Empty Netter Assists - 01-08-11

Penguins

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-So... did Sidney Crosby really suffer his concussion when he was hit by Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman (above)? Or did it occur in the Winter Classic (PG+)?

-Ray Shero is pretty happy with his defense.

-The Penguins now have a huge obstruction to foot traffic the world's largest goalie mask in the main concourse of Consol Energy Center:

-A goal and two assists by Brett Sterling led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 5-2 defeat of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. Tim Wallace added a goal and an assist for the Penguins while John Curry made 18 saves in the win.

-Highlights:

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-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins forward Jesse Boulerice was suspended 10 games for making contact with an official.

-The incident in question:

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-The Wheeling Nailers signed signed free agent defenseman Brett Dickinson acquired defenseman Trevor Hunt from the Stockton Thunder in exchange for future considerations.

Atlantic Division

-A shootout goal by Mats Zuccarello gave the Rangers a 3-2 win at Dallas. Henrik Lundqvist made 28 saves in the victory.

-Zuccarello's goal:

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-Check out this laser New York's Artem Anisimov scored on:

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-Dallas' Jamie Benn > New York's Chris Drury:

"I practice against the world's greatest goalie. So if you can score on him, you'll be able to score on other goalies too." - Zuccarello on Lundqvist.

-Outgoing Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner suggested forward Zach Parise should be his replacment.

-The Islanders recalled forward Jeremy Colliton from Bridgeport of the AHL.

Northeast Division

-Nikolai Kulemin had two goals and two assists for the Maple Leafs in a 9-3 rout of the Thrashers. Mikhail Grabovski and Clarke MacArthur each had two goals and an assist for Toronto while teammate Tomas Kaberle recorded four assists. James Reimer made 41 saves in the victory.

-Check out this re-direction goal by MacArthur:

-This game got out of hand for the Thrashers when Ben Eager sucker-punched Maple Leafs forard nd former Penguin Colby Armstrong:

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-Eager was given a major penalty. The Thrashers proceeded to score four power play goals during the major.

-"He just sucker-punched me in the eye. The guy’s a meathead.” - Armstrong giving a pretty spot-on assessment of Eager.

“[Armstrong’s] one of the biggest phonies in the league. He’s done his fair share of dirty stuff in the league, and he’ll never answer the bell. What goes around, comes around. I’m sure some day someone will catch him with his head down.” - Eager on Armstrong.

-Eager ended up getting suspended for four games.

-We don't want to suggest the Toronto media overreacts to anything involving the Maple Leafs, but the Toronto Star compared the efforts of Grabovski, Kulemin and MacArthur to former Maple Leafs hall-of-famers Lanny MacDonald and Darryl Sittler.

-Bruins forward Nathan Horton is day to day due to an undisclosed ailment.

-The Senators recalled goaltender Robin Lehner from Binghamton of the AHL.

Southeast Division

-Two goals and an assist by Jeff Skinner helped the Hurricanes beat the Panthers, 5-3. Erik Cole scored two goals for Carolina while teammate Tuomo Ruutu recorded three assists. Justin Peters made 32 saves in the victory. Marty Reasoner scored two goals for Florida.

-The Hurricanes placed forward Jiri Tlusty ("upper body") on injured reserve.

Central Division

-Shootout goals by captain Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane gave the Blackhawks a 3-2 win against the Senators. Corey Crawford made 24 saves in the victory. Captain Daniel Alfredsson had a goal and an assist in regulation for Ottawa.

-Check out this steal and regulation goal by Kane:

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-Happy times for Kane:

-We don't want to suggest the Senators stink, but former Penguins defenseman Sergei Gonchar isn't exactly hiding his feelings:

-Todd Bertuzzi's shootout goal gave the Red Wings a 5-4 win at Calgary. Brian Rafalski scored two goals in regulations for Detroit while teammate Darren Helm added a goal and an assist. Jimmy Howard made 35 saves in the victory. Curtis Glencross netted two goals and an assist for the Flames.

-Red Wings defenseman Brad Stuart suffered a broken jaw after this blatant shoulder check to the head by Calgary's Tom Kostopoulos:

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-Stuart will be sidelined six to eight weeks as a result.

-The Blackhawks recalled defenseman Nick Leddy from Rockford of the AHL.

-The Predators demoted forward Linus Klasen to Milwaukee of the AHL.

-The Blues demoted forward Adam Cracknell to Peoria of the AHL and recalled forward T.J. Hensick from Peoria.

Northwest Division

-A hat trick by Ryan Kesler led the Canucks to a 6-1 rout of the rival Oilers. Daniel Sedin had two goals and an assist for Vancouver while captain Henrik Sedin recorded three assists. Cory Schneider made 23 saves in the victory.

-Kesler's hat trick:

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-Check out this pass by Daniel Sedin to set up Henrik Sedin for a goal:

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-This one wasn't even fair. Henrik Sedin to Daniel Sedin:

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-Schneider kept his eyes on this puck:

-Vancouver's Tanner Glass > Edmonton's Ales Hemsky:

-Vancouver' Andrew Alberts > Edmonton's Ladislav Smid:

-Edmonton's Nikolai Khabibulin kept his eyes on this puck:

Pacific Division

-Jonas Hiller made 27 saves for the Ducks in a 6-0 shutout of the Blue Jackets. Bobby Ryan and Teemu Selanne each scored two goals for Anaheim while teammate Cam Fowler recorded three assists.

-It wasn't all bad for Columbus. Check out this save by Steve Mason on Ryan:

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-Cool Photo of the Night: Columbus' Jared Boll and Anaheim's Brandon McMillan colliding:

-Boll and Anaheim's George Parros had issues:

-"I dont know why they put so much orange into these new third jerseys either!"

-The Coyotes demoted goaltender Matt Climie to San Antonio of the AHL.

-Coyotes goaltender Jason LaBarbera set an NHL record by starting 12 consecutive road game to start the season.

-Former Sharks forward Tom Cavanagh was found dead in a Providence, R.I. parking garage. He was 28.

Norris Division

-Brooks Ostergard made 17 saves for the Robert Morris men's team in an 8-0 loss to North Dakota.

-Ryan Zapolski made 21 saves for the Mercyhurst men's team in a 3-1 loss to Connecticut.

(Photos: Rangers/Stars-Sharon Ellman/Associated Press; Senators/Blackhawks-Nam Y. Huh/Associated Press; Oilers/Canucks-Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press and Rich Lam/Getty Images; Blue Jackets/Ducks-Jeff Gross/Getty Images)