Empty Netter Assists - 05-24-12

Penguins

-Happy 51st birthday to former Penguins forward Alain Lemieux. A free agent signing midway through the 1986-87 season, Lemieux appeared in one game for the Penguins that season and did not score a point. He was released the following offseason. Combined with his younger brother Mario's 1,723 points, the Lemieuxs hold the franchise record for points by a brother tandem with 1,723. Alain also played for the Pittsburgh Phantoms of the Roller Hockey International league during the franchise's only season in 1994.

Playoff Stuff

Rangers - Devils

-Stephen Gionta and captain Zach Parise each had a goal and an assist for the Devils who beat the rival Rangers, 5-3, in Game 5. Mark Fayne and Ilya Kovalchuk each recorded two assists for New Jersey while teammate Martin Brodeur made 25 saves. The Devils took a 3-2 series lead.

-Ugly Goal of the Night: New York's Marian Gaborik got his first goal of the series after Brodeur fumbled this puck:

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-Dive of the Night: New York's Brandon Prust better get his skates checked after this "vicious" check from New Jersey's Peter Harrold:

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-Awesome Photo of the Season: Happy, bright times for the Devils at Madison Square Garden:

-Happy times for the the Devils. Not so much for New York's Henrik Lundqvist:

-New York's Michael Del Zotto had issues with New Jersey's Alexei Ponikarovsky:

-“I can’t really explain it in words. I think it’s just fun to be a part of this right now and I’m just trying to enjoy every moment.” - Gionta on scoring his first career postseason goal.

-Rangers forward Brandon Dubinsky returned to the lineup after missing 11 games due to a right ankle injury.

-Hockey Night in Canada's opening montage:

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-NBC is once again blocking NHL teams from hosting viewing parties.

-EN Says: This is the same mularkey NBC pulled with the Penguins and their viewing parties several years ago. What a stupid decision. And to make it worse, it's extending to Versus/NBC Sports Network games now. These parties help teams culivate their brand on a local level. Instead, NBC is worried about squeezing out every single potential rating point so they can jack up ad rates for FamersOnly.com.

-Is NBC's "Pierre" McGuire right to not report what Devils coach Peter DeBoer and Rangers coach John Tortorella argued about duringGame 5?

Coyotes - Kings

-Kings captain Dustin Brown is not expected to be disciplined for a low hit which injured Coyotes defenseman and former Penguin Michal Rozsival in Game 5.

-The hit in question:

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-"This team, they're a much better team than we were in '93, so I think their chances of winning the Final are a little bit better than ours were in the sense that we definitely lost to the better team." - Former Kings captain Wayne Gretzky comparing this season's Kings to the 1993 team, the only other squad in franchise history which advanced to a Stanley Cup Final.

Non-Playoff Stuff

Northeast Division

-Former Maple Leafs/Oilers/Flyers/Blue Jackets/Senators defenseman Luke Richardson was named head coach of the Binghamton Senators, Ottawa's AHL affiliate.

-The Bruins are trying to re-sign forward Chris Kelly before he becomes an unrestricted free agent July 1.

Southeast Division

-The Florida Everblades, the ECHL affiliate of the Hurricanes and Lightning, beat the Las Vegas Wranglers, 3-2, in overtime, in Game 4 of the Kelly Cup Final. Florida swept the series, 4-0.

Central Division

-The Blue Jackets signed forward Derek Dorsett (right) to a three-year contract worth a total of $4.9 million. Dorsett, 25, will have a salary cap hit of $1,633,333. In 77 games last season, Dorsett had 20 points (12 goals, eight assists) and 235 penalty minutes.

-EN Says: This is a nice contract for Columbus. Dorsett is a good fourth-line energy type of player. He's a pretty fierce forechecker and he's willing to drop the gloves with just about anyone in the NHL.

Northwest Division

-The Canucks signed head coach Alain Vigneault to a two-year contract extension.

Pacific Division

-The Los Angeles Dodgers want to host a Winter Classic.

(Photos: Devils/Rangers-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images and Paul Bereswill/Getty Images; Dorsett-Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images)