Engelland recalled - 11-07-09

According to Jonathan Bombulie of the Citizens Voice in Wilkes-Barre, the Penguins have recalled defenseman Deryk Engelland (right) from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. In 10 games this season with the AHL Penguins, Engelland has two assists and 18 penalty minutes. He has never played in the NHL.

EN Says: According to Shelly Anderson, Alex Goligoski was held out of practice yesterday due to undisclosed reasons. Dan Bylsma said, "Just worn down, a little bit tired and wanted to give him a day off to get healthy."

So draw your own conclusions.

Frankly, if the team does need a replacement from the AHL on defense, we're a little surprised it's Engelland. Engelland was in a three-way battle for the team's seventh defenseman spot with Nate Guenin and Ben Lovejoy in training camp and Guenin appeared to have the best camp out of the three before Martin Skoula was brought in.

That said, it has been over a month since training camp and we'd be lying if we knew how Engelland or anyone else is doing doing at the AHL level.

(Photo: Justin K. Aller/Getty Images)

Mellon Arena Memories - Greg Malone - 11-06-09

"Mellon Arena Memories" is a semi-regular feature that will appear in this forum from time to time during the remainder of the Penguins' final season at Mellon Arena. We will attempt to interview several individuals inside and outside of the Penguins about the arena which has served as the franchise's home facility since the its inception. Today's subject is Greg Malone.

Greg Malone (right) is the head professional scout for the Tampa Bay Lightning. A second-round pick with the Penguins in 1976, he spent seven season with the franchise as a center from 1976 through 1983. He was the leading scorer on the 78-79 team with 65 points (35 goals, 30 assists) During his time with the Penguins as a player, he appeared in 495 games and scored 364 points (143 goals, 221 assists). He is still the 13th leading scorer in franchise history.

After spending parts of five seasons with the Whalers and Nordiques, Malone retired in 1987. Former Penguins general manager Tony Esposito hired Malone as a scout in 1988. Malone eventually became the club's head scout and held that position until 2006. Among the players drafted under Malone's watch were Colby Armstrong, Sidney Crosby, Marc-Andre Fleury, Andrew Ference, Alex Goligoski, Jan Hrdina, Jaromir Jagr, Tyler Kennedy, Patrick Lalime, Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin, Markus Naslund, Brooks Orpik, Rob Scuderi, Martin Straka, Maxime Talbot, Ryan Whitney, and his son, Ryan Malone.

Following his tenure with the Penguins, Malone became a scout with the Coyotes before joining the Lightning organization.

Malone still resides in Pittsburgh is regularly scouts Penguins games.

First Memory of Mellon/Civic Arena:

“The first thing I remember, I showed up and they had the roof open. And I went ‘Wow!’ It would be kind of cool to have the roof open to play a hockey game. And the second memory I have was pretty much the balconies they put in both ends. Just the visualization of it.”

Favorite Memory of Mellon/Civic Arena:

“The guys that played on the team. We never really went far in the playoffs but I think we were competitive. Just hanging out with the guys. As far as game memories? The one game there I got lucky with six assists.”

Funniest of Mellon/Civic Arena:

“The afternoon Ryan (right, with Greg and mother, Peggy) was born. I was in Hartford the night before and I came home. I missed the game in Hartford. I went over to the hospital and he was born late afternoon. So I had never had time to go home and change. So I show up (at the arena) with my sneakers and jeans on. And then I went out on the ice and the first thing they (announced) was they’d like to welcome Ryan as a new member of the organization. I’m thinking, ‘Holy (Snickers) this kids not even five minutes old and he’s being announced on the PA.’”

On watching his son play at Mellon/Civic Arena:

"Probably I was more proud of him just coming on the ice. The first night he was here and they’re introducing the team. Because that was always a big thing as a player. Opening night, you get that call. I can remember the first year it was pretty cool just to be standing there in the tunnel and then you come out and the spotlight is on you. And it’s like ‘Holy (Snickers) I’m playing in the National Hockey League.’ And I can remember that moment when I did and it was pretty cool to see your son come out there and do the same thing. Probably more proud of that than I was a player. He had a lot more success with the team going to the (2008) Finals."

Bad memories of Mellon/Civic Arena:

"Within the organization, the death of (former Penguins general manager) Baz Bastien. Stuff like that. I think what happens is if a lot of the memories were made up tenfold by the good memories."

On the infamous visitors locker room:

“You know what? The visiting locker room, that’s where we used to dress. We loved it! It was home. I had no quarrels. It was like, ‘Hey, this is cool.’”

On having an office in Mellon Arena:

When I was working here and we had a lot of rain there were puddles on the floor down below. And once in a while you’d go into your office downstairs and there’d be water coming through the ceiling onto your desk.

On the atmosphere:

"It’s always had a great atmosphere. But I think that’s going to be with the new building as well. I think they’ll have that atmosphere because that shows how great the fans are here. It doesn’t matter. New building, old building. They’re still going to get excited and they’re still going to make noise at the game. They’re not going to sit on their hands like at some of the other arenas around the league that are really quiet. It’s always been a great atmosphere here."

(Photo: Malone-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Malone family-PittsburghHockey.net; Malone card-eBay)

Empty Netter Assists - 11-06-09

Penguins

-Shelly Anderson's recap from last night's game. Tyler Kennedy was a scratch for undisclosed reasons.

