Empty Netter Assists - 12-11-11
Penguins
-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. "I thought it was a bad call." - Penguins defenseman Brooks Orpik on the elbowing major given to Islanders defenseman Travis Hamonic against him.
-Newsday's recap. "It's a joke but that's not the reason we lost. The reason we lost was our terrible performance." - Islanders captain Mark Streit referencing the Hamonic penalty.
-The Associated Press' recap. "He hits himself in the forehead with his own stick. He goes down and he’s bleeding." - Hamonic on the penalty.
-NHL.com's recap. "We didn't win puck battles. We didn't deserve to win that game. I give them credit. They won the battles. We just turned too many pucks over." - Islanders coach Jack Capuano.
-Highlights:
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-Dan Bylsma speaks:
-Pascal Dupuis speaks:
-Bloody times for Orpik:
-Bright times for Joe Vitale, Tyler Kennedy and Steve Sullivan:
-Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis and Matt Niskanen preparing to take the ice:
-Happy times for the Islanders. Not so much for Marc-Andre Fleury:
-Welcome to the NHL Penguins Jason Williams.
-How will a new collective bargaining agreement impact contract negotiations with Sidney Crosby?
-Bryan Lerg, Colin McDonald and Eric Tangradi each had a goal and an assist for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 4-2 win against the Hershey Bears. Scott Munroe made 33 saves in the win.
-Highlights courtesy of The Wilkes-Blog:
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-The Penguins have won eight consecutive games in Hershey.
-Peter Delmas made 33 saves for the Wheeling Nailers in a 2-1 defeat of the Trenton Titans.
Atlantic Division
-Daniel Briere, Scott Hartnell, former Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr and Wayne Simmonds each had a goal and an assist for the Flyers in a 5-2 win against the Lightning. Fire Craig Patrick. Claude Giroux and Kimmo Timonen each recorded a two assists for Philadelphia while teammate Ilya Bryzgalov made 14 saves.
-Check out this blistering one-timer by Jagr:
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-Fire Craig Patrick.
-It wasn't all good for the Flyers. Giroux (head) and Bryzgalov (suspected groin) each left the game due to suspected injuries. Giroux was injured when he was accidently kneed in the head by Simmonds:
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-Two goals by Carl Hagelin led the Rangers to a 4-1 win against the Sabres. Michael Del Zotto and Steve Eminger each recorded two assists for New York while teammate Martin Biron made 32 saves.
-Defensive Play of the Night: New York captain Ryan Callahan forcing a turnover and scoring a shorthanded goal:
-Biron kept his eyes on this puck:
-The Rangers recorded the 2,500th win in franchise history.
Northeast Division
-Joe Corvo had two goals for the Bruins in a 5-3 win against the Blues Jackets. Milan Lucic recorded three assists for Boston while teammate David Krejci collected two assists. Tuukka Rask made 11 saves in the victory. James Wisniewski had two assists for Columbus.
-Save of the Night: Thomas on Columbus' Vaclav Prospal:
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-Bruins captain Zdeno Chara left the game in the second period due to a leg injury.
-Erik Cole had a goal and an assist for the Canadiens in a 2-1 defeat of the Devils. Tomas Kaberle recorded two assists for Montreal one day after being acquired in a trade while teammate Carey Price made 28 saves.
-Price had to make a save on a penalty shot against New Jersey captain Zach Parise in the final minute to preserve the win:
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-Check out this rocket of a goal by Montreal's Max Pacioretty:
-Price kept his eyes on this puck:
-Canadiens forward Lars Eller was fined $2,500 for boarding Kings defenseman Drew Doughty Dec. 3.
-Ottawa forward Peter Regin returned to the lineup after being sidelined seven weeks due to a shoulder injury.
-Senators defenseman and former Penguin Sergei Gonchar is dealing with an "upper-body" injury.
Southeast Division
-Florida demoted forward Evgenii Dadonov to San Antonio of the AHL.
-The Panthers practice outdoors at New York's Central Park yesterday.
Central Division
-Two goals by Jiri Hudler led the Red Wings to a 7-1 rout of the Jets. Todd Bertuzzi, Valtteri Filppula and Henrik Zetterberg each added a goal and an assist for Detroit while teammates Pavel Datsyuk and Johan Franzen each recorded two assists.
