Empty Netter Assists - 01-11-12

Penguins

-Shelly Anderson's recap from last night's game. Simon Despres did not return after a "lower-body" injury in the first period.

-The Ottawa Citizen's recap. Senators all-star defenseman Erik Karlsson did not play due to an "upper-body" injury.

-The Associated Press' recap. “Every game is crucial, but tonight was a crucial game and we came out and put ourselves in a hole right away.” - James Neal.

-NHL.com's recap. "It's time for a real desperate effort, I think." - Matt Niskanen.

-Highlights:

-Evgeni Malkin's facial expression described the game the best:

-Brooks Orpik > Ottawa's Kyle Turris:

-Malkin flung a backhander on net:

-Funny Face of the Night: Steve Sullivan battling Ottawa's Bobby Butler for a puck:

-Ottawa's Chris Neil wasn't buying anything Matt Cooke was selling:

-Ottawa's Craig Anderson kept an eye on this puck:

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-Neal speaks:

-Matt Cooke speaks:

-To cap things off for a miserable night, a building near Consol Energy Center collapsed. (Kudos to The Pensblog for the find.)

-Paul Thompson scored two goals for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 3-2 win against the Norfolk Admirals. Ben Street added a goal and an assist for the Penguins while teammate Brad Thiessen made 24 saves.

-Happy 63rd birthday to former Penguins all-star defenseman Dave Burrows (right). Considered by many to be the best defensive blueliner in franchise history, Burrows spent spent seven seasons with the Penguins after being claimed from the Black Hawks in an intra-league draft during the 1971 offseason. As a rookie in 1971-72, Burrows appeared in 77 games and scored 12 points. He played in four postseason games that spring and did not record a point. Burrows saw action in 78 games in 1972-73 and scored 27 points. During 1973-74, Burrows played in 71 games, contributed 17 points and appeared in his first career all-star game. He followed that up in 1974-75 by seeing action in 78 games and once against collecting 17 points. In the 1975 postseason, he appeared in nine games and scored two points. Burrows' best season came in 1975-76 when he appeared in all 80 games and set a career high with 27 points while being selected to his second all-star game. In the 1976 postseason, Burrows appeared in three games and did not record a point. He was limited to 69 games in and nine points in 1976-77. During that spring's playoffs, he appeared in three games and recorded two assists. In 1977-78, he played in 67 games and scored 19 points. During the 1978 offseason, Burrows was traded to the Maple Leafs in exchange for Randy Carlyle and George Ferguson. After parts of three seasons with the Maple Leafs, Burrows was traded back to the Penguins early in the 1980-81 season along with Paul Gardner for Kim Davis and Paul Marshall. He finished his career by appearing in 53 games for the Penguins that season and recording two assists. In one postseason game that spring, he did not record a point. He retired following the season. In 573 career regular season games for the Penguins (seventh-most in franchise history), Burrows scored 132 points (62nd-most). In 20 postseason games, he scored four points.

-Happy 66th birthday to former Penguins forward Mike Corrigan (right). Acquired early in the 1976-77 season in a deal which sent a draft pick to the Kings, Corrigan spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. He finished 1976-77 by appearing in 73 games and scoring 41 points.  The 1977 postseason saw him appear in two games and fail to record a point. In 1977-78, a leg injury limited him to 25 games and 20 points and brought his career to an end. Corrigan returned to Pittsburgh as an assistant coach in 1981 and served under head coaches Eddie Johnston and Lou Angotti until 1984. In 98 regular season games with the Penguins, he scored 61 points.

Happy 56th birthday to former Penguins forward Warren Young. A free agent signing in the 1983 offseason, Young spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. In 1983-84, he appeared in 15 games and recorded eight points. The following season in 1984-85, Young was teamed on a line with Mario Lemieux and scored an astounding 40 goals and 72 points in 80 games. In the 1985 offseason, Young joined the Red Wings as a free agent. In 95 games with the Penguins, Young scored 80 points.

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Atlantic Division

-Sergei Bobrovsky made 35 saves for the Flyers in a 2-1 victory against the Hurricanes. Former Carolina coach Peter Laviolette recorded his 100th career win with Philadelphia.