-The Los Angeles Times' recap. The Kings showed they could hang with a Stanley Cup contender.

-The Associated Press' recap. "They forced us into a lot of the mistakes that we made." - Dan Bylsma.

-NHL.com's recap. "Against a team like that, if you're not playing well and you're making mistakes, you're going to pay for it." - Sidney Crosby (above).

-Highlights courtesy of EN contributor GhostWalker40:

-Sidney Crosby and Marc-Andre Fleury speak:

-Happy times following Jordan Staal's goal:

-Happy times for Anze Kopitar, Jonathan Quick and Erik Ersberg:

-Quick played this shot by Ruslan Fedotenko pretty well:

-An in-game presentation was "sabotaged" by a Penguins fan.

-The Penguins are really taking it easy with Evgeni Malkin's shoulder.

-Is Kennedy the best winger on the Penguins?

-This story of a generous Penguins fan might help you forget last night's disaster of a third periods. Okay, maybe not.

-Is Eric Godard the NHL's tenth best fighter?

-Jay McKee is tough:

-Maxime Talbot and Steelers wide receiver are on cereal boxes.

-The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins are having trouble scoring goals.

-Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forward Adam Heinrich was traded by the ECHL's Ontario Reign to the Cincinnati Cylcones.

-Former Wilkes-Barre/Scranton defenseman Jean-Philippe Cote joined the Kassel Huskies in Germany.

-Happy 64th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Darryl Edestrand. Edestrand led all Penguins defensemen with 39 points (15 goals, 24 assists) in 1972-73.

Atlantic Division

-A goal and two assists from Ales Kotalik (above) helped the Rangers claim a 4-2 win at Edmonton. Teammates Ryan Callahan and Marian Gaborik each recorded a goal and an assist.

-Awkward Photo of the Night: Rangers goaltender Stephen Valiquette and teammate Marc Staal having issues:

-With Devils forward Rob Niedermayer dealing with an undisclosed injury, Patrik Elias is expected to fill his place in the lineup tonight against the Islanders. Elias has yet to play this season due to a groin injury.

-New Jersey put defenseman Jay Leach on re-entry waivers.

-The Flyers are battling the flu bug.

Northeast Division

-Mike Cammalleri's (above) shootout goal gave the Canadiens a 2-1 win against the rival Bruins. Carey Price snapped a personal six-game losing streak by making 42 saves for the Habs.

-A goal by Boston's Patrice Bergeron with 51.7 seconds left in regulation sent the game to overtime and helped the Bruins avoid being shutout for the third consecutive game.

-Highlights:

-This was the 700th meeting between the two franchises.

-Check out this absurd save by Boston's Tim Thomas:

-Montreal's Scott Gomez was either flirting with Thomas or looking for somewhere to shoot:

-Boston's Zdeno Chara and Montreal's Josh Gorges had a pretty rough-looking collision:

-Cool Photo of the Night: This overhead shot of Boston's Blake Wheeler:

-Jason Spezza's overtime goal gave the Senators a 3-2 win against the Lightning. It was Spezza's first goal of the season. He also recorded two assists while teammate Mike Fisher added a goal and an assist.

-Check out this fantastic, clean, legal hit by Ottawa's Chris Neil on Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman:

-Cool photo of the hit:

-Hedman did not return to the game.

-Neil was at a slight disadvantage at this juncture in his fight with Steve Downie:

-"The puck was there. There was nothing wrong with that hit. That’s hockey." - Lightning coach and former Penguins forward Rick Tocchet on Neil's hit.

-Happy times for the Senators. Not so much for Tampa Bay's Antero Niittymaki:

-The Bruins signed backup goaltender Tuukka Rask to a two-year contract extension with a salary cap hit of $1.25 million.

-Bruins forward David Krejci has been diagnosed with the swine flu.

-The Sabres are dinged up. Defensemen Toni Lydman (groin), Andrej Sekera (illness) and former Penguins goaltender Patrick Lalime (groin) are on the shelf.

-The Senators recalled forward Jesse Winchester from Binghamton of the AHL.

Southeast Division

-The Hurricanes are the worst team in the NHL in many ways.

-With forwards Tuomo Ruutu (right) and Ray Whitney down with "upper-body" injuries, the Hurricanes recalled forward Zach Boychuk, a first-round pick in 2008, from Albany of the AHL.

-Lightning forward Ryan Craig cleared re-entry waivers and was recalled from Norfolk of the AHL.

-In order to make room for Craig on the roster, the Lightning declared defenseman Paul Ranger, on a leave of absence for personal reasons, as a "non-roster player."

-Thrashers defenseman Ron Hainsey is dealing with a "lower-body injury.

-Panthers captain Byan McCabe is expected to play in his 1,000th career game tonight.

-Florida forward David Booth has yet to resume any sort of physical activity since suffering a concussion Oct. 24.

Central Division

-Shootout goals by Pavel Datsyuk and Henrik Zetterberg gave the Red Wings a 2-1 win against the Sharks. Chris Osgood (above) was perfect in the shootout and made 33 saves for the win which was Detroit's third consecutive.