-Happy times for the Red Wings. Not so much for Winnipeg's Evander Kane:
-Former Penguins forward Chris Conner scored his first career goal for the Red Wings. Fire Ray Shero.
-Brian Elliott made 24 saves for the Blues in a 1-0 shutout of the Sharks. It was his league-leading fourth shutout of the season.
-In his first game back from a two-game suspension, Jordin Tootoo had a goal and an assist for the Predators in a 3-2 win against the Ducks. Pekka Rinne made all of 15 saves in the victory.
-Pass of the Night: Anaheim's Teemu Selanne recorded his 900th career point with the Anaheim franchise with this clever backhanded set up for Francois Beauchemin:
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-Nashville's Brian McGratton and Anaheim's George Parros had a spirited fight:
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-Anaheim's Dan Ellis scooped in this puck:
-Blue Jackets forward Derek Dorsett left last night's game in Boston during the second period due to an apparent leg injury.
Northwest Division
-Ryan Kesler had two goals and an assist for the Canucks in a 4-1 defeat of the Senators. Captain Henrik Sedin recorded two assists for Vancouver while teammate Roberto Luongo made 24 saves.
-Fight of the Night: Vancouver's Dale Weise versus Ottawa's Nick Foligno:
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-Ottawa's Craig Anderson kept his eyes on this puck:
-Ottawa's Kaspars Daugavins and Vancouver's Alex Burrows were ready for this puck:
-Senators forward Cody Hodgson left the game after being hit in the head by Foligno in the first period.
-Miikka Kiprusoff made 21 saves for the Flames in a 3-0 shutout of the rival Oilers. Captain Jarome Iginla scored two goals for Calgary.
-Check out this blistering one-timer by Iginla:
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-Calgary's Olli Jokinen snuck in an elbow here on Edmonton's Theo Peckham:
-The Oilers have not won in Calgary since Oct. 17, 2008.
-Two goals by Kyle Brodziak led the Wild to a 4-1 win against the Coyotes. Captain Mikko Koivu added a goal and an assist for Minnesota while teammate Pierre-Marc Bouchard and Jared Spurgeon each recorded two assists. Niklas Backstrom made 35 saves in the victory which was Minnesota's sixth consecutive.
-Koivue and teammate Dany Heatley had a weird head-pat celebration:
-Oilers defenseman Andy Sutton is fast becoming an expert on suspensions. He was suspended for the second time this season, this time for eight games in relation to a hit against Hurricanes forward and former Penguin Alexei Ponikarovsky Wednesday:
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-The Wild demoted former Penguins forward Jeff Taffe to Houston of the AHL.
-The Flames recalled forward forward Greg Nemisz from Abbotsford of the AHL.
Pacific Division
-A goal and an assist by Trevor Daley led the Stars to a 2-1 win against the Kings. Richard Bachman made 26 saves in the victory.
-Happy times for Los Angeles' Brad Richardson. Not so much for Bachman:
-The Kings activated defenseman Willie Mitchell (groin) from injured reserve and demoted forward Ethan Moreau to Manchester of the AHL.
Norris Division
-Max Strang made 45 saves for the Mercyhurst men's team in a 4-3 loss to Niagara.
-Kristen DiCiocco made 35 saves for the Robert Morris women's team in a 1-1 tie with Syracuse.
-Jill Szandzik's overtime goal gave the Mercyhurst women's team a 3-2 win against Boston College.
(Photos: Penguins/Islanders-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images and Kathy Kmonicek/Associated Press; Rangers/Sabres-Gary Wiepert/Associated Press; Canadiens/Devils-Paul Bereswill/Getty Images; Jets/Red Wings-Carlos Osorio/Associated Press; Ducks/Predators-Mark Humphrey/Associated Press; Canucks/Senators-Jana Chytilova/Freestyle Photography/Getty Images; Oilers/Flames-Mike Ridewood/Getty Images; Wild/Coyotes-Paul Connors/Associated Press; Stars/Kings-Harry How/Getty Images)