-Philadelphia's Sean Couturier > Carolina's Cam Ward:

-Ward also had issues with this puck:

-Philadelphia's Marc-Andre Bourdon had a moment:

-Shootout goals by Marian Gaborik and Derek Stepan led the Rangers to a 2-1 win against the Coyotes. Henrik Lundqvist made 18 saves in the victory.

-Check out this save by Phoenix's Mike Smith denying New York's Marian Gaborik on a penalty shot in overtime:

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-A good look at the save:

-Former Penguins Mike Rupp of New York and Paul Bissonnette of Phoenix had a fight:

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-Happy times in New York:

-Everyone had issues here:

-Two goals and an assist by former Penguins forward prospect Matt Moulson led the Islanders to a 5-1 rout of the Red Wings. Fire Ray Shero. John Tavares added a goal and two assists for New York while captain Mark Streit recorded three assists. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves in the victory.

-Save of the Night: Nabokov on Detroit's Valtteri Filppula:

-The Islanders are 5-0-1 against the Red Wings since the 2004-05 lockout.

-"You see your team play and you obviously want to help them win, and you kind of want to rush it back. But that's probably the worst thing you can do. You need to relax and let it heal." - Flyers forward Claude Giroux on recovering from a concussion.

-Devils defenseman Anton Volchenkov returned to the lineup after missing four games due to a leg injury.

-The Devils demoted forwards Tim Sestito and Jacob Josefson to Albany of the AHL.

Northeast Division

-Two goals by  Nathan Horton led the Bruins to a 5-2 win against the Jets. Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and Milan Lucic each recorded two assists for Boston while teammate Tuukka Rask made 29 saves in the victory. Zach Bogosian and Tobias Enstrom each had two assists for Winnipeg.

-Goal of the Night: Check out this plethora of moves by Boston's Shawn Thornton on his shorthanded penalty shot:

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-A good look at Thornton's goal:

-Happy times for Rask and Gregory Campbell:

-Thornton and Winnipeg Brad Stuart had issues:

-Bloody times for Winnipeg's Tanner Glass:

-Jonas Gustavsson made 32 saves for the Maple Leafs in a 2-0 shutout of the rival Sabres. Nikolai Kulemin had a goal and an assist for Toronto.

-Hit of the Night: Toronto's Nikolai Kulemin on Buffalo's Patrick Kaleta:

-Sabres forward Thomas Vanek left the game due to a combination of an "upper-body" injury and an illness.

-Canadiens captain Brian Gionta left last night's game against the Blues due to an "upper-body" injury.

-With 41 points, Erik Karlsson has a chance to break the Senators' franchise record for points by a defenseman. Former Penguins defenseman Norm MacIver set the record with 63 points in the team's inagural season of 1992-93.

Southeast Division

-The Lightning signed forward Tom Pyatt to a two-year contract extension believed to be worth a total of $1.2 million.  He will have a salary cap hit of $600,000. In the final year of a contract with a salary cap hit of $525,000, Pyatt has appeared in 35 games this season and has scored five points (three goals, two assists).

-With forward Chad LaRose dealing with an "upper-body" injury, the Hurricanes recalled forward Jerome Samson from Charlotte of the AHL.

-The Capitals recalled defenseman Tomas Kundratek from Hershey of the AHL.

Central Division

-In his first game in Montreal since being traded in 2010, Jaroslav Halak made 19 saves for the Blues in a 3-0 shutout of the Canadiens. Captain David Backes and Penguins athletic trainer Chris Stewart each had a goal and an assist for St Louis.

-Halak was cheered by Canadiens fans after the game:

-A hat trick by Viktor Stalberg led the Blackhawks to a 5-2 win against the Blue Jackets. Dave Bolland had a goal and an assist for Columbus while teammate Corey Crawford made 32 saves in the victory. Aaron Johnson recorded two assists for Columbus.

-Stalberg's hat trick:

-Defensive Play of the Night: Chicago forward and former Penguin Marian Hossa stealing a puck and setting up Dave Bolland for a shorthanded goal:

-Fire Ray Shero.

