Empty Netter Assists - 01-18-12

Penguins

-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. "So if this isn't 100 percent for him, it's pretty scary. This is as well as he's played in a long time." - Brooks Orpik on Evgeni Malkin.

-The Raleigh News and Observer's recap. "It was a pretty good hit." - Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner on being knocked out of the game momentarily by Orpik in the third period.

-The Associated Press' recap. “He’s getting the lion’s share of responsibilities right now in a lot of areas and playing outstanding." - Dan Bylsma on Malkin.

-NHL.com's recap. Malkin has seven points in his last three games.

-Highlights:

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-Brooks Orpik hitting Carolina's Jeff Skinner:

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-Deryk Engelland versus Carolina's Tim Gleason:

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-The great Joe Vitale versus Carolina's Tim Brent:

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-Marc-Andre Fleury > Skinner:

-Malkin and James Neal have a chat:

-Carolina coach Kirk Muller employed a "talk to the hand" method with his team apparently:

-We think.

-Malkin speaks:

-"It was the day after, when I woke up in the morning, I didn't feel that great. I saw some doctors. Then, I started throwing up and getting dizzy." - Kris Letang on his concussion.

-According to Shawn Rinne of the Wheeling News-Register, co-owners Rob and Jim Brooks have put the Wheeling Nailers up for sale.

-Happy 47th birthday to former Penguins forward Andrew McBain (right). Acqurired in the 1989 offseason along with Jim Kyte and Randy Gilhen in a deal which sent Randy Cunneyworth, Rick Tabaracci and Dave McLlwain to the Winnipeg Jets, McBain's Penguins career amounted to 41 games and 14 points in 1989-90. Midway through that season, he was traded to the Canucks along with Dave Capuano and Dan Quinn in exchange for Rod Buskas, Barry Pederson and Tony Tanti.

-Happy 33rd birthday to former Penguins forward Ruslan Fedotenko. A free agent signing in the 2008 offseason, Fedotenko spent two seasons with the Penguins. In his first season with the Penguins in 2008-09, Fedotenko appeared in 65 games and scored 39 points. During the postseason, he saw action in 24 games and scored 14 points, fourth-best on the team, while helping the franchise win its third Stanley Cup title. He followed that up in 2009-10 by playing in 80 games and scoring 30 points. He was limited to six games in the 2010 postseason and failed to record a point. During the 2010 postseason, he joined the Rangers as a free agent and still plays for the Rangers. In 145 regular season games with the Penguins, he scored 69 points. In 30 postseason games, he scored 14 points.

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-Happy 55th birthday to former Penguins forward Jim Hamilton. A second-round pick in 1977, Hamilton spent his entire eight-year NHL career with the Penguins. As a rookie in 1977-78, he appeared in 25 games and scored six points. After being limited to two points and and no points in 1978-79, he played in five postseason games that spring and scored three goals. Hamilton played in 10 games in 1979-80 and scored two goals. During 1980-81, he appeared in 20 games and scored seven points. In one postseason game that season, he failed to record a point. The 1981-82 season saw Hamilton play in 11 games and score eight points. He followed that up in 1982-83 by playing in five games and recording two points. In 1983-84, he played in 11 games while netting four points. His final NHL season was 1984-85. After 11 games and three points, he was released midway through the season. In 95 regular season games, Hamilton scored 32 points. In six postseason games, he scored three goals.

-Happy 62nd birthday to former Penguins forward Pete Laframboise (right). Acquired midway through 1974-75 in a deal which sent Ron Jones to the Capitals. His Penguins career amounted to 35 games and 18 games that season. During the 1975 postseason, he appeared in nine games and scored one goal. In the 1975 offseason, he joined the WHA's Edmonton Oilers as a free agent.

-Happy 52nd birthday to former Penguins forward Mike Blaisdell. Claimed off waivers prior to the 1985-86 season, Blaisdell spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. During 1985-86, he appeared in 66 games and scored 29 points. In 1986-87, he was limited to 10 games and scored two points. In the 1987 offseason, he joined the Maple Leafs as a free agent.

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Atlantic Division

-Patrik Elias had a goal and two assists for the Devils in a 5-1 rout of the Jets. Ilya Kovalchuk scored two goals for New Jersey while teammates David Clarkson and Petr Sykora each collected a goal and an assist. Martin Brodeur made 20 saves in the victory.

-Spitty times for Brodeur:

-Evgeni Nabokov made all of 17 saves for the Islanders in a 3-0 shutout of the Capitals. PA Parenteau scored two goals for New York while teammates Matt Moulson and Frans Nielsen each recorded two assists.

-Gleaming times for Parenteau's visor:

-Henrik Lundqvist made 27 saves for the Rangers and shutout the Predators, 3-0. Nashville had a five-game winning streak snapped.

-New York's Brian Boyle > Nashville's Patric Hornqvist:

-Ilya Bryzgalov made 25 saves for the Flyers who defeated the Wild, 5-1. Former Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr and Matt Read each recorded two assists for Philadelphia. Fire Craig Patrick. Minnesota has lost eight consecutive games.

-Defensive Play of the Night: Minnesota's Nick Schultz swatting away a loose puck out of mid-air:

-Flyers rookie forward Sean Couturier has scored goals in five consecutive games.

-“I think we’re pretty close to getting that thing back." - Rangers owner James L. Dolan referring to the Stanley Cup.