-Check out Zetterberg's shootout goal:

-Two goals by Raffi Torres helped the Blue Jackets edge the Thrashers, 4-3. Teammates Derick Brassard and Jake Voracek each recorded two assists while former Penguin Mathieu Garon made 32 saves in the win. Fire Ray Shero. Tobias Enstrom led Atlanta with a goal and an assist.

-Check out this hit by Columbus' Marc Methot on Atlanta's Evander Kane:

-Columbus' Rick Nash in the process of being dominant:

-According to a report in the Columbus Dispatch, the Blue Jackets are losing $12 million a year.

-The Blue Jackets officially placed forward Kristian Huselius on injured reserve due to an "upper-body" injury.

-Blackhawks forward and former Penguin Marian Hossa is expected to raise a flag at a MLS playoff game for the Chicago Fire. It might be the most he's accomplished at a postseason contest in well over a year.

-The signing of former Penguins defenseman Darryl Sydor has been a pleasant surprise for the Blues.

-Predators forward Jordin Tootoo made his season debut after missing the first 13 games of the season due to a quadriceps injury.

Northwest Division

-Dion Phaneuf's overtime goal gave the Flames a 2-1 win at St. Louis. It was the Flames' second overtime win in as many nights. Miikka Kiprusoff (above) made 30 saves in the victory. Blues forward Lars Eller, a first-round pick in 2007, scored in his NHL debut.

-Check out the black eye on Calgary captain Jarome Iginla:

-St. Louis' T.J. Oshie got some serious torque on this stick:

-St. Louis' Chris Mason alone in the spot light:

-A goal and an assist from Alex Burrows helped the Canucks claim a 5-2 win at Minnesota. Teammate Alexander Edler added two assists for Vancouver which is on a three-game winning streak. Kyle Brodziak scored both of the Wild's goals.

-Check out this fantastic save by Vancouver's Andrew Raycroft on former Penguins forward Petr Sykora:

-This is the best shot of it we could find, but the Nikolai Khabibulin and the Oilers wore their amazing throwback jerseys last night:

-Vancouver forward Steve Bernier is dealing with an illness.

-Since forward Mats Sundin retired, the Canucks need to fill their quota of old broken-down Swedish superstars. Vancouver general manager Mike Gillis admitted his team is interested in former Avalanche forward Peter Forsberg.

-According to TSN, Forsberg has not joined Ak Bars Kazan in the KHL.

-Despite one of the best starts in franchise history, the Avalanche has one of the worst attendance figures in the NHL.

-Colorado rookie forward Matt Duchene, the third overall pick in this summer's draft, is dealing with a shoulder injury.

Pacific Division

-Jonas Hiller (above) made 40 saves and led the Ducks to a 4-0 shutout of the Predators. Teemu Selanned led Anaheim with two goals while teammates Ryan Getzlaf and Saku Koivu each added two assists.

-Ducks enforcer and Washington, Pa. native George Parros went at it with Nashville's Wade Belak:

-Martin Hanzal had a goal and an assist and led the Coyotes to a 3-1 defeat of the Blackhawks. Ilya Bryzgalov made 31 saves in the win.

-Coyotes fans apparently don't like that stinkin' root beer:

-Chicago's Patrick Sharp apparently got lost on the way to the rink:

-Referee Kelly Sutherland managed to keep his hair perfect while reviewing a goal:

-Wrestler Sgt. Slaughter dropped the ceremonial first puck before this game:

-Some good news here for the Penguins regarding their next opponent. Sharks defenseman Rob Blake was placed on injured reserve due to an "upper-body" injury. Defenseman Derek Joslin was recalled from Worcester of the AHL.

-The Kings' line of Anze Kopitar, Ryan Smyth and Justin Williams have combined for 48 points (20 goals, 28 assists) in 11 games.

-The Coyotes recalled defenseman David Schlemko from San Antonio of the AHL.

-George Parros might've had the coolest wedding ever. It had water slides.

-Stars forward James Neal is dealing with a groin injury.

Adams Division

-Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! takes a look at the five best and five worst NHL jerseys of the past decade.

-Does the United States have enough goatending depth to earn a medal in the 2010 Olympics?

-"It doesn't matter whether I was right or wrong or deserved to be suspended. I did that to him. I put that 16-year-old boy in hospital." - Erie Otters forward Michael Liambas on checking Kitchener Rangers defenseman Ben Fanelli during an OHL game. The hit fractured Fanelli's skull:

-Today would've been the 87th birthday of former Pittsburgh Hornets forward Joe Klukay.

-Non-Hockey Item of the Day: Check out Mr. Rogers' new neighborhood.

(Photos: Crosby, Staal, Kopitar and Fedotenko-Harry How/Getty Images; Kotalik, Valiquette and Khabibulin-Jimmy Jeong/Canadian Press; Cammalleri, Gomez and Gorges-Elsa/Getty Images; Wheeler-Charles Krupa/Associated Press; Neil and Niittymaki-Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images; Downie-Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press; Ruutu-Associated Press; Osgood-Paul Sancya/Associated Press; Nash-Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images; Kiprusoff-Tom Gannam/Associated Press; Iginla, Oshie and Mason-Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images; Hiller-Parros-Lori Shepler/Associated Press; Jeff Gross/Getty Images; Hansons, Sharp, Sutherland and Slaughter-Christian Petersen/Getty Images)

Kings 5, Penguins 2 - 11-05-09

PREGAME

Hey, guess where we are:

Nope:

But EN reader Eric Naughton, who sent some quality pics during Tuesday's game in Anaheim is on the ground in the City of Angels:

-Eric gives you a little bit of Dan Bylsma if you ask us:

-Eric sent in a few pregame photos. Tom Barrasso, Mario Lemieux, Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby all have at least one fan in house:

-As does Jaromir Jagr:

Remember this gentleman who had the "jersey foul" with the Tyler Kennedy jersey in Anaheim Tuesday?

