Empty Netter Assists - 03-07-12
Penguins
-Mario Lemieux's statue will be unveiled at noon today. We'll be live-Tweeting the even. Visit @emptynetters to join the fun.
-Welcome back Sidney Crosby... to contact in practice.
-But what about Kris Letang?
-The Devils will wear their red and green "Christmas" jerseys March 17th against the Penguins.
-Dan Byslma speaks:
-Crosby speaks:
-Pascal Dupuis speaks:
-Paul Martin speaks:
-If you haven't seen it, fans celebrated Zbynek Michalek's goal Monday by chanting his name through a scene in "Braveheart:"
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-Patrick Killeen made 14 saves for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 5-2 loss to the St. John's IceCaps.
-The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins announced their Clear Day roster of players eligible for the Calder Cup playoffs: (PG+)
Goaltenders - Scott Munroe, Brad Thiessen
Defensemen - Robert Bortuzzo, Simon Despres, Alex Grant, Joey Mormina, Alexandre Picard, Carl Sneep, Brian Strait
Forwards - Ryan Craig, Brandon DeFazio, Brian Gibbons, Bryan Lerg, Colin McDonald, Cal O’Reilly, Nick Petersen, Zach Sill, Ben Street, Eric Tangradi, Paul Thompson, Geoff Walker, Jason Williams
Players in residence - goaltenders Brad Fogal, Patrick Killeen, forwards Steve MacIntyre, Matt Rust, defensemen Philip Samuelsson and Cody Wild
-Happy 32nd birthday to former Penguins forward Eric Godard. A free agent signing in the 2008 offseason, Godard spent 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. In 2010-11, Godard saw action in 19 games, recorded three assists and accumuated 105 penalty minutes. In 135 career regular season games with the Penguins, Godard scored 10 points and recorded 352 penalty minutes.
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-Happy 56th 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. His son, Andrew Hotham, is a left winger with the Wheeling Nailers.
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-Happy 43rd birthday to Pirates broadcaster 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
-Patrik Elias and Ilya Kovalchuk each collected a goal and an assist for the Devils who defeated the rival Rangers, 4-1. Martin Brodeur made 25 saves in the victory.
-Check out this pass by New Jersey's Jacob Josefson to set up Ryan Carter for a goal:
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-Save of the Night: New York's Henrik Lundqvist on New Jersey's David Clarkson:
-Clarkson did get the best of Lundqvist eventually:
-Defensive Play of the Night: New Jersey defenseman Bryce Salvador with a "save" against New York's Derek Stepan:
-Carter and New York's Brandon Dubinsky had issues:
-"They played like they wanted to win. They hated us tonight and wanted to kill us." - Rangers forward Brian Boyle.
-Rangers captain Ryan Callahan returned to the lineup after missing three games due to a foot injury.
-A goal and an assist by Claude Giroux led the Flyers past the Red Wings, 3-2. Ilya Bryzgalov made 37 saves in the victory which was Philadelphia's third consecutive.
-Giroux busted out a pretty nasty move here to jam up Detroit goaltender Joey MacDonald on this goal:
-Goal of the Night: How in the world does Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg sneak this backhander into the net?
-The Flyers saw forward Jakub Voracek (undisclosed) and former Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr (hip) each leave the game in the second period due to injuries.
-Voracek was injured after he was hit in the face by Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall:
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-EN Says: Going with the replays available, Voracek's head appeared to be the principal point of contact, a major factor in terms of doling out any potential discipline. Based on that criteria, this should be grounds for a suspension.
-Bloody times for Voracek:
-Prior to the game, the Flyers retired the No. 2 of former defenseman Mark Howe:
-Banner times for Howe:
-The Flyers recalled defenseman Erik Gustafsson from Adirondack of the AHL.
-The Devils recalled forward Brad Mills from Albany of the AHL.
-Devils forward and former Penguin Alexei Ponikarovsky missed his third consecutive game due to a right MCL sprain.
-New Jersey forward and former Penguin Petr Sykora was named the Devils' nominee for the Masterton Trophy.
