Empty Netter Assists - 03-02-11
Penguins
-"I’m just happy to be here again." - Alex Kovalev (PG+).
-No link, but Chris Kunitz (above) is mustache boy for March.
-Kovalev speaks:
-Dan Bylsma speaks:
-Mario Lemieux was going to complain about how much pucks cost, but the realized he has Matt Cooke on his team:
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-Nick Johnson, Eric Tangradi and Chris Conner will not be eligible for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' postseason roster.
-Brad Thiessen was named the AHL's goaltender of the month for February.
Atlantic Division
-The Rangers recalled former Penguins goaltending prospect Chad Johnson from Connecticut of the AHL and demoted goaltender Cam Talbot to Hartford.
-Islanders forward Micheal Haley left last night's game against the Capitals due to a knee injury.
Northeast Division
-Ryan Miller made 29 saves for the Sabres in a 3-2 win against th Rangers. Andrej Sekera recorded two assists for Buffalo which is 3-0-1 in its past four games.
-Check out this fantastic pass by Buffalo's Paul Gaustad to set up Brad Boyes for a goal:
-Miller came up huge with this save against New York's Mats Zuccarello:
-Check out this blind behind-the-back save by Miller:
-Buffalo's Tyler Myers got down low for this puck:
-New Sabres forward Brad Boyes being popular:
-Sad times for Rangers forward and former Penguin Erik Christensen:
-Max Pacioretty had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens in a 3-1 win at Atlanta. Carey Price made 40 saves in the victory.
-It wasn't all bad for the Thrashers. Check out this nifty re-direction goal by Atlanta's Nik Antopov:
-Atlanta's Chris Mason stretched out for this save:
-Tuukka Rask made 33 saves for the Bruins in a 1-0 shutout win at Ottawa. The Bruins have won six consecutive games for the first time since 1971-72, the last year they 7won the Stanley Cup.
-Rask having a moment:
-Happy times for the Bruins. Not so much for Ottawa's Jason Spezza:
-Boston captain Zdeno Chara mashed Ottawa's Nick Foligno pretty good here:
-What in the world was Ottawa's Chris Neil doing here?
-Funny Faces of the Night: Boston's Brad Marchand and Ottawa's Ryan Potulny:
-Canadiens defenseman Jaroslav Spacek will be sidelined four to six weeks due to a knee injury.
-The Senators recalled forwards Colin Greening, Ryan Potulny and defenseman Derek Smith from Binghamton of the AHL.
Southeast Division
-An overtime goal and an assist by captain Alex Ovechkin gave the Capitals a dramatic 2-1 win against the Islanders. Michal Neuvirth made 28 saves in the victory.
-Ovechkin's goal was a thing of beauty:
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-Off a nice pass by new forward Jason Arnott, Washington's Brooks Laich scored with 47.1 seconds left in regulation to force overtime:
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-Happy times for the Capitals. Not so much for New York's Frans Nielsen:
-If you're wondering what new Capitals forward Marco Sturm looks like in his new uniform, here you go:
-Ovechkin tries to explain head coach Bruce Boudreau's affection to barbecue sauce to new defenseman Dennis Wideman:
-We think.
-Neuvirth played the right angle on this save:
-New York's Manny Lawson kept his eyes on this puck:
-The Capitals stuck Sturm on the top line with Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom.
-Cory Stillman had a goal and an assist for the Hurricanes in a 2-1 win against his former team, the Panthers. Cam Ward made 41 saves in the victory.
-Florida's Hugh Jessiman had issues with Carolian's Troy Bodie:
-The Panthers demoted former Penguins forward Bill Thomas to Rochester of the AHL.
-The Capitals recalled goaltender Todd Ford from Hershey of the AHL.
Central Division
-Red Wings defenseman Brian Rafalski is dealing with a back injury.
-With forward Vladimir Sobotka dealing with a foot injury, the Blues recalled forward Adam Cracknell from Peoria of the AHL.
-The Blue Jackets acquired minor league forward Petr Kalus from the Wild for future considerations.
Northwest Division
-Shootout goal by Mason Raymond, Alex Burrows and Raffi Torres gave the Canucks a 2-1 win against the Blue Jackets. Roberto Luongo made 30 saves in the victory.
-Check out this move by Raymond for a regulation goal:
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-It wasn't all bad for the Blue Jackets. Check out this save by Columbus' Steve Mason in the shootout against former Penguins forward Mikael Samuelsson:
-Happy times for Torres:
-Torres > Columbus's Matt Calvert:
-Vancouver's Dan Hamhuis got the drop on Columbus' Jakub Voracek:
-Luongo kept his eyes on this puck:
-Happy times for the Canucks. Not so much for Mason:
-New Columbus forward Scottie Upshall had a rough encounter with the boards:
-If you're wondering what Vancouver's Maxim Lapierre looks like in his new uniform, here you go:
-Miikka Kiprusoff made 25 saves for the Flames in a 6-0 shutout of the Blues. Captain Jarome Iginla had two goals and an assist for Calgary while teammate Alex Tanguay netted a goal and two assists.
-Stretchy times for Kiprusoff:
-Kiprusoff having a moment with teammate Cory Sarich:
-Calgary forward and former Penguin Tom Kostopoulos had issues with St. Louis' Cam Janssen:
-Blues goaltender Ben Bishop alone in the dark:
-Bishop kept his eyes on this puck:
-Shootout goals by Jordan Eberle and Linus Omark gave the Oilers a 2-1 win against the Predators. Martin Gerber made 34 saves in the victory.
-Omark's goal was simply disgusting:
-Omark being popular:
-The Wild recalled forward Jed Ortmeyer from Houston of the AHL.
Pacific Division
-Jamie Benn's overtime goal with 4.8 seconds left in regulation gave the Stars a stunning 3-2 win Phoenix. Ilya Bryzgalov made 27 saves in the victory.
-Benn's goal:
-Check out this hit by Dallas' Mark Fistric on Phoenix's Mikkel Boedker:
-A good look at the hit:
-New Coyotes defenseman Rostislav Klesla being popular:
-Stars defenseman and former Penguin Alex Goligoski didn't keep his eyes on this puck:
-Phoenix's Ilya Bryzgalov having a moment:
-Happy times for the Coyotes. Not so much for Lehtonen:
-A shootout goal by Ryane Clowe gave the Sharks a 2-1 win against the Avalanche. Antti Niemi made 18 saves in the victory.
-Niemi hung on for this puck:
-Sharks captain Joe Thornton took a tumble here:
-San Jose's Jason Demer dug into this shot:
-Colorado's Brian Elliott hung on to this puck:
-The Sharks signed goaltender Antti Niemi to a four-year contract extension worth a total of $15.2 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $3.8 million.
-Thinking Out Loud: For a goaltender who has a Stanley Cup ring on his resume, $3.8 million isn't a bad cap number. Good signing for the Sharks. He'll be a difference maker for them come playoff time.
-The Stars signed defenseman Brenden Dillon to a three-year entry-level contract contract.
(Photos: Kunitz-Paul Bereswill/Getty Images; Sabres/Rangers-Mary Altaffer/Associated Press and Nick Laham/Getty Images; Canadiens/Thrashers-John Bazemore/Associated Press; Bruins/Senators-Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images; Islanders/Capitals-Greg Fiume/Getty Images; Panthers/Hurricanes-Gerry Broome/Associated Press; Blue Jackets/Canucks-Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press and Rich Lam/Getty Images; Flames/Blues-Tom Gannam/Associated Press and Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images; Predators/Oilers-John Ulan/Canadian Press; Stars/Coyotes-Christian Petersen/Getty Images; Avalanche/Sharks-Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)