-Well Eric ran into him once a again, and he was proud to point out he is not wearing his hood tonight:

-Point of Clarification: We forgot one of our own rules regarding hoods. If the hood is positioned in a what that it is not blocking the name plate or number, it is not a foul. So this Tyler Kennedy fan was in the clear on Tuesday night. Though, we would argue it was far too warm to be wearing a hood in 64 degree weather in Anaheim.

-Let's get this this out of the way. For "Rob Scuderi use to be a Penguin," we'll use a photo of his finest moment as a Penguin:

-For "Dan Bylsma used to be a King:"

-For "Tony Granato used to be a King:"

-And while we don't expect a ton of these, we couldn't resist digging up this image for "Luc Robitaille used to be a Penguin:"

-This might hurt your eyes:

-LetsGoKings.com has a pretty extensive gallery of Sidney Crosby in Kings garb. He participated in the Kings' prospect camp in the summer of 2004.

(Kudos to The Pensblog for the reminder.)

-Crosby and Kings defenseman Jack Johnson are BFFs.

-There's some ugly hunk of metal out front:

-Penguins fans waiting to watch warm ups:

(Sweet Granato jersey. The Kings' jersey from the late 1980s to mid 1990s might be one of the best jerseys ever in any sport.)

-The Kings "Lakers" jerseys before the Gretzky era were pretty sweet too. Luc Robitaille:

-Sidney Crosby practice:

-Maxime Talbot:

-The Kings are pulling off some Capitals-esque urinal hijinks:

-Warm ups:

-Dan Potash attempts to karate chop his evil twin Dan Bylsma:

-Crosby and Malkin have two more fans at least:

(Kids are exempt from jersey fouls.)

-Potash drops a:

-Some surprsing news here. Tyler Kennedy is a scratch. So is Evgeni Malkin. Chris Conner takes Kennedy's place in the lineup.

-Kennedy was one of the Penguins' top players in the Anaheim win.

-Peter Harrold and Randy Joines are the Kings scratches.

-Marc-Andre Fleury and Jonathan Quick are your starting goaltenders.

-Paul Steigerwald reminds us:

-From Rob King:

FIRST PERIOD

20:00: Before the first faceoff, Steigerwald gets in one last:

19:33: Well that doesn't take long. The Kings strike first. Justin Williams carries the puck up the ice, draws Kris Letang to the slot and dishes a pass to Anze Kopitar flying in on the left wing. Kopitar essentially has a breakaway. He moves in on net, dekes to the backhand undressing Fleury and lifts the puck into the empty cage. What a move by Kopitar. Heck of an effort by Williams to create space for Kopitar. Williams and Ryan Smyth get assists. A hybrid of "I Love L.A./Hey Song" is played. Kings 1-0.

18:51: And we're off and running. Chris Conner carries the puck up ice and leaves a drop pass just insde the goal line. With Jay McKee driving to the net, Staal steps up and hammers a slapper from the left point that clunks off the cross bar and goes just over the goal line. Just as he released that shot, Kings captain Dustin Brown dumped Staal with a nice shoulder check. Replays show McKee might've screened Quick a bit on that shot. Either way, Quick probably needs to make that save. Heck of a response by the Penguins. Nice to see Staal break out of his mini scoring slump. Conner and McKee get assists. Kings 1, Penguins 1.

17:10: Rob Scueri fires a slapper from the left point through traffic. Fleury makes the save. Bob Errey points out that was the first save of the game.

14:09: We missed the last three minutes of action looking up the Kings' goal horn. It doesn't seem like anything happened. Matt Greene is nabbed for hooking Pascal Dupuis. Crosby, Kris Letang, Alex Goligoski, Bill Guerin and Chris Kunitz take the ice.

13:49: Alex Goligoski whips a wrister on net from the left point. Quick hangs on for the save.

13:40: Crosby dishes a pass to Kunitz down low to the left of the net. Kunitz turns and tries to jam the puck in. Quick holds his ground.

12:29: Guerin gloves a deflected puck in the air, puts it down on the ice, spins and whips a wrister far and wide of the cage.

12:14: From the right wing, Crosby snaps of a pass to Guerin in the slot. Guerin smacks it on net. Quick is able to slid over and deny Guerin with his right leg. Heck of a save by Quick. Errey says, "It was a quick pass but a quicker Quick!"

12:09: Greene's penalty is killed. The Penguins actually generated a few nice chances there.

11:44: Fleury fights off a shot by Brown.

11:32: Browns snaps off a low shot from the right wing. Fleury kicks it out.

