and then, but you’ve just got to go out and play and carry on forth. If an accident happens, it happens, but you can’t think about that. These guys are going to represent our country with pride and I’ll be their No. 1 fan." - Kings forward Ryan Smyth on being snubbed from Team Canada.

-"I was very disappointed, very, very disappointed. But at the same time, you cheer for Canada and hope they get gold." - Coyotes captain Shane Doan (right) on being left off Team Canada.

Norris Division

-"It's nerve-wracking." - Steve Yzerman, Canadian Olympic general manager on selecting his team.

-NBC Sports, you know... that "broadcast partner" of the NHL, put together a little slide show for the year in sports. Big things like the Steelers' Superbowl and the Yankees' World Series title are included. Other things like like table tennis and the Hungarian Rhythmic Gymnastics World Cup (we kid you not) are included. Yet there is not one mention of hockey. By the NHL's "broadcast partner."

-A linesman in a Junior C game in Woodstock, Ont. is in critical condition after having his throat slashed from a skate. The accident happened when two players got into a fight and took a fall. One player's skate came up and struck the official.

IIHF World Championships

-Islanders prospect Jyri Niemi had two goals and two assists for Finland in a 10-1 defeat of Austria.

-Predators prospect Roman Josi had a goal and two assists for Switzerland which beat Latvia, 7-5.

-Today would've been the 92nd birthday of former Pittsburgh Hornets forward Red Heron.

(Photos: Brent Johnson, Orpik, Guerin, Rupp, Fedotenko, White, Langenbrunner and Zharkov-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Brodeur-Rich Schultz/Associated Press; Robert-eBay; Briere, Betts, Avery, Hartnell and Chad Johnson-Chris McGrath/Getty Images; Lundqvist-Julie Jacobson/Associated Press; Rask and Begin-Elsa/Getty Images; Hedberg-Elise Amendola/Associated Press; Smith-Chris O'Meara/Associated Press; Jagr-Photobucket; Anderson, Senators' bench and Leclaire-Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images; Drouin-Deslauriers-John Ulan/Canadian Press; Ersberg and Ivanans-Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press; Pavelski and Ovechkin-Ben Margot/Associated Press; Doan-Mike Hewitt/Getty Images)