Empty Netter Assists - 02-17-11
Penguins
Note: The Penguins have cancelled practice at Southpointe today.
-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. The Penguins won in Denver for the first time since Feb. 25, 1999 when the Avalanche were still in McNichols Sports Arena.
-The Denver Post's recap. The Avalanche snapped a nine-game pointless streak.
-The Associated Press' recap. "Fortunate bounce." - Jordan Staal on the rebound which set up Tyler Kennedy's overtime goal.
-NHL.com's recap. "I knew I needed that save to keep the game even and give us a chance." - Marc-Andre Fleury on stopping Avalanche forward Brandon Yip on a shorthanded breakaway in the third period with the game tied, 3-3.
“We’re a great shootout team. We kill that off, we go to a shootout. No reason why we can’t win the game. I don’t win that draw, and if that shot doesn’t get blocked, you don’t give them that rebound. Definitely a big reason why we lost.” - Colorado's Ryan O'Reilly on the Penguins power play in overtime.
-Mike Lange's goal calls.
-Tyler Kennedy's goal deserves its own clip:
-Nick Johnson versus Mike Tyson Colorado' Ryan Wilson:
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-Johnson going down hard:
-Happy times for Kennedy and Kris Letang:
-Happy times for the Penguins:
-Fleury stretched out for this puck:
-Maxime Talbot battling with Colorado's Kevin Shattenkirk:
-Joe Vitale battling with Wilson:
-Funny Face of the Night: Staal battling with Colorado's Paul Stastny:
-Staal being popular:
-The Penguins being popular:
-"Seven years here, I loved it." - Tony Granato on his return to Colorado.
-Penguins defensive prospect Alex Grant was assigned to the Wheeling Nailers. Grant has been on injured reserve since breaking his wrist during the Penguins' rookie tournament in the preseason.
-Andrew Orpik is trying to make the most out of his chances with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
-Happy 62nd birthday to former Penguins goaltender Jim Rutherford (right). Claimed from the Red Wings in an intra-league draft during the 1971 offseason, Rutherford spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins. In 1971-72, Rutherford appeared in 40 games, went 17-15-5 with a 3.22 goals against average and one shutout. He appeared in four postseason games that spring and went 0-4 with a 3.50 goals against average. He followed that up in 1972-73 by playing in 49 games and posting a record of 20-22-5 with a 2.91 goals against average with three shutouts. After 26 games, a 7-12-4 record and a 3.44 goals against average, Rutherford was traded back to the Red Wings along with Jack Lynch in exchange for Ron Stackhouse. In 115 regular season games with the Penguins, Rutherford was 44-49-14 with a 3.14 goals against average and four shutouts. He is currently the general manager of the Hurricanes.
-Happy 45th birthday to former Penguins forward Luc Robitaille. Acquired in the 1994 offseason, Robitaille's only season in Pittsburgh was the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign. In 46 games, Robitaille scored 42 points. In 12 postseason games that spring, he scored 11 points including a memorable overtime goal in Game 5 of an Eastern Conference quarterfinal round against the Capitals (below). In the 1995 offseason, Robitaille was traded to the Rangers along with Ulf Samuelsson in exchange for Petr Nedved and Sergei Zubov. Featured in the movie "Sudden Death," Robitaille was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2009. He is currently the president of business operation for the Kings.
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-Happy 39th birthday to former Penguins forward Vladimir Vujtek. A free agent signing in the 2002 offseason, Vujtek's Penguins career amounted to five games and one assist in 2002-03. He was released early in the season.
Atlantic Division
-Daniel Briere netted a goal and two assists for the Flyers in a 4-2 win at Florida. Andreas Nodl added a goal and an assist for Philadelphia while Sergei Bobrovsky made 33 saves in the victory.
-Check out this "save" by Nodl:
-Cool Photo of the Night: A snow "storm" in the Philadelphia crease:
-Bobrovsky didn't keep his eyes on this puck:
-"You grab it by the neck here. Then you grab your bucket of water..."
-Surprising Stat of the Night: The Flyers won in Florida for the first time since Dec. 30, 2007.
-Flyers forward Ville Leino did not play due to a "lower-body" injury.
-The Flyers recorded the 1,700 regular season win in franchise history.
-Patrik Elias and Brian Rolston each had a goal and an assist for the Devils in a 3-2 win against the Hurricanes. Former Penguin Johan Hedberg made 25 saves in the victory. Fire Craig Patrick.
-Awesome Face of the Night: Carolina's Jay Harrison driving against New Jersey's Anssi Salmela:
-Happy times for Elias and Rolston:
-Rolston being popular:
-New Jersey's Mark Fraser and Carolina's Troy Bodie had issues:
-A good look at Hedberg's lid:
-The Devils are 13-1-2 in their past 16 games. Forward Brian Rolston has 16 points in that span.