9:20: After Martin Skoula turns the puck over at his own blue line, Kopitar snaps off a low wrister at the cage. Fleury eats it up.

8:50ish: Coming back from commercial, Potash surprises us with a "Bob Berry used to coach the Penguins." We're totally unprepared and all we can find is this:

7:17: Jonathan Quick eats up a deflected shot by McKee.

5:20: Steigerwald kind of compares Skoula to Larry Murphy in terms of skating styles.

4:05: Kunitz forces a turnover deep in the Kings' zone. He drops a pass to Crosby. Crosby steps up and smacks a shot over the Kings' cage.

3:20:  Coming back from commercial

-Errey also drops a less than subtle "Look at how big his arms are" for one of his bosses, Penguins investor Ron Burkle.

2:41: The Penguins have Jordan Staal, Mike Rupp and Matt Cooke on a line.

1:48: Play is stopped as a big chunk of glass breaks in the corner in the Kings zone:

-The glass was broken when Craig Adams hit Greene into the boards.

-During the stoppage, FSN Pittsburgh drops a nice stat:

(Bylsma is apparently bashful of his accomplishment.)

-And Errey offers the first:

0:00: End of period. Kings 1, Penguins 1.

FIRST INTERMISSION

-That was a really odd period. Each team came out flying and got goals on their first shots. Then neither team could hit the net. There were a lot of missed or blocked shots. The first two minutes were exciting. The final 18 were kind of clunky.

-The Penguins' power play looked better during it's one chance. It got a few shots on net, including a few down low.

-The Kings have a 7-6 edge in shots.

-Scuderi leads the game with 8:41 of ice time.

-FIre Ray Shero.

-Kris Letang leads the Penguins with 7:57.

-The Kings control faceoffs, 12-7 (63 percent).

-Jarret Stoll is 4 for 5 (80 percent).

-Crosby is 5 for 9 (56 percent).

-No one has more than one blocked shot.

-The Bob Errey "stick management" segment was funny on many levels. Hopefully someone YouTubed that.

-Eric sends in another jersey. We'll going to assume this gentleman is a fan of non-contact jerseys:

-Dear lord. FSN Pittsburgh shows clips from Fleury's NHL debut in the 2003-04 season opener at Mellon Arena. Kelly Buchberger is shown. Our eyes begin to bleed like Buchberger:

SECOND PERIOD

19:10: Scott Parse smacks a loose puck on net. Fleury steers it into the corner.

18:45: Parse and company try to jam a puck in by Fleury down low. Fleury hold them off. Someon in a black jersey gets hauled down. Cooke is sent off for hooking. The Kings' dangerous power play takes the ice. Adams, Pascal Dupuis, Mark Eaton and McKee take the ice.

17:31: Staal moves up the right wing on a two-on-one with Dupuis against Drew Doughty. Staal elects to shoot a wrister. Quick fights it off.

17:18: Drew Doughty hammers a slapper on  net from the top of the slot. Fleury makes the save despite MIchal Handzus' screen. Handzus backhands the rebound. Fleury fights that off.

16:45: Cooke's penalty is killed. Solid effort by the Penguins.

16:20: From the right wing, Crosby zips a cross ice pass to Guerin who rips a wrister to the far side. Quick gloves it. Officials escort Crosby off the ice to clean up a little blood off his face.

16:03: Kopitar snaps off a wrister from the right wing. Fleury kicks it out at the last second.

14:48: Alexander Frolov cracks a slapper from the left point wide.

14:19: With the Penguins running a little ragged in their own end, Brown turns and whips a one-timer on net from the left faceoff cricle. Fleury eats it up.

14:06: Jack Johnson fires a slapper on net from the left point. Fleury makes the save. The Kings have dominated play for the past minute or so.

12:46: Guerin jumps on a loose puck in the Kings' zone and swats it on net. Quick kicks it out.

12:01: Eric Godard gets a shift with Crosby and Kunitz for some reason. Crosby dishes a pass to Godard. Godard can't find it and gets flattened by Johnson for his trouble.

11:29: McKee blocks a wrister by Johnson from the right point.

10:29: Off some furious forechecking by Conner, Staal is able to hack a shot on net from in tight. Quick gloves it. Conner's had a few nice shifts with Staal.

10:03: Goligoski takes out Brad Richards with a solid hip check inside the Penguins' blue line.

9:09: Dear Dan Focht!?!?! Brooks Oprik might've scored!?!?! Actually, Kunitz re-directed it. Orpik tosses a puck at the net from the right point. Kunitz is at front and re-directs it down with the shaft of his stck. by the stick side of Quick. See what happens when you just put a puck on net and crash the crease? That's a classic Kunitz goal. Officials briefly review the goal to make sure Kunitz didn't get it with a high stick. The goal is confirmed. Orpik and Guerin get assists. Penguins 2-1.

8:25: Teddy Purcell snaps off a wrister from the right wing. Fleury kicks it out with his right foot. Eaton pulls out his nine iron and smacks the rebound into the 200 level. That's two minutes for delay of game. Bad penalty for Eaton to take. Letang, Orpik, Staal and Cooke are on for the kill.

7:40: Letang apparently slashed Dustin Brown in the leg. No call.

6:43: Cooke backhand "Murphy Dumps" the puck down ice.

