Empty Netter Assists - 01-16-11

Penguins

-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. "I'd say this is some of the best hockey I've seen him play for a long stretch."- Dan Bylsma on Marc-Andre Fleury.

-The Boston Globe's recap. "If you’re always in the position where you always have to come chasing and trying to get that even goal or winning goal, it’s tough to do it every night." - Bruins captain Zdeno Chara.

-The Associated Press' recap. Fleury recorded his 20th win of the season.

-NHL.com's recap. "We feel comfortable, we communicate well and we know where each other are on the ice, and any time it's that way it makes the game easier." - Matt Cooke on being reunited on a line with Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy.

-Mike Lange's goal calls.

-Highlights:

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-Craig Adams versus Gregory Campbell:

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-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-Referee Frederick L'Ecuyer actually apologized to Pascal Dupuis for incorrectly giving him a double-minor for high sticking against Boston defenseman Steven Kampfer. It was actually Chara's stick which clipped Kampfer.

-Kampfer ended up suffering a broken nose.

-“He’s groggy in the morning and doesn’t feel too good. He’ll feel better for five or six hours, and then it gets worse. It’s the grogginess more than anything. He had severe neck pain after the (David) Steckel hit, but it’s going away a bit.” - Pat Brisson, the agent for Sidney Crosby, on the health of his client.

-"Hopefully, he'll be a Penguin the rest of his career." - Ray Shero on Crosby.

-Remember how Sidney Crosby never spoke out on Matt Cooke's hit on Boston's Marc Savard last season? Hmmm... yeah... we don't either.

-Ryan Craig and Nick Johnson each had a goal and an assist for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 4-2 defeat of the Adriondack Phantoms. Eric Tangradi recorded two assists for the Penguins while John Curry made 28 saves in the victory.

-Highlights courtesty of The Pensblog's Eric Politowski:

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-Ben Street scored two goals for the Wheeling Nailers in a 3-2 loss to the Cincinnati Cyclones.

Atlantic Division

-A natural hat trick by John Tavares led the Islanders to a 5-3 win against the Sabres. Former Penguins prospect Matt Moulson recorded three assists for New York while teammate P.A. Parenteau netted two assists. Fire Ray Shero. Rick DiPietro made 40 saves to earn the victory after skipping give games due to a groin ailment. Tyler Ennis and Thomas Vanek each had a goal and an assist for Buffalo.

-Tavares' hat trick:

-Moulson being popular:

-Buffalo's Ryan Miller being indifferent towards the Islanders' ice girls:

-Buffalo's Thomas Vanek kicking up some ice on DiPietro:

-And New York's Michael Grabner ripping one behind Miller:

-Happy times for the Islanders. Not so much for Miller:

-The Flyers practiced in New York's Central Park yesterday. Apparently a lot of puppies were out:

Northeast Division

-Carey Price made 31 saves for the Canadiens in a 3-2 win against the Rangers. James Wisniewski recorded two assists for Montreal. Dan Girardi had assists on each of New York's goals.

-Check out this pass by Montreal's P.K. Subban to set up Tomas Plekanec for a goal:

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-Check out this hit by Subban on New York's Derek Stepan:

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-New York's Henrik Lundqvist isn't a fan of Montreal's Max Pacioretty:

-Price kept his eyes on puck:

-Happy times for Price and Subban:

-Maple Leafs goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere returned to the lineup for the first time in a month after dealing with a groin injury.

-The Senators demoted goaltender Robin Lehner to Binghamton of the AHL.

Southeast Division

-Jussi Jokinen had two goals and an assist for the Hurricanes in a 6-4 win at Tampa Bay. Captain Eric Staal added a goal and two assists for Carolina while teammate Erik Cole recorded three assists. Cam Ward made 30 saves in the victory. Simon Gagne scored two goals for the Lightning.

-Cool Photo of the Night: Carolina's Jamie McBain gripping and ripping on on Tampa Bay's Dwayne Roloson:

-Roloson kept his eyes on this puck:

-Happy times in Carolina:

"Our work ethic was extremely high. But the reality is, we were extremely stupid." - Lightning coach Guy Boucher.

-An overtime goal and an assist by Dmitry Kulikov gave the Panthers a 3-2 win against the Devils. Dennis Wideman added a goal and an assist for Florida while teammate Stephen Weiss recorded two assists. Scott Clemmensen made 33 saves in the victory.

-With forward Eric Fehr expected to be sidelined three to four weeks, the Capitals recalled forward Andrew Gordon from Hershey of the AHL.