-With forward Wojtek Wolski dealing with a rib injury, the Rangers recalled forward Kris Newbury from Connecticut of the AHL.
-Unintentionally Hilarious Note of the Day: A dump truck overturned at the demolition site for The Spectrum in Philadelphia.
Northeast Division
-James Reimer made 14 saves and led the Maple Leafs to a 2-1 win to the Sabres. The Maple Leafs won at Buffalo for the first time since since Dec. 12, 2008.
-Check out the effort on this shorthanded goal by Toronto's Joey Crabb:
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-Check out this "save" by Buffalo's Tim Connolly:
-Toronto's Tyler Bozak took a spill here:
-Happy times for the Maple Leafs. Not so much for Buffalo's Ryan Miller:
-Maple Leafs starting goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere left the game due to a groin injury.
-Toronto overlord Brian Burke denied speculation that forward Mikhail Grabovski was suffering from a concussion.
-The Canadiens acquired defenseman Paul Mara from the Ducks in exchange for a fifth-round pick in 2012. Mara spent last season with the Canadiens.
-The Sabres demoted goaltender Jhonas Enroth to Portland of the AHL.
Southeast Division
-Alexander Semin's hat trick led the Capitals to a wild 7-6 win at Anaheim. The were Semin's first goals since Nov. 28. Captain Alex Ovechkin and Brooks Laich each added a goal and an assist for Washington while teammate Karl Alzner recorded three assists. Michal Neuvirth made nine saves in the victory. Corey Perry had a goal and three assists for the Ducks.
-Semin's hat trick:
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-Check out Ovechkin's goal:
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-Check out this brutal turnover by Anaheim's Teemu Selanne which led to a goal by Laich:
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-If you can imagine such a thing, Washington's Mike Knuble scored a goal against a bird-named team which wears black and gold jerseys:
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-Check out the passing on this goal by Anaheim's Bobby Ryan:
-Fight of the Night: Washington's John Erskine versus Anaheim "expert" Andy Sutton following a dangerous hit from behind by Sutton on Washington's Matt Hendricks:
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-Semin being popular:
-Happy times for Semin:
-Semin had at least one fan in Anaheim:
-Bed-head time for Ovechkin:
-Panthers forward Cory Stillman appeared in his 1,000th career game.
-Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman faces his former team, the Red Wings, for the first time since joining Tampa Bay this summer.
Central Division
-Corey Crawford made 33 saves and led the Blackhawks to a 3-1 win at Minnesota. Dave Bolland recorded three assists for Chicago while teammate Marian Hossa netted two assists.
-Crawford kept his eyes on this puck:
-Minnesota's Jose Theodore stretched out for this save:
-Intense Face of the Night: Chicago's Tomas Kopecky:
-Crawford and teammate Niklas Hjalmarsson having a moment:
-Blackhawks coach Joel Quenneville was hospitalized for undisclosed reasons. Assistant coach Mike Haviland ran the team last night.
-The Blue Jackets activated forward Ethan Moreau (ribs) off injured reserve.
-Blues goaltender Jaroslav Halak is dealing with an "upper-body" injury.
-"Your body feels good, but it's all about your head, so you just wake up in the morning with a headache." - Predators defenseman on dealing with a concussion.
Northwest Division
-Miikka Kiprusoff made 22 saves for the Flames in a 4-2 win against the Stars. Rene Bourque recorded two assists for Calgary. Jamie Langenbrunner netted a goal and an assist for Dallas.
-Happy times for Calgary's Steve Staios:
-Happy times for the Flames. Not so much for Dallas' Trevor Daley:
-Kiprusoff kept his eyes on this puck:
-Second Funny Face of the Day: Calgary's Jay Bouwmeester battling with Langenbrunner:
-Dallas' Tom Wandell invaded the personal space of Calgary's Mark Giordano:
-Avalanche forward Matt Duchene is sidelined indefinitely due to a hand injury.
Pacific Division
-Jaret Stoll's shootout goal gave the Kings a 4-3 win at Columbus. Andrei Loktionov added a goal and an assist in regulation for the Kings while Jonathan Quick made 21 saves in the victory. Captain Rick Nash had a goal and two assists for the Blue Jackets.
-The Ducks placed goaltender Jonas Hillier (dizziness) on injured reserve and recalled goaltender Timo Pielmeier from Syracuse of the AHL.
(Photos: Penguins/Avalanche-Doug Pensinger/Getty Images and Chris Schneider/Associated Press; Rutherford-Pittsburgh Penguins; Flyers/Panthers-Joel Auerbach/Getty Images and Wilfredo Lee/Associated Press; Hurricanes/Devils-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Maple Leafs/Sabres-Rick Stewart/Getty Images; Capitals/Ducks-Jeff Gross/Getty Images; Wild/Blackhawks-Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images; Stars/Flames-Dave Sandford/Getty Images)