Empty Netter Assists - 04-15-11

Playoff Stuff

Penguins - Lightning

-"[Fleury] is a really good goalie who will make the first save and make himself a lot bigger than most goalies in the league. He's going to make the first save. We know that, so we have to go in front of the net, put some traffic in front of him and look for those rebounds." - Lightning forward Simon Gagne on Marc-Andre Fleury (above).

-"That was by far the most physical game, from a hitting and grinding standpoint, that I've ever been a part of." - Ben Lovejoy on Game 1.

-Sidney Crosby had a better view of the ice than you for Game 1:

-“He doesn’t like to get caught up in routine and I think it helps him on the ice. It keeps him loose. Nothing seems to faze him, he just rolls with everything.” - Mike Rupp on Fleury.

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-Maxime Talbot speaks:

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-"You learn how much different the game is in the playoffs than the regular season. You may be competing hard, but it's not hard enough in playoff hockey. That's something I learned and will address." - Lightning forward Steven Stamkos on his playoff debut.

-"Fleury made the first save a lot, but it was the rebounds, that we just couldn't put them in and that's something we are going to be aware of in Game 2.'' - Steven Stamkos

-Lightning forward Martin St. Louis had some dental work done after Game 1.

-St. Louis called the play by Zbynek Michalek which led to his double root canal "careless."

-Did you know Lightning Ryan Malone is from Pittsburgh? And he even played for the Penguins!

Capitals - Rangers

-Rangers defenseman Marc Staal and Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin (right) are going to see a lot of each other in this series.

-Including Game 1, the Capitals are 20-0-1 when Alexander Semin scores.

Flyers - Sabres

-Ryan Miller made 35 saves for the Sabres in a 1-0 shutout of the Flyers in Game 1. After missing 16 out of the Sabres' previous 17 games, forward Patrick Kaleta scored the game's only goal. Buffalo has a 1-0 series lead.

-Check out Kaleta's goal:

-Philadelphia's James van Riemsdyk got down low for this puck:

-Referee Kelly Sutherlund got a good look at things here:

-Buffalo's Tim Connolly and Philadelphia's Kimmo Timonen went at it for this puck:

-Buffalo's Nathan Gerbe > Philadelphia's Ville Leino:

-Philadelphia's mayor was on hand apparently:

-Thirsty times for Philadelphia's Sergei Bobrovsky:

-Sabres coach Lindy Ruff is now 9-2 in Game 1 road games in his career.

-The Flyers are 14-20 in series when they lose a Game 1.

-The Penguins aren't the only team in Pennsylvania with a lousy power play. The Flyers went 0 for 5 last night.

Bruins - Canadiens

-Carey Price made 31 saves for the Canadiens in a 2-0 shutout of the rival Bruins in Game 1. Captain Brian Gionta scored both of Montreal's goal while teammate Scott Gomez recorded two assists. The Canadiens lead the series, 1-0.

-Check out the effort by Boston's Milan Lucic just to get this shot off:

-“He’s a goal-scorer. Even when he’s in a drought, I know who pays the bills.” - Gomez on his passes which set up both of Gionta's goals.

-The Canadiens recorded their 100th postseason win all-time against the Bruins.

Canucks - Blackhawks

-Good news for the Canucks: They won Game 1 against the Blackhawk Wednesday night. Bad news for the Canucks: They won Game 1 of the previous two series they played against the Blackhawks, both which they lost.

-The Blackhawks recalled forwards Rob Klinkhammer, Jeremy Morin, Brandon Pirri, defensemen Brian Connelly, Shawn Lalonde, Ryan Stanton and goaltender  Alec Richards from Rockford of the AHL.

Sharks - Kings

-Joe Pavelski's overtime goal gave the Sharks a 3-2 win against the rival Kings in Game 1. Ryane Clowe recorded three assists for San Jose while Antti Niemi made 33 saves in the victory. Justin Williams netted a goal and an assist for Los Angeles. San Jose leads the series, 1-0.

-Pavelski's goal:

-Check out this save by Niemi on Los Angeles' Kyle Clifford:

-Sharks forward Ian White was injured when he was hit from behind into the board by Kings forward Jarret Stoll in the first period:

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-Staggeringly, no penalty was called.

-Happy times for Pavelski. Not so much for the Kings:

-Courtesy of San Jose's Douglas Murray, Los Angeles captain Dustin Brown got a good look at the ice:

-Niemi kept his eyes on this puck:

-Los Angeles' Drew Doughty > San Jose's Kyle Wellwood:

-A perennial postseason disappointment, the Sharks wore their black third jersey for the first time in postseason history.

Ducks - Predators

-"He's the reason why they're here." - Ducks forward Corey Perry on Predators goaltender Pekka Rinne.

-Ducks coach and former Penguins captain Randy Carlyle is being wishy washy on if he'll start Ray Emery or Dan Ellis (right) in goal for Game 2.

-The Ducks demoted goaltender J.P. Levasseur to Syracuse of the AHL.

Kelly Cup Playoffs (ECHL)

-Two goals by Tyler Murovich led the Wheeling Nailers to a 4-3 win against the Greenville Road Warriors in Game 1 of their series. Tim Crowder recorded two assists for Wheeling while Peter Delmas made 33 saves in the victory. Wheeling leads the best-of-seven series, 1-0.

Non-Playoff Stuff

Penguins

-Has Tony Granato earned chance at another head coaching job? (PG+)

-Mike Rupp, Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik and Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez and pitcher Paul Maholm are good people:

-Penguins owner Ron Burkle, who helped save the Penguins in Pittsburgh, is interested in purchasing the NBA's Sacramento Kings and keeping them in that city.

-Happy 46th birthday to the best power forward in Penguins history:

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-Happy 31th birthday to former Penguins defnseman Micki DuPont. Acquired at the 2003 trade deadline along with Mathias Johansson in a deal which sent Shean Donovan to the Flames, Dupont's Penguins career amounted to three game and one assist with the 2006-07 team. In the 2007 offseason, he joined the Blues as a free agent. He currently plays for Kloten of the NLA in Switzerland.

Northwest Division

-Flames captain Jarome Iginla (right) was nominated for the King Clancy Memorial Trophy. The award goes to a player “best exemplifies leadership qualities on and off the ice and who has made a significant humanitarian contribution to his community.”

Pacific Division

-Somewhere along the line, California became a hockey state.

Smythe Division

-The AHL has a contingency plan in place regarding the Manitoba Moose should the NHL make a return to Winnipeg.

-Former Maple Leafs/Oilers/Canadiens/Sharks forward Vincent Damphousse was charged with six counts of assaulting his wife by authorities in Montreal.

(Photos: Fleury-Justin K. Aller/Getty Images; Staal/Ovechkin and Sabres/Flyers-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images and Matt Slocum-Associated Press; Kings/Sharks-Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images; Paul Sakuma-Associated Press; Ellis-Jeff Gross/Getty Images; Iginla-Dale MacMillan/Getty Images)