-Thrashers goaltender Chris Mason is dealing with a "lower-body" injury.

Central Division

-Johan Franzen's overtime goal gave the Red Wings a 6-5 win against the Blue Jackets. Drew Miller had a goal and two assists for Detroit while teammates Kris Draper and Jonathan Ericsson each ntted a goal and an assist. Joey MacDonald made 25 saves in the victory. Captain Rick Nash recorded a goal and two assists for Columbus.

-Franzen's goal:

-Columbus' Steve Mason had issues with this puck:

-Marcel Goc's shootout goal gave the Predators a 3-2 win against the Blackhawks. Joel Ward recorded two assists for Nashville while Pekke Rinne made 31 saves in the victory.

-Check out this save by Rinne in overtime on Chicago's Patrick Sharp:

-Happy times in Nashville:

-Predators forward Martin Erat returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering an "upper-body" injury Dec. 23.

-The Red Wings recalled goaltender Thomas McCollum and left winger Tomas Tatar from Grand Rapids of the AHL.

Northwest Division

-Shootout goals by Alex Tanguay, Ales Kotalik and Olli Jokinen gave the Flames a 2-1 win at Toronto. Miikka Kiprusoff made 32 saves in the victory.

-Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski actually tied the game with 12 seconds left in regulation:

-Calgary captain Jarome Iginla warming up:

-Funny Face of the Night: Grabovski on a faceoff:

-Flames defenseman Mark Giordano is a pretty easy guy to root for:

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-After a scary-looking head-first collision into the boards Friday, Avalanche forward Ryan O'Reilly was officially diagnosed with a left shoulder injury.

-The Wild demoted goaltender Matt  Hackett to Houston of the AHL.

-The ankle injury of Oilers defenseman and former Penguin Ryan Whitney appears to be a little bit more serious than intially thought.

Pacific Division

-Trevor Daley and James Neal each scored two goals for the Stars in a 6-1 rout of the Thrashers. Jamie Benn, Stephane Robidas, Mike Ribeiro and Brad Richards each recorded two assists for Dallas while Kari Lehtonen made 29 saves against his former team. Atlanta has lost four consecutive games.

-A good look at Lehtonen's Chuck Norris-themed lid:

-Atlanta's Ondrej Pavelec kept his eyes on this puck:

-"They felt like an enemy for me." - Lehtonen on facing the Thrashers for the first time.

-Ray Whitney had two goals and an assist for the Coyotes in a 6-2 defeat of the Ducks. Lee Stempniak added a goal and two assists for Phoenix while teammate Sami Lepisto had a goal and an assist. Ilya Brzygalov made 26 saves in the inw. Corey Perry had a goal and an assist for Anaheim.

-Whitney recorded his 900th career point.

-Two goals by Jarret Stoll led the Kings to a 5-2 win against the Oilers. Drew Doughty and Marco Sturm each had a goal and an assist for Los Angeles while captain Dustin Brown recorded two assists. Jonathan Bernier made 24 saves in the victory.

-Check out this thunderous hit by Doughty on Edmonton's Taylor Hall:

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-Check out this goal by Edmonton's Dustin Penner:

-A good look at the Kings' throwback uniforms:

-Kings forward Wayne Simmonds left the game due to a "lower-body" injury.

-Dany Heatley scored two goals for the Sharks in a 4-2 win against the Blues. Captain Joe Thornton added a goal and an assist for San Jose while Antti Niemi made 28 saves in the victory.

Norris Division

-Hockey Night in Canada's opening montage for last night was pretty intense:

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-Ron Cramer and Nathan Longpre each had a goal and an assist for the Robert Morris men's team in a 4-2 defeat of Connecticut.

-Highlights:

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-Grant Blakey's overtime goal gave the gave the Mercyhurst men's team a 3-2 win against Holy Cross.

-Meeri Räisänen made 15 saves for the Robert Morris women's team in a 3-1 loss to Syracuse.

-Stephanie Ciampa made 11 saves for the Mercyhurst women's team in a 12-0 rout of Brown.

(Photos: Penguins/Bruins-Michael Dwyer/Associated Press; Sabres/Islanders-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Lightning/Hurricanes-Karl B DeBlaker/Associated Press; Blue Jackets/Red Wings-Rick Osentoski; Blackhawks/Predators-Frederick Breedon/Getty Images; Flames/Maple Leafs-Abelimages/Getty Images; Thrashers/Stars-Ronald Martinez/Getty Images; Oilers/Kings-Jason Redmond/Associated Press; Blues/Sharks-Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)