Empty Netter Assists - 02-27-11
Penguins
-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. "He's clutch." - Mark Letestu on Alex Kovalev.
-The Globe and Mail's recap. “In those situations, you just want to make the next save for your team. Unfortunately, I couldn’t quite do it. The puck was just avoiding me.” - Maple Leafs goaltender James Reimer on the wild third period.
-The Associated Press' recap. Kovalev scored his first goal for the Penguins since Feb. 8, 2003.
-NHL.com's recap. The Penguins are 11-9-3 since Sidney Crosby left the lineup.
-Kovalev's shootout goal deserves a second look:
-Mike Rupp versus Toronto's Jay Rosehill:
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-A good look at the fight:
-Colby Armstrong and Kovalev are not BFFs:
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-The pregame ceremony with Paul Henderson and those... interesting renditions of the national athems:
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-Happy times for the Penguins:
-Happy times for Maxime Talbot and Craig Adams:
-Happy times for Jordan Staal:
-Rupp took a spill in Toronto's crease:
-Armstrong chasing Ben Lovejoy:
-Reimer reached out for this puck:
-Chris Conner (5-foot-8) had a slight mismatch here with Toronto's Keith Aulie (6-foot-5):
-Toronto's Mike Komisarek > Matt Cooke:
-Kovalev didn't appear to care for this encounter with Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf:
-What in the name of Mike Ricci happened to James Neal's face:
-Letestu warming up:
-Staal warming up:
-Turtleneck times for Alex Kovalev:
-Welcome back Mark Letestu.
-There is a benefit to the injuries of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Right?
-Shootout goals by Kevin Veilleux, Brett Sterling, Bryan Lerg, Zach Sill and Joey Haddad gave the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins a 3-2 win against the Norfolk Admirals. Brad Thiessen made 17 saves in the victory.
-Highlights courtesy of the Wilkes-Blog:
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-Happy 62nd birthday to former Penguins defenseman Ab DeMarco. Acquired midway through 1973-74 along with Steve Durbano and Bob Kelly in deal which sent for Bryan Watson, Greg Polis and a draft pick to the Blues, DeMarco spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. he finished 1973-74 by appearing in 34 games for the Penguins and scoring 19 points. After eight games and three pointsin 1974-75, DeMarco was traded to the Canucks in exchange for Barry Wilkins. In 42 games with the Penguins, DeMarco scored 22 points.
-Happy 23nd birthday to current Penguins forward Dustin Jeffrey. A sixth-round pick in 2007, Jeffrey has spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins. As a rookie in 2008-09, Jeffrey appeared in 14 games and scored three points. In 2009-10, he was limted to one game and failed to record a point. This season, in 15 games, Jeffrey has scored a career-high eight points. In 30 career games with the Penguins, Jeffrey has 11 points.
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-Happy 27th birthday to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins goaltender John Curry. A free agent signing in 2007, Curry has spent parts of two seasons with the NHL Penguins. In 2008-09, he appeared in three games and had a 2-1-0 record with a 2.40 goals against average and .913 save percentage. During 2009-10, he appeared in one game, had a 0-1-0 record along with a 12.50 goals against average and .643 save percentage. In four games with the Penguins, Curry has a 2-2-0 record with a 3.79 goal against average and .867 save percentage.
Atlantic Division
-The Rangers acquired defenseman Bryan McCabe (right) from the Panthers in exchange for forward Tim Kennedy and a third-round pick in 2011. New York also demoted defenseman Michael Del Zotto to Hartford of the AHL.
-The Flyers recalled forward James van Riemsyk from Adirondack of the AHL and demoted defenseman Erik Gustafsson to Adirondack.
-Devils goaltender Martin Brodeur is expected to start against the Panthers today. It will be his first start since Feb. 6.
Northeast Division
-Michael Cammalleri, Andrei Kostitsyn and Tomas Plekanec each had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens in a 4-3 win against the Hurricanes. Roman Hamrlik recorded two assists for Montreal while Alex Auld made 28 saves in the victory.
-Check out this laser of a goal by Plekanec:
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-It wasn't all bad for the Hurricanes. Check out this save by Carolina's Cam Ward:
-Erik Condra had two goals for the Senators in a 4-1 defeat of the Flyers. Ryan Shannon recorded two assists for Ottawa while Craig Anderson made 30 saves in the victory.
