Empty Netter Assists - 03-24-12
Penguins
-Brent Johnson (above) will be the Penguins' No. 2 goaltender once he's healthy.
-The Penguins are kind of good on defesne.
-Matt Niskanen and the great Joe Vitale did not travel with the team to Ottawa due to "upper-body" injuries. (PG+)
-The Penguins will begin selling playoff tickets April 3. (PG+)
-Dan Bylsma speaks:
-Ben Lovejoy speaks:
-Johnson speaks:
-Scott Munroe made 20 saves for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 1-0 loss to the Adirondack Phantoms.
-Peter Delmas made 29 saves for the Wheeling Nailers in a 3-0 loss to the Cincinnati Cyclones.
-Happy 32nd birthday to former Penguins defenseman Andrew Hutchinson. A free agent signing in the 2010 season, Hutchinson's Penguins career amounted to five games and one assist in 2010-11. He left as a free agent this past summer and joined Barys Astana of the KHL.
-Happy 31st birthday to former Penguins forward Ramzi Abid (right). Acquired at the 2003 trade deadline from the Coyotes along with Dan Focht and Guillaume Lefebvre in exchange for Jan Hrdina and Francois Leroux, Abid, the first Muslim NHL player of Middle Eastern descent, spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. He finished 2002-03 by playing in three games for the Penguins and failing to record a point. During 2003-04, injuries limited him to 16 games and five points. After spending the 2004-05 lockout with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Abid joined the Thrashers as a free agent. Abid, the first player on the franchise's all-time roster in alphabetical order, appeared in 19 games for the team and scored five points. He is currently a member of EC Salzburg of the EBHL in Austria.
-Happy 57th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Pat Price. Acquired at the 1981 trade deadline from the Oilers in exchange for Pat Hughes, Price spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins. He finished 1980-81 by playing in 13 games for the Penguins and recording 10 assists. In five postseason games that spring, he scored two points. Price's only full season in Pittsburgh was 1981-82. He saw action in 77 games and scored 38 points. He appeared in five playoff games that season and failed to record a point. After 38 games and 12 points in 1982-83, Price was claimed off waivers by the Noridques. In 128 regular season games with the Penguins, he scored 60 points and recorded 459 penalty minutes.
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-Happy 39th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Philippe Boucher. Acquired early in the 2008-09 season in a trade which sent defenseman Darryl Sydor to the Stars, Boucher's Penguins career amounted to 25 games and six points that season. In nine postseason games that spring, he scored four points and even netted the game-winning goal in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference final, a 3-2 home win against the Hurricanes. He retired in the 2009 offseason. He is a partial owner of Club de Golf la Tempete, a golf course in Quebec.
Atlantic Division
-Rangers forward Mats Zuccarello is sidelined indefinitely due to a fractured left wrist.
-Flyers goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov has a 9-1-1 record, a 1.24 goals-against average and a .956 save percentage in March.
-Former Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr (right) was named the Flyers' nominee for the Masterton Trophy. Fire Craig Patrick.
-The Flyers recalled defenseman Erik Gustafsson from Adirondack of the AHL.
-New York state's department of labor is checking Nassau Memorial Veteran's Coliseum for asbestos.
Northeast Division
-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: Two goals and an assist by Drew Stafford led the Sabres past the Rangers, 4-1. Tyler Ennis added a goal and two assists for Buffalo while teammate Marcus Foligno recorded two assists. Ryan Miller made 26 saves in the victory. The Rangers are in first place of the Eastern Conference and Atlantic Division with 98 points, one more than the Penguins.
-Shootout goals by Tyler Bozak, Tim Connolly and Nazem Kadri led the Maple Leafs to a 4-3 win against the Devils. James Reimer made 43 saves in the victory.
-Shootout Goal of the Night: Kadri jammed up New Jersey's Martin Brodeur something fierce here:
-Hit of the Night: New Jersey's Anton Volchenkov planted Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski with this check:
-Happy times for New Jersey's David Clarkson. Not so much for the Maple Leafs:
-Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf didn't seem too happy with Clarkson crashing in on the net here:
-Spitty times for Brodeur:
-A hat trick by Erik Cole led the Canadiens to a 5-1 win against the Senators. Teammates David Desharnais and P.K. Subban each recorded two assists while Carey Price made 37 saves in the victory.