6:25: Staal clears the puck. Cooke chases it down and eats up the rest of the clock on Eaton's penalty. Nice effort by the Penguins.

5:02: Play is stopped in the Penguins' zone. Bailey, the Kings' mascot stands up and slams the glass from the stands.

4:07: Scuderi takes a feed at the left point and drives a slapper at the cage. It hits a cluster of bodies in front and is cleared away.

3:20: Staal picks up a loose puck in the slot. He, has a two-on-one and dishes a pass to Conner on the righ wing. He distributed to Conner. Conner smacks the puck on net. Quick is able to slide ot his left and simply robs Conner. What a save. Staal and Conner have created a few chances.

2:05: Orpik makes a brutal turnover in his own zone on a delayed penalty. Handzus comes in and steals the puck off a terrible pass in Penguins' zone. Play is blown dead as soon as Handzus touches it. He rips a wrister after the whistle beating Fleury. THat's a no-no in the unwritten rules of hockey. Kunitz jumps Handzus. A scrum develops. Orpik and Smyth appear to have a nice conversation about High Forest Township, Olmsted County in Minnesota. We think. Williams is nabbed for high sticking Letang. Kunitz and Handzus each get roughing minors. The Penguins and Kunitz are lucky Kunitz didn't just get the penalty there. As it is, the Penguins have a five-on-four power play.

1:29: Staal gets a puck into the crease. Guerin jumps on the puck and tries to punch it in. Quick is able to hold it out with another amazing save with his right toe. The puck kicks up and bounces off the post. So close.

0:40: Guerin smacks a slapper from the right wing. Quicks makes the save. Staal is in front for the rebound but can't get a stick on it.

0:05: The Kings' power play ends. The Penguins generated some more decent chances.

0:00: End of period. Penguins 2, Kings 1.

SECOND INTERMISSION

-The Penguins are lucky to escape with a lead that period. The Kings controlled a lot of that period. And the Penguins got away with a lot of mistakes.

-We're not saying the Penguins totally stunk it up that period, but the Kings had the bulk of the momentum.

-We're liking Conner and Staal. They have something going.

-Quick is tough.

-The Kings have a 20-13 lead in shots.

-In the second period, the Kings had a 13-7 lead in shots.

-Guerin and Kunitz each lead the game with four shots.

-Brown and Kopitar each lead the Kings with three.

-Doughty leads the game with 17:52 of ice time.

-Letang leads the Penguins with 17:33.

-The Kings have a 19-14 lead in faceoffs (58 percent).

-Stoll is 5 for 6 (81 percent).

-Rupp is 3 for 4 (75 percent).

-Who else but McKee would lead the game in blocked shots? He has three.

-During a solid piece on Kings' old Triple Crown Line, Potash gives us:

-The Triple Crown line was no joke:

-Speaking of Buchberger:

Before the period:

THIRD PERIOD

19:05: Smyth hammer Letang to the ice just inside the Kings' blue line.

18:59: Off a rush to the net, Kopitar hammers a slapper on net from the left point. Fleury eats it up.

17:15ish: Fleury denies Simmonds in tight.

17:08: Fleury pushes away a shot by  Handzus from th eright wing.

16:45: Fleury's doing every thing. With his blocker, he punches away a chance by Smyth in the slot.

16:37: McKee blocks a shot from tight by Kopitar. It hops up and clunks off the cross bar. Yeesh. The Kings are dominating this period so far.

14:49: Sean O'Donnell snaps off a wrister from the left point. Smyth is right there in front and deflects the puck down and wide. He's might be the best player in the NHL near the net.

14:17: Off some fantastic work behind the net, Frolov sweeps a wrap around into the slot. Handzus stabs at the puck but can't get it by Fleury.

14:10: Off a faceoff, Frolov gets a shot on net. Fleury makes another save.

13:51: Simmond snaps off a wrister from the right wing that appears to go wide. Fleury still gloves it. The Kings have 239 shots on net this period. Or something like that.

13:43: You knew the Kigns were going to score eventually. They were in total control of this period. Kopitar dishes a pass to Williams in the left faceoff circle. Williams snaps off a wrister that goes wide. Kopitar is able to collect the rebound and sneaks it in by Fleury on the stick side on a wraparound attempt. The Kings have totally outworked the Penguins this period. They earned that goal. Williams and Doughty get assists. Kings 2, Penguins 2.

12:52: McKee gets the Penguins first shot on net in about 32 minutes. Quick makes the save.

11:51: Kopitar carries the puck up to the neutral zone. He distributes to Smyth. Smyth leaves a one-touch pass for Kopitar who picks the puck and blows by Letang on the left wing. He drives to the net and tries to go backhand. Just as Fleury denies Kopitar, he gets blasted on a shoulder check by Orpik on a backcheck. Kopitar crashes into the boards and the net is dislodged. What speed on Kopitar. Letang is a very good skater and he looked like Hal Gill on that play.

11:27: Crosby gets a chances on the left wing and he snaps off a wrister. Quick makes the easy save.

10:10: Greene is called for holding on Staal. Crosby, Kuntiz, Guerin, Letang and Goligoski are on for the power play.

9:35: Doughty clears the puck down ice.

8:45: Off a turnover by Crosby, Doughty clears the puck again. Errey calls out the Penguins' power play for being too stationary.

