Empty Netter Assists - 02-06-11

Penguins

-Oh mama...:

-"I'm sorry." - Evgeni Malkin's text message to Ray Shero yesterday.

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-We've been spoiled over the past 40 years here in Pittsburgh.

-Nick Johnson had two assists for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 4-2 loss to the Syracuse Crunch.

-The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are 32-8 with Dustin Jeffrey in the lineup this season and 4-6 without him.

-Bedard, Mikael and David Marshall each had two goals and two assists for the Wheeling Nailers in a 6-2 defeat of the Cincinnati Cyclones. Doug Rogers added a goal and three assists while Peter Delmas made 27 saves in the victory.

-Happy 44rd birthday to former Penguins forward Mike Hudson (right). Claimed off waivers early in the 1994-95 season from the Rangers, Hudson's Penguins career amounted to 40 games and 11 points that campaign. During that postseason, he appeared in 11 games and failed to record a point. In the 1995 offseason, he joined the Maple Leafs as a free agent.

-Happy 30th birthday to former Penguins forward Andy Hilbert. Claimed off waivers from the Blackhawks late in the 2005-06 season, Hilbert's Penguins' career amounted to 19 games and 18 points on a line with rookie Sidney Crosby. The following offseason, he joined the Islanders as a free agent. He is currently a member of the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL.

Atlantic Division

-Brian Boucher made 30 saves for the Flyers in a 3-1 defeat of the Stars. Despite a league-leading 35 wins, the Flyer are the only team in the NHL without a shutout.

-Boucher kept his eyes on this puck:

-Two goals by Rob Schremp led the Islanders to a 5-3 defeat of the Senators. Michael Grabner and Frans Nielseon each added a goal and an assist for New York while teammates Travis Hamonic and Ty Wishart each recorded two assists. Kevin Poulin had 20 saves in the victory. Mike Fisher had a goal and an assist for Ottawa.

-Adorable Photo of the Night: Schremp being good people:

-Happy times for Poulin and Nielsen:

-Ottawa's Chris Neil > New York's Jeremy Colliton:

-The Islanders nearly had another goaltender fight. Senators goaltender Brian Elliott accused Poulin of challenging him to a fight following the second period. Elliott ended up getting penalized for elbowing Poulin.

-Islanders defenseman Bruno Gervais was scratched due to an "upper-body" injury.

-With Mike Richards, Danny Briere, Claude Giroux and Jeff Carter, the Flyers might have the collection of centers in the NHL.

Northeast Division

-Carey Price made 35 saves for the Canadiens in a 2-0 shutout of the Rangers. Montreal has won five consecutive games against the Rangers.

-Check out this adjustment in tight by Montreal's Scott Gomez which led to a goal:

-New York's Marc Staal > Montreal's P.K. Subban:

-Gomez being popular:

-We don't know who the guilty party was, but either Price or New York's Sean Avery invaded one another's personal space here:

-Montreal's Jaroslav Spacek reached up for this puck:

-Drew Stafford had two goals and an assist for the Sabres in a 6-2 rout of the rival Maple Leafs. Thomas Vanek added a goal and two assists for Buffalo while Ryan Miller made 23 saves in the win.

-The Sabres are 29-9-1 against the Maple Leafs since the start of the 2005-06 season.

“That’s what they’re trying to get rid of, and you can’t be a hypocrite and complain about it when it happens to you, and say it’s fine when your teammate does it.” - Bruins defenseman Andrew Ference comparing a hit Thursday by teammate Daniel Paille on Stars forward Raymond Sawada to one by Matt Cooke last season on Bruins forward Marc Savard.

Southeast Division

-Erik Cole's overtime goal gave the Hurricanes a 4-3 win against the Thrashers. Jiri Tlusy added a goal and an assist for Carolina while teammate Joni Pitkanen recorded two assists. Cam Ward made 34 saves in the victory. Bryan Little had two assists for Atlanta.

-Cole's goal:

-The Thrashers are 5-10-5 in their past 20 games with only two regulation wins.

-The Lightning recalled defenseman Marc-Andre Bergeron from Norfolk of the AHL.