-Happy times for Stalberg and Michael Frolik:

-Bad times for Columbus' Curtis Sanford:

-“It’s a challenge. It’s going to be a challenge. It’s not me. It’s everyone. We’re all in this together. But there is work ahead of us.” - Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins coach Todd Richard on losing his first game as the Blue Jackets' interim coach.

-Ryan Ellis and Martin Erat each had a goal and an assist for the Predators in a 4-1 win against the Avalanche. Pekka Rinne made 32 saves in the victory.

-Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk missed last night's game against the Islanders due to an "upper-body" injury.

-Former Blues general manager Ron Caron passed away. He was 82.

Northwest Division

-A goal and three assists from Curtis Glencross led the Flames to a 6-3 defeat of the Devils. Captain Jarome Iginla added a goal and two assists for Calgary while teammate Lee Stempniak had a goal and an assist. Miikka Kiprusoff made 35 saves in the victory. Adam Henrique and Ilya Kovalchuk each collected a goal and an assist for New Jersey.

-Pass of the Night: Calgary's Olli Jokinen setting up Glencross:

-Iginla and New Jersey's Adam Henrique each had a Gordie Howe Hat Trick:

-"He sees I'm in a vulnerable position. I guess he’s trying to make a name for himself. A minor league player trying to make a name for himself.” - Devils captain Zach Parise questioning a hit by Flames defenseman T.J. Brodie.

-Mason Raymond's shootout goal gave the Canucks a 5-4 comeback win against the Lightning. Captain Vincent Lecavalier, former Penguin Ryan Malone and Steven Stamkos each had a regulation goal and an assist for Tampa Bay. Fire Ray Shero.

-Raymond's shootout goal was pretty nifty:

-Shootout goals by Matt Cullen and captain Mikko Koivu gave the Wild a 5-4 win against the Sharks. Cal Clutterbuck had a regulation goal and an assist for Minnesota while teammates Justin Falk and Casey Wellman each recorded two assists. Josh Harding made 34 saves in the victory. Dan Boyle had a goal and two assists for San Jose.

-Check out this save by Harding on San Jose's Joe Thornton:

-Check out this release on Clutterbuck's goal:

-Minnesota forward Devin Setoguchi was scratched after missing a team meeting.

-Wild forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard is sidelined due to a concussion.

-Oilers defenseman Tom Gilbert is expected to be sidelined a month due to an ankle injury.

Pacific Division

-A hat trick by Saku Koivu led the Ducks to a 5-2 win against the Stars. Teemu Selanne recorded two assists for Anaheim while teammate Jeff Deslauriers made 26 saves. Steve Ott had a goal and an assist for Dallas.

-Koivu's hat trick:

-Ott's goal came on a rocket of a slapper:

-Happy times for Koivu:

-"There's no way I would take a shot myself. I knew Sak was going to have a chance to score a hat trick. So happy for him." - Selanne on why he passed to Koivu to set up his third goal.

-Selanne appeared in his 1,300th career game.

-The Ducks recalled Deslauriers from Syracuse of the AHL and demoted forward Jean-Francois Jacques to Syracuse. Anaheim also demoted defenseman Mark Frasher to Syracuse.

-The Coyotes claimed forward Gilbert Brule off waivers from the Oilers.

-Stars forward Mike Ribeiro was diagnosed with a slight MCL tear in his right knee.

-The Kings are using nets with thinner mesh at the Staples Center to aid overhead video reviews.

Adams Division

-Why do teams hide injury information?

(Photo: Senators/Penguins-Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press and Jamie Sabau/Getty Images; Burrows and Corrigan-Penguins Hockey Cards; Flyers/Hurricanes-Karl B DeBlaker/Associated Press and Grant Halverson/Getty Images; Coyotes/Rangers-Frank Franklin II/Associated Press and Chris Trotman/Getty Images; Jets/Bruins-Michael Dwyer/Associated Press and Elsa/Getty Images; Blue Jackets/Blackhawks-Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images; Stars/Ducks-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)