Empty Netter Assists - 10-30-09

Penguins

-So... Sergei Gonchar or Evgeni Malkin?

-Eric Godard. Power-play specialist.

-Evgeni Malkin ain't no Erik Christensen.

-EN contributor Eric Politowski has compiled all of the Penguins' highlights from the first seven games of the season:

-His timing might be a bit off, but this young man is a pretty big fan of the "Hey Song:"

-Much like Kris Letang learning to get the puck out of danger in the defensive zone, that timing issue will solve itself with experience.

-Speaking of Letang, he got a hair cut:

-We'll see what the Penguins are really made of now.

-Ryan Bayda's overtime goal gave the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins a 1-0 road win against the Manitoba Moose. John Curry made 23 saves in the win.

-The win moved the AHL Penguins into first place in the East Division.

-There were a few fights in this game. Aaron Boogaard versus Matt McCue:

-Jesse Boulerice versus Tommy Maxwell:

-Boogaard versus Maxwell:

-The Wheeling Nailers and WesBanco Arena has agreed to a one-year lease that will keep the team in the facility through the end of the season.

-Happy 57th birthday to former Penguins forward Ron Lalonde. A former alternate captain with the Penguins, Lalone scored the first hat trick in the history of the Capitals franchise during the 1974-75 season.

-Happy 42nd birthday to former Penguins forward Brad Aitken. He was the team's third-round pick in the 1987 draft.

Atlantic Division

-Yann Danis made 31 saves in his first start of the season and led the Devils to a 2-1 win at Boston. Tim Thomas made 29 saves in the loss for the Bruins.

-The face of Boston's Brad Marchand did not agree with the elbow of New Jersey's Zach Parise:

-New Jersey's Jacques Lemaire chose an odd time to accuse a team employee of stealing Jawbreakers out of his desk in the office:

-The Penguins aren't the only Atlantic Division suffering from significant injuries. Devils defenseman Johnny Oduya left last night's game with a "lower-body" injury.

-Rangers forward Marian Gaborik makes his return to Minnesota tonight (if he's healthy.)

-Rangers forward Sean Avery thinks Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau intakes too many carbs.

Northeast Division

-Senators defenseman Anton Volchenkov is expected to miss significant time due to a right elbow injury.

-With Volchenkov down, the Senators recalled defenseman Brian Lee from Binghamton of the AHL on an emergency basis.

-Senators goaltender Brian Elliott chose an awfully inconvenient time to be consious of how big his butt was in those goalie shorts:

-Buffalo has opted to keep 19-year-old rookie defenseman Tyler Myers instead of sending him back to his junior team.

-The Sabres aren't trying to get too excited about their 7-1-1 start.

-After getting blasted by the Penguins Wednesday, Canadiens coach Jacques Martin went all Herb Brooks on his team in practice Thursday.

-Former Maple Leafs forward Boyd Devereaux has joined HC Lugano in Switzerland.

Southeast Division

-Two goals and an assist from Alexander Ovechkin (above) helped the Capitals win at Atlanta, 4-3. Teammate Brooks Laich had three assists while Semyon Varlamov made 38 saves in the win. Zach Bogosian led the Thrashers with two goals.

-We don't want to say Ovechkin is lax on his defense, but this is a little ridiculous:

-Varlamov stopped Atlanta's Jim Slater on this penalty shot:

-Pretty neat shot here of the helmt of Todd White for Atlanta. Notice the Hockey Fights Cancer sticker and the sticker for the Thrashers' tenth anniversary:

-The Thrashers are 10 already? Geez.

-Atlanta's Ondrej Pavelec all by himself in the dark:

-And just for the heck of it,  here's Colby Armstrong:

-Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist for the Lightning in a 5-2 win against the Senators. Former Penguin Ryan Malone added a goal and two assists for Tampa Bay while teammate Alex Tanguay contributed a goal and an assist. Fire Ray Shero.

-Check out the sick shot Stamkos scored one of his goals on:

-Senators forward and former Penguin Jarkko Ruutu renewed hostilities with Lightning forward Steve Downie:

-"'I've already won the awards for top goal scorer and point leader. It's better to win something new." - Alexander Ovechkin talking about the Lady Byng Trophy. We think.

-The Panthers are replacing a former Penguin with a former Penguin. With forward Dominic Moore sidelined due to nasal surgery, Florida recalled forward Jeff Taffe from Rochester of the AHL.

-Capitals defenseman Mike Green cares not for the swine flu.

