Empty Netter Assists - 01-14-11
Penguins
-"We're not going to give daily updates on Sidney Crosby." - Dan Bylsma.
-Thinking Out Loud: So when Crosby is injured, the Penguins and by extension, the NHL, have no problem with hiding him or news about his health behind closed doors. But when the Penguins or the league need to sell $350 Winter Classic jerseys or have him stand in the "snow" for an NBC promo, he's more than available? Got it.
-Would HBO have access to Crosby's injury (PG+)?
-Dan Bylsma speaks (but not about Crosby):
-Marc-Andre Fleury speaks:
-The return of Jordan Staal and the absence of Sidney Crosby has impacted Mark Letestu's playing time and linemates.
-The Globe and Mail's James Mirtle says Matt Cooke and Maxime Talbot are the fourth- and fifth-best defensive forwards in the NHL.
-Speaking of concussions, PensBurgh has a pretty thorough post about baseline testing.
-The Penguins' Web site is popular.
-The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins recalled forward Ryan Schnell from the Wheeling Nailers.
-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defenseman Corey Potter returns to his old stomping grounds in Hartford Connecticut tonight.
Atlantic Division
-Henrik Lundqvist made 30 saves for the Rangers in a 1-0 shutout of the Canucks. It was the 30th shutout of Lundqvist's career. The Canucks had not lost in regulation since Dec. 5.
-Check out this pretty vicious sprear by Vancouver's Alex Burrows on New York's Marc Staal:
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-Staal was penalized but Burrows wasn't? Remember the "new" NHL we were promised?
-Saluting times for Lundqvist:
-Happy times for New York's Brian Boyle and Brandon Prust:
-Vancouver's Alexander Edler kept his eyes on this puck:
-"We’re not going to win a hockey game tonight, 1-0.” - Rangers coach John Tortorella before the game.
-"I’m going to eat those words." - Tortorella after the game.
-Flyers defenseman Matt Walker (hip) was activated fron injured reserve. Acquired in the offseason along with defenseman Andrej Meszaros in a deal which sent forward Simon Gagne to the Lightning, he made his Flyers debut last night.
-The Devils placed defenseman Anssi Salmela on waivers.
Northeast Division
-Gregory Campbell, former Penguin Mark Recchi, captain Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron and Steven Kampfer each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins in a wild 7-5 win against the Flyers. Teammate Blake Wheeler added two assists while Tim Thomas mad 30 saves in the win. Daniel Briere and Nikolay Zherdev each netted a goal and an assist for Philadelphia.
-Kampfer > Philadelphia's Scott Hartnell:
-Check out this cannon of a one-timer by Chara:
-Thomas had issues with this puck:
-Philadelphia's Brian Boucher kept his eyes on this puck:
-Philadelphia coach Peter Laviolette begged officials to not penalize his teams for hitting Colin Campbell's kid:
-We think.
-Happy times for Boston's Brad Marchand and Kampfer:
-Happy times in Boston:
-Angry times for Boston's Claude Julien:
-Prior to a game-tying goal by Marchand in the third period, officials missed a potential delay of game penalty when Boston's Johnny Boychuk put a puck out of play.
-Bruins defenseman and former Penguin Andrew Ference left the game in the second period after suffering an undisclosed injury.
-Chris Kelly, Milan Michalek and Jesse Winchester each had a goal and an assist for the Senators in a 6-4 win against the Islanders. Matt Carkner recorded two assists for Ottawa while Robin Lehner made 20 saves an earned a victory in his NHL debut. The Senators snapped a six-game losing streak. Milan Jurcina netted a goal and an assist for New York.
-Lehner was concentrating on this one:
-Lehner reached up for this puck:
-Funny Faces of the Night: New York's Trevor Gilles and Ottawa's Ryan Shannon:
(No idea who the squinting Islander in the back is.)
-Second Funny Face of the Night: New York's Andy MacDonald:
-We don't want to accuse New York's Nathan Lawson of invading the personal space of Ottawa's Mike Fisher, but...:
-Ottawa's Nick Foligno > MacDonald:
-Happy times for the Islanders. Not so much for Lehner:
-Happy times Gillies:
-Head's up times for Lawson:
-At 19 years and 173 days of age, Lehner was the 12th-youngest starting goaltender in NHL history.
-Ryan Miller made 27 saves for the Sabres in a 3-2 win against the Hurricanes. Thomas Vanek recorded two assists for Buffalo. Carolina had a three-game winning streak snapped.
-It wasn't all bad for the Hurricanes. Check out this re-direct by Carolina's Tuomo Ruutu:
-Sabres forward Cody McCormick ($500,000 salary cap hit) has six goals this season, just as many as teammates Tim Connolly ($4.5 million) and Jochen Hecht ($3.5 million).