8:10: Greene's penalty is killed

7:51: And the Kings get the lead back. They continue to dominate this period. The puck gets dumped down deep. Fleury makes a poor play with the puck and essentially turns it over to Brown. He picks up the puck, circles out of hte corner and distributes to Stoll on the righ wingt wing. Stoll has an open lane to shoot and rips a wrister by Fleury. Brown gets the only assist. Fleury should get one. Kings 3-2.

7:10: This is so one-sided. Frolov swings around the net and dishes a pass into the crease. It hits off a few skates before Handzus is able to fight off the check of Orpik and smacks the puck into the cage. Total domination. Frolov and Simmonds get assists. Kings 4-2.

7:10: This is about over. Crosby is called for tripping Williams. Staal, Cooke, McKee and Eaton are on for a vital penalty kill.

5:17: Shorthanded, Dupuis distributes a pass to Eaton jumping in on the left wing. Eaton's shot appears to get deflected high and wide.

5:10: The Penguins kill the penalty. They needed that if they have any hope of coming back in this.

4:42: Kunitz tosses a shot on net from the left wing. Quick kicks it out.

3:54: Quick covers a puck shot in on net.

3:24: More sloppy play by the Penguins creates a breakaway chance for Williams. Smyth backhands the puck up ice to Williams who si behind Letang. Letang makes up the difference and distracts Williams enought that he can't get a clean shot off. Fleury is able to make the save.

2:31: This is brutal. Off a delayed penalty, the Kings move the puck with a ton of precision and take a three-goal lead. Stoll get the puck from Johnson in the slot. Stoll then dishes it to Brown on the left wing. From a tough angle, Stoll lifts the shot over Fleury on the stick side and into the twine. Fleury had no chance on that one. The Penguins' defense has been horrible this period. Stoll and Johnson get assists. Kings 5-2.

0:44: Skoula snaps off a wrister from the slot. Quick punches it away.

0:38: Ruslan Fedotenko decides to make an appearance and puts a shot on net from in tight. Quick makes the save.

0:14: Eaton is denied from the right wing by Quick's glove.

0:00: End of game. Kings 5, Penguins 2.

POSTGAME

-That was about as one-side of a period for the Penguins we've seen this season. The Kings completely dominated that final 20 minutes. They got to loose pucks. They attacked the offensive zone. The outskated the Penguins. They went to the net. They played like the Penguins.

-The Kings earned that win.

-The Penguins earned that loss.

-Fleury was okay. He was probably the Penguins' best player. He had a hand in this loss, but he had very little help.

-This is a very talented Kings team. They have found a lot of chemistry with their line combinations by the looks of things.

-It might be time to consider breaking up the Crosby-Kunitz-Guerin line until Malkin returns. Tonight's goal aside, that unit has struggled a bit. With Malkin out, opposing teams have been able to focus on that trio defensively. It might be wise to spread the wealth a bit.

-Has anyone seen Ruslan Fedotenko as of late? We know he had the goal that keyed the comeback in Columbus, but he has been mostly invisible with out Malkin.

-Bill Guerin has looked rather ordinary for more than a few games.

-The Penguins' defense was completely brutal tonight. They looked very flat-footed against the Kings' speed.

-A power-play goal would've been huge, especially with that one chance the Penguins had in the third. If they score, this game is probably over. Instead, the Kings killed that two minutes and gained a lot of momentum. We know Malkin and Gonchar are injured, but that's no excuse for this kind of futility.

-We're not saying he a huge difference maker, but Kennedy's energy would've helped the Penguins. They were very flat most of the game.

-The Kings ended up with a 32-23 lead in shots.

-Who else but Kopitar would lead the game with seven shots?

-Kunitz led the Penguins with six.

-Doughty led the game with 25:20 of ice time.

-Letang led the Penguins with 24:49.

-The Kings dominated faceoffs, 35-23 (60 percent).

-Stoll was 10 for 12 (83 percent).

-Crosby was 12 for 23 (52 percent).

-McKee led the game with four blocked shots.

-Scuderi and Doughty led the Kings with two.

-Fire Ray Shero.

 -Conner's assist was his first point as a Penguin.

-Unofficially:

x 30

  x12

x 2

x8,232

-Game summary.

-Event summary.

-Highlights.

State of play - 11-05-09

A lot has been made out of the Penguins' rather rotten record in California the past few days. The team has only won three games in Cali since 1999. Part of that is due to the fact that the NHL heavily limited the amount of games between non-conference foes for three seasons following the 2004-05 lockout out. And a lot of that is also due to the horrible "Rico Fata Error Era" of the middle part of the 2000s.

We got to wondering what the franchise's all-time record is in California, and just about every other state, province or even country in its 42 years of existence. We thought about digging up the list yesterday but sleep something got in the way.

That's where long-time EN reader Joe Stiger, the leader of the old "Army's Pit," stepped in. Without any sort of prompting from us, Joe just went through the game archive on LetsGoPens.com and the team's media guide, crunched the numbers and essentially did all the work for us.

All we had to do was open our e-mail and do a little cutting and pasting.

Either way, Joe's a true hockey geek and you can thank him for today's list. All totals are through Tuesday:

*-Includes an opponent at a neutral site.