Central Division

-Pekka Rinne made 22 saves for the Predators who got a much needed 2-0 shutout of the Blackhawks.

-The Penguins aren't the only Stanley Cup finalist suffering significant injuries. Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula will be sidelined six to eight weeks due to a broken wrist.

-Detroit needs more offense out of forward Ville Leino.

-Blues captain Eric Brewer returned to the lineup last night after missing the previous 64 regular season games due to a shoulder injury.

-Is it us, or does Blues forward Keith Tkachuk look like Vikings quarterback Brett Favre these days:

-Blues goaltender Chris Mason. Scared of kids:

-St. Louis' Brad Boyes making that walk down the tunnel:

-This item from the Chicago Tribune about Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook returning to the lineup after missing two games due to a concussion might have the best lead ever. "With the Sommet Center still reeking of beer from Wednesday night's Kiss concert..."

-Predators forward Martin Erat is dealing with a "lower-body" injury.

-Former Penguins forward Eric Boguniecki signed with the Alaska Aces, the ECHL affiliate of the Blues.

Northwest Division

-Patrick O'Sullivan's shootout goal gave the Oilers a wild 6-5 win against the Red Wings. Ales Hemsky had two goals and an assist for Edmonton while teammate Dustin Penner added a goal and three assists. The Oilers also got a goal and two assists from Shawn Horcoff. Patrick Eaves, Jonathan Ericsson and Darren Helm each had a goal and an assist for Detroit. Despite scoring four third period goals, the Red Wings lost for the fourth time in five games.

-Edmonton's Nikolai Khabibulin celebrating the win in Edmonton's sparkling throwback uniforms:

-Check out this higher resolution shot of Khabibulin's crazy eyes.

-To say the least, Detroit's Jimmy Howard and Brian Rafalski didn't win this encounter with Penner:

-Nobody ever said it was easy being Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom. He was getting in the face from the puck and in the back from Khabibulin:

-Check out the nifty five-hole shot Hemsky scored on:

-Eaves tried to set a fairly unconventional screen here on Khabibulin:

-Shootout goals by Ryan Kesler and former Penguin Mikael Samuelsson gave the Canucks a 2-1 win at Los Angeles. Vancouver's Andrew Raycroft made 30 saves in his first start of the season in place of the injured Roberto Luongo.

-Samuelsson's goal on Los Angeles' Jonathan Quick:

-Things aren't working out so well for former Penguins forward Petr Sykora in Minnesota.

-Wild forward Andrew Brunette is dealing with an unknown injury.

-Avalanche forward T.J. Galiardi is dealing with an ankle injury.

Pacific Division

-Ilya Bryzgalov (above) made 32 saves for the Coyotes in a 2-0 shutout win at St. Louis. It was Bryzgalov league-leading third shutout of the season. Vernon Fiddler led Phoenix with two assists.

-Coyotes defenseman Ed Jovanovski looks awfully frightened by the official here:

-"I hate the shootout." - Kings coach Terry Murray.

-The Kings claimed defenseman Randy Jones off waivers from the Flyers. Los Angeles also put defenseman Alex Martinez on long-term injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 5.

-Los Angeles will wear it's black and white third jerseys when the Penguins roll into town Thursday.

-The Coyotes demoted defenseman Sean Sullivan to San Antonio of the AHL.

-The Stars' Marc Crawford will coach his 1,000th career NHL game tonight.

-Dallas forward Mike Modano (right) is still hoping he can make the United States' Olympic roster.

-The Stars demoted forward Francis Wathier to Texas of the AHL.

-The Bakersfield Condors, the Ducks' ECHL affiliate, will wear Michael Jackson tribute jerseys for an upcoming game. The get-up will include each player wearing one white hockey glove.

Adams Division

-Former Sabres goaltender Dominik Hasek suffered a leg injury in a Czech league game. The injury has significantly hurt his chances to play for the Czech Rebuplic in the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.

-What's the true value of a hot start?

(Photos: Gonchar and Malkin-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Parise and Lemaire-Elsa/Getty Images; Elliott-Chris O'Meara/Associated Press; Ovechkin, Varlamov, White, Pavelec and Armstrong-Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images; Tkachuk, Favre, Mason, Boyes, Bryzgalov and Jovanovski-Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images; Khabibulin, Penner, Holmstrom and Eaves-Jimmy Jeong/Canadian Press; Samuelsson-Jeff Gross/Getty Images; Modano-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)