-Cole's hat trick:
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-Cole set a franchise record for fastest hat trick to start a game by scoring his third goal by 5:41 of the first period.
-Senators goaltender Craig Anderson returned to the lineup for the first time since suffering a finger injury Feb. 26.
-Captain Jason Pominville was named the Sabres' nominee for the Masterton Trophy.
Southeast Division
-An overtime goal and an assist by Tim Stapleton gave the Jets a 4-3 comeback win against the Capitals. Spencer Machacek and Ben Maxwell each collected a goal and an assist for Winnipeg which came back from a 3-0 deficit. Ondrej Pavelec made 20 saves in the victory. Captain Alex Ovechkin scored two goals for Washington.
-Stapleton's goal:
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-Happy times for the Jets:
-Washington forward Nicklas Backstrom was given medical clearance to resume full contact in practice. He has been sidelined since Jan. 3 due to a concussion.
-Capitals forward Joel Ward is dealing with an apparent "lower-body" injury.
-The Capitals demoted forward Cody Eakin to Hershey of the AHL.
Central Division
-A hat trick by Plum native (No, really!!!) R.J. Umberger led the Blue Jackets to a 5-1 rout of the Hurricanes. Vaclav Prospal added a goal and an assist for Columbus while teammate Derrick Brassard recorded three assists. Steve Mason made 39 saves in the victory.
-Umberger's goal:
-Hats, hats, hats everywhere in Columbus:
-Blackhawks defenseman Duncan Keith was suspended five games for an elbow which concussed Canucks forward Daniel Sedin Wednesday:
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-EN Says: That's a pretty vicious hit. Regardless of intent or history, five games is not enough for this.
-The Predators signed forward Joonas Rask, a seventh-round pick in 2010, to a two-year, entry-level contract. He is the younger brother of Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask.
Northwest Division
-A shootout goal by Ryan Nugent-Hopkins gave the Oilers a 2-1 win against the Panthers. Devan Dubnyk made 26 saves in the victory.
-Save of the Night: Technically, it wasn't a save, but Dubnyk stopped Florida's Stephen Weiss on this breakway:
-Florida's Jason Garrison scored his 16th goal of the season and set a single-season franchise record for goals by a defenseman:
-Florida's Mike Weaver battled it out with Edmonton's Ryan Smyth in front of the cage:
-Florida's Jose Theodore lost track of this puck:
-"It's a flying elbow. The elbow is extended, and almost above his head. It's almost above the player's head -- not Jared Spurgeon's head -- when it makes contact. So this is twice now we've lost Jared Spurgeon -- who is really an underrated player around this league, and an incredibly important piece to our lineup -- off dirty hits, real bad hits, this year." - Wild coach and former Penguins assist coach Mike Yeo on a hit by Flames forward Alex Tanguay which injured Wild defenseman Jared Spurgeon Thursday. Tanguay was not disciplined.
-With goaltender Niklas Backstrom dealing with a "lower-body" injury, the Wild recalled goaltender Matt Hackett from Houston of the AHL.
-Goaltender Mikka Kiprusoff was named the Flames' nominee for the Masterton Trophy.
-The Flames recalled defenseman Clay Wilson from Abbotsford of the AHL.
Pacific Division
-Goaltender Jonas Hiller (right) was named the Ducks' nominee for the Masterton Trophy.
-The Coyotes signed undrafted free agent forward Scott Arnold, formerly of Niagara, to a two-year, entry-level contract.
NCAA Tournament
-Penguins forward prospect Scott Wilson had an assist for Massachusetts-Lowell which beat Miami, Ohio, 4-3, in overtime.
-Troy Grosenick made 20 saves for Union which upset Michigan State, 3-1.
-Taylor Nelson made 25 saves for Ferris State in a 2-1 defeat of Denver.
-Andy Iles made 31 saves for Cornell which beat Michigan, 3-2, in overtime.
(Photos: Johnson-Claus Andersen/Getty Images; Abid-Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images; Jagr and Maple Leafs/Devils-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Jets/Capitals-Rob Carr/Getty Images; Hurricanes/Blue Jackets-Terry Gilliam/Associated Press; Oilers/Panthers-Joel Auerbach/Getty Images; Hiller-Harry How/Getty Images)