Empty Netter Assists - 03-07-11

Penguins

-The trade of Alex Goligoski and the injury of Brooks Orpik are benefitting Deryk Engelland and Ben Lovejoy (above).

-Kris Letang will be tying his jersey from now on.

-Could Alex Kovalev remain with the Penguins beyond this season (PG+)?

-Two goals and an assist by Ryan Craig led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 4-1 win against the rival Hershey Bears. Joey Mormina and Geoff Walker each added a goal and an assist for the Penguins while Brad Thiessen made 15 saves in the victory.

-Peter Delmas made 18 saves for the Wheeling Nailers in a 2-1 win against the Reading Royals.

-Happy 31th birthday to current Penguins forward Eric Godard. A free agent signing in the 2008 offseason, Godard has spent the past three seasons with the Penguins. In 2008-09, he set career highs in games played (71), points (four), penalty minutes (171) and got his name on the Stanley Cup. He followed that up in 2009-10 by playing in 45 games, netting three points and 76 penalty minutes. This season, Godard has seen action in 17 games, recorded one assist and has accumuated 88 penalty minutes. In 133 career games with the Penguins, Godard has scored eight points and recorded 335 penalty minutes.

{youtube width="480" height="390"}pC0TatWQDls{/youtube}

-Happy 55th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Greg Hotham. Acquired from the Maple Leafs midway though the 1981-82 season in exchange for a draft pick, Hotham spent parts of four seasons with the Penguins. He finished 1981-82 by playing in 25 games for the Penguins and scoring 10 points. He appeared in five postseason games that spring and recorded three assists. In 1982-83, Hotham played in 58 games and scored a career-high 32 points. He followed that up in 1983-84 by playing in a career high 76 games and netting 30 points. Hotham's final NHL season was 1984-85. He was limited to 11 games and two assists. After spending all of 1985-86 with the Penguins' AHL affiliate in Baltimore, Hotham was released in the 1986 offseason. In 170 regular season games, with the Penguins, Hotham scored 74 points.

{youtube width="480" height="390"}luwqnVScrU0{/youtube}

-Happy 43rd birthday to Pirates announcer former Penguins defenseman Greg Brown. A free agent signing in the 1993 offseason, Brown appeared in 36 games for the Penguins in the 1993-94 season and recorded 11 points. He spent most of the 1994-95 season in the IHL before being traded to the Jets. He is currently an assistant coach with Boston College.

-Happy 41st birthday to former Penguins forward Bryan Erickson. Acquired from the Kings midway through the 1987-88 season along with Chris Kontos in a deal that sent a draft pick to Los ANgeles, Erickson played 11 games for the Penguins that season and recorded five points. He left the team in the following off season when he joined HC Merano in Italy.

Atlantic Division

-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: Four goal and an assist by Ryan Callahan led the Rangers to a 7-0 rout of the rival Flyers. Mats Zuccarello added two goals for New York while teammate Artem Anisimov netted a goal and an assist. Henrik Lundqvist made 24 saves in the shutout victory. The Flyers are in first place in the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division with 86 points, two more than the Penguins who are in fourth and second place respectively.

-Callahan's hat trick plus one:

{youtube width="480" height="300"}ATEt5dGxlRs{/youtube}

-Check out this laser of a goal by New York's Mats Zuccarello:

{youtube width="480" height="300"}yebcyFn2ycc{/youtube}

-Check out this save by Lundqvist on Philadelphia's Claude Giroux:

-Happy times in New York:

-New York's Brandon Dubinsky being popular:

-Lundqvist fought off this puck:

-Thirsty times for Philadelpha's Brian Boucher:

-And the Devils just don't quit. Shootout goals by Ilya Kovalchuk and Brian Rolston gave the Devils a 3-2 win against the Islanders. Kovalchuk had a goal and an assist in regulation while Martin Brodeur made 20 saves in the victory. New Jersey is 20-2-2 in its past 24 games.

-Rolston's shootout goal:

{youtube width="480" height="300"}FlskGGvjJyc{/youtube}

-Save of the Night: Brodeur on New York's Jack Hillen:

-Rolston being popular:

-Happy times for the Devils:

-New York's Al Montoya reached out for this puck:

-The Islanders demoted defenseman Mark Katic to Bridgeport of the AHL.

Northeast Division

-Drew Stafford's overtime goal gave the Sabres a 3-2 win at Minnesota. Jhonas Enroth made 24 saves in the victory which pushed the Sabres into eighth place of the Eastern Conference.

-Goal of the Night: Stafford's goal:

Southeast Division

-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: Alexander Semin's overtime goal gave the Capitals a 3-2 win at Florida. Michal Neuvirth made 32 saves in the victory which moved Washington into first place in the Southeast Division. The Capitals are in third place in the Eastern Conference with 82 points, two fewer than the Penguins.

-Semin's goal:

{youtube width="480" height="300"}PsV2_-jx--M{/youtube}

-The Panthers recalled defenseman Clay Wilson from Rochester of the AHL.

-The Thrashers activated forward Alex Burmistrov (foot) from injured reserve and demoted forward Ben Maxwell to Chicago of the AHL.

Central Division

-The Blue Jackets recalled forward Kyle Wilson from Springfield of the AHL.

-The Blues will honor former forwards Red Berenson, Garry Unger, Joe Mullen and Keith Tkachuk by retiring their No. 7 - all four wore the number - before tonight's game against the Blue Jackets.

Northwest Division

-Miikka Kiprusoff made 21 saves and led the Flames to a 3-2 win against the Predators. Olli Jokinen recorded two assists for Calgary. Martin Erat netted a goal and an assist for Nashville.

-Flames captain Jarome Iginla scored his 30th goal. He became the 10th player in NHL history to reach the 30-goal mark 10 consecutive seasons. The others are Mike Gartner (15), Jaromir Jagr (15), Phil Esposito (13), Wayne Gretzky (13), Bobby Hull (13), Marcel Dionne (12), Mike Bossy (10), Jari Kurri (10) and Darryl Sittler (10).

-Iginla got his goal on a penalty shot:

-Iginla being popular:

-Cory Schneider made 26 saves for the Canucks in a 3-0 shutout of the Ducks. Manny Malhotra scored two goals for Vancouver while teammate Jannik Hansen recorded two assists.

-Schneider kept his eyes on this puck:

Pacific Division

-The Sharks activated goaltender Antero Niittymaki (groin) from injured reserve and demoted goaltender Carter Hutton to Worcester of the AHL.

(Photos: Flyers/Rangers-Al Bello/Getty Images; Devils/Islanders-Kathy Kmonicek/Associated Press; Predators/Flames-Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press; Canucks/Ducks-Mark J. Terrill/Associated Press)