-With defensemen Mark Eaton (lower body) and Dylan Reese (flu) dinged up, the Islanders recalled defenseman Aaron Ness from Bridgeport of the AHL.
-The Rangers told forward Sean Avery he was not longer needed to report to practices or games with the AHL affiliate Connecticut Whale. He has not played since Jan. 27.
Northeast Division
-Two goals and an assist by Jordan Caron led the Bruins past the Maple Leafs, 5-4. Tyler Seguin scored two goals for Boston while teammates Zdeno Chara and Benoit Pouliot each recorded two assists. Tim Thomas mad 25 saves in the victory. Phil Kessel and John-Michael Liles each netted a goal and an assist for Toronto.
-Check out this dangle by Chara for his goal:
-The Maple Leafs saw forwards Colby Armstrong (nose) and Joffrey Lupul (wrist) leave the game due to injuries.
-Armstrong got knocked around in this fight with Boston's Dennis Seidenberg:
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-Fight of the Night: Toronto's Jay Rosehill versus Boston's Shawn Thornton:
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-A good look at the fight:
-Body Slam of the Night: Toronto's Tim Connolly taking down Boston's Brad Marchand:
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-Fiery times for new Maple Leafs coach and former Penguins captain Randy Carlyle:
-A hat trick and an assist by Milan Michalek led the Senators to a 7-3 rout of the Lightning. Colin Greening added a goal and an assist for Ottawa while teammate Filip Kuba recorded two assists. Making his debut with the Senators, Ben Bishop made 25 saves. Tom Pyatt collected two assists for Tampa Bay.
-Michalek had the easiest hat trick you'll probably ever see with two empty-net goals:
-Pass of the Night: Greening set up former Penguin Sergei Gonchar on the back door with a nice pass:
-Fire Ray Shero.
-Greening had a pretty enthusiastic bout with Tampa Bay's Keith Aulie:
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-A good look at the fight:
-Former Penguin on Former Penguin violence: Gonchar put the wraps on Tampa Bay's Ryan Malone here:
-Bishop still has his Blues lid:
-Steven Stamkos is popular in Tampa Bay:
-Ottawa recalled Bishop from Binghamton of the AHL and demoted goaltender Robin Lehner to Binghampton.
-Senators defenseman Chris Phillips left the game in the first period due to a broken nose.
-Ottawa defenseman Erik Karlsson was fined $2,500 for a slash to Panthers forward Sean Bergenheim Sunday.
-Maple Leafs forward Mikhail Grabovski (right) to a five-year contract extension worth a total of $27.5 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $5.5 million. In the final year of a contract with a salary cap hit of $2.9 million, Grabovski, 28, has 46 points (21 goals, 25 assists) in 60 games this season.
-EN Says: Whoa. What a big price tag for a fairly one dimensional player. Grabovski is a fine scoring winger. He can produce his own goals or create chances for teammates. He's an outstanding skater and can even offer a little gravel to his game, but he offers very little in terms of defense. Plus, he's never had more than 29 goals in a season. Committing $5.5 million for five years to a player who is closing in on 30 is a little much.
By comparison, James Neal's deal for "only" $5 million a season looks like a bargain.
-The Sabres demoted forward Marcus Foligno to Rochester of the AHL.
Southeast Division
-Justin Faulk's overtime goal gave the Hurricanes a 4-3 win against the Capitals. Brandon Sutter added a goal and an assist for Carolina while teammate Tim Gleason recorded two assists. Cam Ward made a whopping 46 saves in the victory. Washington has lost three consecutive games.
-Faulk's goal:
-The Capitals accused Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner of slewfooting defenseman Dmitri Orlov.
-Ushers at the Verizon center in Washington made Capitals fans take down signs which read "Free Knuble" and "Scratch Hunter." The signs were in reference to forward Mike Knuble who has been a frequent healthy scratch and coach Dale Hunter.
-Lightning goaltender and former Penguin Mathieu Garon left last night's game in Ottawa in the first period due to a "lower-body" injury.
-Tampa Bay defenseman Victor Hedman returned to the lineup after missing four games due to an "upper-body" injury.