-Bruins forward Milan Lucic (undisclosed) did not play after being injured in Monday's game against the Penguins.
-The Bruins demoted defenseman and Mt. Lebanon native Matt Bartkowski to Providence of the AHL.
-The Maple Leafs acquired forward Fabian Brunnstrom from the Stars in exchange for forward Mikhail Stefanovich.
-Toronto got into a little bit of hot water over head coach Ron Wilson's 600th career win. Wilson recorded the milestone Tuesday against his former team, the Sharks. As is a tradition in hockey, a player facing a former team, will provide a "bounty" to any of his teammates who scores a game-winning goal against that opponent. Apparently Wilson offered a similar "bounty." The collective bargaining agreement between the NHL and NHLPA does not allow team management, including the coach, to provide anything else to players beyond what is provided in the standard player contract. The league will fine Maple Leafs for the infraction.
Southeast Division
-Rostislav Olesz had a goal and an assist for the Panthers in a 3-2 defeat of the Predators. Scott Clemmensen made 27 saves in the win. David Legwand recorded a goal and an assist for Nashville which had a six-game winning streak snapped.
-We're not goaltending experts, but we're not quite sure Scott Clemmensen played the right angle on this one:
-"Absolutely, I'm very surprised. I got an explanation [from head coach Pete DeBoer], but didn't agree with it. My job is to play. The coach is there to make the decisions. I'm here to obey them, whether I like it or not." - Panthers goaltender Tomas Vokoun on not getting the start.
-Capitals forward Alexander Semin (thigh) and defenseman Tom Poti ("lower body") are dinged up.
-The Capitals demoted forward Brian Willsie to Hershey of the AHL.
-In terms of working out, Tampa Bay's Dwayne Roloson is the Gary Roberts of goaltenders.
-Speaking of Roloson, by way of In Goal Magazine (by way of Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo!), here's his new lid:
Central Division
-Jaroslav Halak made 24 saves for the Blues in a 3-1 win at Los Angeles. St. Louis snapped a five-game losing streak. The Kings have dropped seven of their last eight games.
Northwest Division
-Two goals and an assist by Taylor Hall led the Oilers past the Sharks, 5-2. Teammate Ales Hemsky recorded four assists while Devan Dubnyk made 41 saves in the win. Captain Joe Thornton had a goal and an assist for San Jose which has lost six consecutive games.
-Edmonton's Theo Peckham and San Jose's Ryane Clowe had issues:
-San Jose's Antero Niitymaki kept his eyes on this puck:
-The Sharks have not lost six in a row since 1995-96.
-The Oilers are still trying to deal defenseman Sheldon Souray who was exiled in the preseason to Hershey of the AHL.
-With forwards Cody McLeod (groin) and Chris Stewart (hand) expected to come off injured reserve today, the Avalanche placed forward Greg Mauldin on waivers.
-Wild goaltender Jose Theodore is dealing with a hip ailment.
Pacific Division
-A goal and two assists by Keith Yandle led the Coyotes to a 5-1 defeat of the Maple Leafs. Lauri Korpikoski added a goal and an assist for Phoenix while teammate Ray Whitney recorded two assists. Ilya Bryzgalov made 28 saves in the win.
-Coyotes defenseman Ed Jovanovski left the game in the second period with an "upper-body" injury after he was hit in the head by Toronto forward Mike Brown:
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-The play was not penalized.
-Toronto's James Reimer had issues with this puck:
-Phoenix's Kyle Turris having a moment:
-Uh...:
-We would say no because Toronto fans can't even get tickets to Maple Leafs games since all the corporate big wigs buy them.
-Red times for Reimer:
-If you can imagine such a thing, Kings forward Alexei Ponikarovski's current coach doesn't think he's competitive enough. Said Los Angeles's Terry Murray, “With Poni, I just need him to be a more competitive player right now."
-Ponikarovsky by the way, was a healthy scratch last night.
-Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen will face his former team, the Thrashers, Saturday for the first time since being traded to Dallas last season.
-The Stars demoted defenseman Philip Larsen to Texas of the AHL.
-The Coyotes recalled forward Mikkel Boedker from San Antonio of the AHL.
Adams Division
-Should fan be involved in voting for the All-Star Lame Game (PG+).
(Photo: Bylsma/Crosby-Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press; Canucks/Rangers-Andy Marlin/Getty Images; Flyers/Bruins-Charles Krupa/Associated Press and Elsa/Getty Images; Senators/Islanders-Paul Bereswill/Getty Images; Predators/Panthers-Lynne Sladky/Associated Press; Oilers/Sharks-Marcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press; Maple Leafs/Coyotes-Christian Petersen/Getty Images)