-Happy times for Condra and teammate Nick Foligno:
-Senators forward Milan Michalek left the game due to a "lower-body" injury.
-A goal and two assists by Milan Lucic led the Bruins to a 3-1 win at Vancouver. Tim Thomas made 40 saves in the victory which was Boston's fourth consecutive.
-The anthems in Vancouver were a little bit more traditional than in Toronto:
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-Boston's Chris Kelly and Johnny Boychuk engaged in an impromptu staring contest:
-We think.
-An optimistic Bruins fan:
-The Senators placed goaltender Pascal Leclaire on waivers.
-The Bruins signed free agent defenseman Shane Hnidy to a one-year deal. Financial terms were not released.
-Canadiens hall-of-famer Elmer Lach broke his hip shoveling snow. At age 94.
Southeast Division
-A goal and an assist by Brooks Laich led the Capitals to a 3-2 comeback win against the Islanders. Michal Neuvirth made 29 saves in the victory.
-Check out this laser of a goal by washington's Alexander Semin:
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-A good look at the lid of Islanders goaltender Al Montoya:
-We don't want to say Montoya has depth perception issues... but:
-Painful times for New York's Travis Hamonic:
-The Capitals recalled forward Jay Beagle and goaltender Todd Ford from Hershey of the AHL and demoted forward Mathieu Perreault to Hershey.
-The Thrashers signed former Penguins forward Chris Thorburn to a three-year contract extension with a salary cap hit of $867,000.
-Panthers forward Rostislav Olesz will miss the rest of the season due to a knee injury. Fellow forward Chris Higgins is dealing with a broken thumb.
-The Lightning demoted forward Johan Harju to Norfolk of the AHL.
-The Hurricanes placed defenseman Brett Carson on waivers.
Central Division
-Shootout goals by Pavel Datsyuk and Jiri Hudler gave the Red Wings a 3-2 win at Buffalo. Joey MacDonald made 30 saves in the victory. Andrej Sekera had a goal and an assist in regulation for the Sabres.
-Detroit's Mike Modano returned to the lineup. He had been sidelined since Nov. 26 due to a wrist injury:
-The Blues placed former Penguins goaltender Ty Conklin on waivers.
-The Blue Jackets claimed defenseman Craig Rivet off waivers from the Sabres. Rivet had been serving as the Sabres' captain.
-The Blackhawks recalled defenseman Nick Leddy from Rockford of the AHL.
-The Predators demoted forward Wade Belak to Milwaukee of the AHL.
-Predators forward Blake Geoffrion made his NHL debut yesterday in Dallas. He is the grandson of Hockey Hall of Famer Bernie "Boom Boom" Geoffrion.
Northwest Division
-The Wild demoted forwards Jed Ortmeyer and Warren Peters to Houston of the AHL.
Pacific Division
-Former Penguin Alex Goligoski had a goal and an assist for the Stars in a 3-2 win against the Predators. Fire. Ray. Shero. Captain Brenden Morrow added two assists for Dallas while Kari Lehtonen made 25 saves in the victory. Colin Wilson made 25 saves in the victory.
-Goligoski's goal was kind of fluky:
-But his assist was simply disgusting:
-Happy times for Goligoski and Trevor Daley:
-Nashville's Tomas Vincour sprayed down Nashville's Pekke Rinne here:
-Drew Doughty and Anze Kopitar each had a goal and an assist for the Kings in a 4-3 win against the Avalanche. Jonathan Quick made 14 saves in the victory. David Jones scored two goals for Colorado.
-Happy times for the Kings:
-Los Angeles' Alec Martinez being poular:
-Kopitar became the first Kings player to score 20 or more goals in each of his first five seasons since Luc Robitaille.
-The Coyotes demoted forward Brett MacLean and defenseman Nolan Yonkman to San Antonio of the AHL.
(Photos: Penguins/Maple Leafs-Darren Calabrese/Canadian Press and Abelimages/Getty Images; McCabe-Joel Auerbach/Getty Images; Flyers/Senators-Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press; Bruins/Canucks-Geoff Howe/Canadian Press and Rich Lam/Getty Images; Capitals/Islanders-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Red Wings/Sabres-Rick Stewart/Getty Images; Predators/Stars-Ronald Martinez/Getty Images and LM Otero/Associated Press; Avalanche/Kings-Jeff Gross/Getty Images)