-"I have my owner up here talking about a Stanley Cup. That's a bunch of (vulgarity). We need to take one day at a time." - Rangers coach John Tortorella.

-Flyers forward Zac Rinaldo is dealing with an "upper-body" injury.

-The Devils recalled forwards Jacob Josefson and Brad Mills from Albany of the AHL.

Northeast Division

-Captain Daniel Alfreddson and Kyle Turris each had a goal and an assist for the Senators in a 3-2 defeat of the rival Maple Leafs. Craig Anderson made 37 saves for Ottawa.

-Check out this snipe of a goal by Turris:

-Check out his nifty pass by Toronto's Phil Kessel to set up Joffrey Lupul for a goal:

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-Hey, remember when Evgeni Malkin "low-bridged" Vincent Lecavalier? Well here's an actual low-bridge hit by Ottawa's Nick Foligno against Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf:

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-EN Says: We're sure all the meathead North American analysts on NBC will recoil in horror at this hit the way they did with Malkin's "hit" against Lecavalier.

-Phaneuf settled the score with Foligno later in the game:

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-Two good looks at the fight:

As far as this hit goes, it deserves a five-game suspension regardless of Phaneuf's healthy. Foligno, a noted stickler for the rules, didn't make a play for the puck. He strictly went after the opponent and did dow with a dangerous low hit.

-The Senators are now 12-2-2 in their last 16 games.

-The Senators recalled defenseman Mark Borowiecki and forward Andre Petersson from Binghamton of the AHL.

-Canadiens forward Rene Bourque (right) expects some payback from the Capitals tonight. He is facing Washington for the first time since he injured Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom with a hit to the head Jan. 3 while as a member of the  Flames. Backstrom has not skated for 11 consecutive days since being injured.

Southeast Division

-Captain Vincent Lecavalier and former Penguins Dominic Moore and Ryan Malone each had a goal and an assist for the Lightning which defeated the Bruins, 5-3. Fire Ray Shero. Steve Downie and Matt Gilroy each recorded two assists for Tampa Bay which snapped a seven-game losing streak while former Penguin Mathieu Garon made 26 saves. Nathan Horton scored two goals for Boston.

-"I was sitting in my room in the dark, and that's not a fun thing." - Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner on his recovery from a concussion.

-Panthers defenseman Ed Jovanovski will be sidelined indefinitely due to a hand injury.

-The Panthers demoted goaltender Brian Foster to San Antonio of the AHL.

Central Division

-Jiri Hudler's shootout goal gave the Red Wings a 3-2 win against the Stars. Former Penguins goaltender Ty Conklin made 25 saves in the victory. Fire Ray Shero.

-Detroit's Todd Bertuzzi took a tumble but kept an eye on this puck:

-Conklin gloved this shot:

-Dallas's Richard Bachman had issues with this puck:

-Curtis Sanford made 21 saves and led the Blue Jackets to a 4-2 win against the Oilers. Edmonton has lost six out of its past seven games.

-The Blackhawks officially placed forward Daniel Carcillo (knee) on injured reserve and recalled forward Ben Smith from Rockford of the AHL.

-Accoding to Ansar Khan of MLive.com, the NHL has finalized plans to hold next season's Winter Classic between the Red Wings and Maple Leafs at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbour, Michigan.

Northwest Division

-Scary scene here. Oilers forward Taylor Hall suffered a gruesome facial injury when he fell in warm-ups in Columbus and was struck in the face by the skate of teammate Corey Potter:

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-Hall needed treatment from an on-site plastic surgeon to address the injury.

-The Oilers demoted defenseman Alex Plante to Oklahoma City of the AHL.

-The Flames recalled defenseman defenseman Brett Carson from Abbostford of the AHL.

-Former all-star goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere has re-discovered his game in Colorado.

Pacific Division

-Shootout goals by Justin Williams and Mike Richards led the Kings to a 3-2 win against the Canucks. Jonathan Quick made 31 saves in the victory.

-Cool Photo of the Night: Quick alone in the dark:

-Intense Photo of the Night: Vancouver's Roberto Luongo staring down a puck:

-Los Angeles' Colin Fraser and Vancouver's Keith Ballard (and Ballard's jersey) had issues:

-Michal Handzus and Brent Burns scored shootout goals and gave the Sharks a 2-1 win against the Flames. Antti Niemi made 27 saves in the victory.

-The Ducks demoted forward Kyle Palmieri and defenseman Kyle Cumiskey to Syracuse of the AHL.

-The Coyotes demoted forward Cal O'Reilly to Portland of the AHL.

-The Stars activated forward Tomas Vincour (knee) from injured reserve and demoted forward Francis Wathier to Texas of the AHL.

Smythe Division

-Former Bruins/Kings/Panthers forward Jozef Stumpel has joined HK Nitra of the Slovakian Extraliga.

(Photos: Hurricanes/Penguins-Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press; McBain and Laframboise-Penguins Hockey Cards; Jets/Devils-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Capitals/Islanders-Greg Fiume/Getty Images; Predators/Rangers-Kathy Willens/Associated Press; Senators/Maple Leafs-Claus Andersen/Getty Images; Bourque-Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images; Red Wings/Stars-Ronald Martinez/Getty Images; Oilers/Blue Jackets-John Grieshop/Getty Images; Kings/Canucks-Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press and Rich Lam/Getty Images)