Central Division
-Two goals by Andy McDonald helped the Blues trounce the Blackhawks, 5-1. Alex Pietrangelo and Kevin Shattenkirk each recorded two assists for St. Louis while teammate Jaroslav Halak made all of 19 saves.
-St. Louis's Ryan Reaves and Chicago's Brandon Bollig went at it in a spirited bout:
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-A good look at the fight:
-Happy times in St. Louis:
-St. Louis' Carlo Colaiacovo and Halak had a moment:
-A goal and an assist by Jack Johnson led the Blue Jackets to a 3-2 win against the Coyotes. Steve Mason made 38 saves in the victory. After going 11-0-1 in February, the Coyotes have lost their past four games.
Northwest Division
-Captain Jarome Iginla scored two goals for the Flames who held off the Flames, 5-4. Curtis Glencross added a goal and two assists for Calgary while teammate Mark Giordano recorded a goal and an assist. Miikka Kiprusoff made 24 saves in the victory. Max Pacioretty had two goals for Montreal.
-Ugly Goal of the Night: Glencross scored on an absolute gift of a turnover by Montreal goaltneder Carey Price:
-Iginla > Montreal's Chris Campoli:
-Flames forward Tim Jackman left the game in the first period after being struck on a high hit by Canadiens defenseman Alexei Emelin.
-Jan Hedja, David Jones, Jamie McGinn and Cody McLeod each had a goal and an assist for the Avalanche which routed the Wild, 7-1. Steve Downie recorded three assists for Colorado while teammate Gabriel Landeskog added two assists. Semyon Varlamov made 22 saves in the victory.
-Hit of the Night: McGinn stuck a nice hit on Minnesota's Marco Scandella then fought Kyle Brodziak:
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-Downie returned to the lineup after missing one game due to a shoulder injury.
-Avalanche forward Matt Duchene left the game in the third period due to a right ankle injury.
-"We're not right mentally. There's no question about that. We're not as good as we need to be, but I'll go to war with anybody that thinks it's because there's not enough care in there." - Wild coach and former Penguins assistant Mike Yeo.
-Wild forward Cal Clutterbuck missed the game due to an undisclosed ailment.
-Sam Gagner's shootout goal gave the Oilers a 3-2 win agianst the Sharks. Devan Dubnyk made 28 saves for Edmonton which snapped a three-game losing streak.
-The Oilers recalled forward Linus Omark from Oklahoma City of the AHL.
Pacific Division
-Two goals and an assist by Mike Ribeiro led the Stars past the Canucks, 5-2. Loui Eriksson and Stephane Robidas added a goal and an assist for Dallas while teammate Michael Ryder recorded two assists. Richard Bachman made 29 saves for Dallas. Chris Higgins had a goal and an assist for Vancouver.
-Check out this pass by Ryder to set up Ribeiro on the backdoor:
-Check out the placement on Higgins' goal:
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-Empty-Net Goal of the Night: Robidas hit this shot from long distance:
-Justin Williams scored two goals for the Kings who edged the Predators, 5-4. Trevor Lewis added a goal and an assist for Los Angeles while teammate Willie Mitchell recorded two assists. Patric Hornqvist scored two goals for Nashville.
-Mitchell went stick on puck here against Nashville's Martin Erat:
-"I know one thing: I have a better appreciation for the whole concussion thing now.” - Sharks coach Todd McLellan on recovering from a concussion after being struck in the head by a stick during a recent game. McLellan returned to the bench last night after missing three games.
(Photos: Lemieux-Getty Images; Rangers/Devils-Christopher Pasatieri/Getty Images and Bill Kostroun/Associated Press; Red Wings/Flyers-Alex Brandon/Associated Press and Rob Carr/Getty Images; Bruins/Maple Leafs-Abelimages/Getty Images; Senators/Lightning-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images and Tom Gannam/Associated Press; Grabovski-Claus Andersen/Getty Images; Blackhawks/Blues-Tom Gannam/Associated Press and Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images; Canadiens/Flames-Mike Ridewood/Getty Images; Kings/Predators-Mark Humphrey/Associated Press)