Central Division

-Pekke Rinne made 35 saves for the Predators in a 3-0 shutout of the Red Wings. Sergei Kostitsyn had two goals for Nashville while teammate Ryan Suter recorded two assists.

-Check out this fantastic one-handed shorthanded goal by Kostitsyn:

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-Check out this wonderfully smooth goal by Nashville's Steve Sullivan:

-Happy times for Kostitsyn. Not so much for Detroit's Jimmy Howard:

-Red Wings forward Jan Mursak left the game due to a toe injury.

-Two goals and two assists by Plum native R.J. Umberger (no, really) led the Blue Jackets to a 4-3 win against the Oilers. Kristian Huselius added two goals for Columbus while teammates Kris Russell and Antoine Vermette each recorded two assists. Steve Mason made 23 saves in the win. Magnus Paajarvi scored two goals for Edmonton.

-It wasn't all bad for Edmonton. Check out this pass by Linus Omark to set up Paajarvi:

-Umberger being popular:

-Happy times for the Oilers. Not so much for Mason:

-The Predators activated forward Steve Sullivan (groin) from injured reserve and demoted forward Chris Mueller to Milwaukee of the AHL.

Northwest Division

-The Canucks demoted defenseman Lee Sweatt to Manitoba of the AHL.

-Oilers goaltender Nikolai Khabibulin has lost 13 consecutive games.

Pacific Division

-Antti Niemi made 26 saves for the Sharks in a 2-0 shutout of the Bruins. Niemi recorded his 10th career shutout while Ryan Clowe recorded two assists for San Jose.

-Check out this wonderful back check by Boston's Steven Kampfer on San Jose's Joe Pavelski:

-San Jose's Ben Eager and Boston's Adam McQuaid had issues:

-Curtis McElhinney made 25 saves and led the Ducks to a 3-0 shutout of the Avalanche. Corey Perry scored all three of Anaheim's goals.

-Check out this save by McElhinney on Avalanche captain Adam Foote:

-High five times for Perry and teammate Saku Koivu:

-Ilya Bryzgalov made 25 saves for the Coyotes in a 1-0 shutout of the Wild. Bryzgalov recorded his 20th career shutout in his 300th career game.

-Perry's hat trick:

-Check out this save by Minnesota's Niklas Backstrom on Phoenix's Martin Hanzal:

-Phoenix's Scottie Upshall > Minnesota's Cal Clutterbuck:

-Shootout goals by Michal Handzus, Jarret Stoll and  Justin Williams gave the Kings a 4-3 win at Calgary. Williams had a goal and two assists in regulation while captain Dustin Brown added a goal and an assist. Jonathan Quick made 32 saves in the victory. Alex Tanguay had two goals and an assist in regulation for the Flames who had a six-game winning streak snapped.

-Check out this non-goal in the shootout by Calgary's Curtis Glencross:

-Prior to the game, the Flames had some fun with rookie forward Lance Bouma:

Norris Division

-During the KHL's all-star skills competition, Denis Kulyash of Avangard Omsk set a world record with a slap shot recorded at 110.3 miles per hour:

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-For comparison's sake, Bruins defenseman Zdeno Chara set the NHL skills competition record last week with a blast of 105.9 miles per hour.

-Two goals and an assist by Adam Brace led the Robert Morris men's team to a 4-1 defeat of Canisius.

-Highlights:

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-Ryan Zapolski made 43 saves for the Mercyhurst men's team in a 4-0 shutout of Niagara.

-Sara O'Malley had a goal and an assist for the Robert Morris women's team in a 2-2 tie with Niagara.

-A hat trick by Jesse Scanzano led the Mercyhurst women's team to a 3-1 win against Wayne State.

(Photos: Hudson-Penguins Hockey Cards; Stars/Flyers-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Senators/Islanders-Kathy Kmonicek/Associated Press; Rangers/Canadiens-Graham Hughes/Canadian Press and Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images; Red Wings/Predators-Frederick Breedon/Associated Press; Oilers/Blue Jackets-Gregory Shamus/Getty Images; Sharks/Bruins-Elise Amendola/Associated Press; Ducks/Avalanche-Chris Schneider/Associated Press; Wild/Coyotes-Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press)