About the Kings - 11-05-09

A preview of the Kings.

When and where: 10:30 p.m. Staples Center.

TV: FSN Pittsburgh, FSN West.

Internet: Yahoo is scheduled to provide a broadcast feed for folks within the United States and outside the Pittsburgh and Los Angeles markets. Click here to watch.

Record: 9-4-2, 20 points. The Kings are in fourth place in the Western Conference and second place in the Pacific Division.

Leading Scorer: Anze Kopitar, 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists).

Last Game: 5-3 road win against the Coyotes, Sunday. Ryan Smyth had two goals and two assists.

Last Game against the Penguins: 4-1 road loss, March 20. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin each had a goal and an assist.

Kings Player We Would Bet Money On Scoring: We're going to go off the beaten path here a bit and pick Drew Doughty. He has points in five of his past six games.

Ex-Penguins on the Kings: Bob Berry, pro scout; Luc Robitaille, president, business operations; Rob Scuderi (above), D.

Ex-Kings on the Penguins: Dan Bylsma, head coach; Tony Granto, assistant coach; Kevin Stevens, pro scout.

Useless Kings Trivia Vaguely Related to the Penguins: Four players have recorded a hat trick for both the Penguins and Kings. They are Lowell MacDonald, Luc Robitaille, Eddie Shack and Rick Tocchet.

Best Kings YouTube Video We Could Find: This is... stunningly bad. Someone apparently thought it would be a good idea to have the members of the Kings' famed Triple Crown line of Marcel Dionne, Charlie Simmer and Dave Taylor record a song titled "Forgive My Misconduct" as well as an accompanying music video. Here are the results:

-This note probably has nothing to do with anything tonight, but Simmer, a former Penguin, was once married to 1981 Playmate of the year Terri Welles. Therefore, he should be your favorite Penguin.

-Ever.

Notes:

-Marc-Andre Fleury (10-2-0, 2.14 GAA, .916 SV%) and Jonathan Quick (9-3-2, 2.62 GAA, .901 SV%) are your expected starters in net.

-For the Penguins, forward Evgeni Malkin (shoulder) is out. Defenseman Sergei Gonchar (wrist) and forward Maxime Talbot (shoulder) are on injured reserve.

-For the Kings, forward Alexander Frolov (hip flexor) is probable. Defenseman Alec Martinez (ankle) is on injured reserve.

-Pascal Dupuis is working for his ice time.

-Talbot has resumed skating.

-"He’s a piece..." - Sidney Crosby on former teammate Rob Scuderi (And yes, we intentionally left that sentence incomplete.).

-"There's no bitterness, no nothing. I think the only thing you can call it is mutual respect." - Scuderi on leaving the Penguins.

-Did you know Rob Scuderi used to be a Penguin?

-Luc Robitaille is a fan of Sidney Crosby.

-Frolov has been reunited on a line with Michal Handzus and Wayne Simmonds.

-Speaking of Simmonds, he won't be able to get any revenge on Evgeni Malkin:

-Defenseman Davis Drewiske's plus-10 has been a nice surprise for the Kings this season.

-Defenseman Randy Jones, acquired off waivers from the Flyers last week, is still trying to crack the Kings' top six.

-Tickets were still available for this game as of 2 a.m.

-The Kings will be wearing their black and white third jerseys.

-Our live blog begins at approximately 10:30 p.m. Grab yourself some Dunkin Donuts' coffee, curl up on the couch in your pj's and please tune in.

(Photo: Danny Moloshok/Associated Press)

Empty Netter Assists - 11-05-09

Penguins

-The Penguins hate clocks. (PG+)

-From the "Completely Awesomely Ironic" department, Flyers broadcaster Keith Jones and executive Bobby Clarke each said Sidney Crosby should be the captain Canada's Olympic team. Mike Richards punched a nine-year-old in response.

-Someone over at LetsGoPens.com spotted this image from a recent Penguins broadcast. It's a list of individual skates for the Penguins:

-The idea that Mike Rupp and Eric Godard each wear skates called "Light Speed" is rather funny. We guess the "Slower Than $#&@!" models were sold out.

-The Penguins average an increase of 74 fans per game during the month of October compared to October of 2008.

-We're not sure if we've posted this yet, but here's the Penguins' pregame montage from Mellon Arena:

-Random YouTube Find of the Day: A Jaromir Jagr highlight video set to some Irish punk rock:

-Pens Universe scored an interview with forward prospect Eric Tangradi.

-Speaking of Tangradi, he's expected to return to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's lineup after recovering from a shoulder injury.

-Former Penguins forward Markus Naslund revealed he requested the trade that sent him to the Canucks for Alek Stojanov. Fire Markus Naslund.

(Kudos to PensBurgh for the find.)

Atlantic Division

-Two goals from Nicklas Bergfors helped the Devils edge the Capitals, 3-2. Teammate Travis Zajac added two assists while Martin Brodeur (above, before a pretty light crowd) made 26 saves in the win. Mathieu Perreault had two assists for Washington which played with out Alex Ovechkin.

-Odd Photo of the Night: New Jersey's Zach Parise and Washington's Semyon Varlamov having a moment:

-Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner celebrating with his teammates:

-Both team's benches:

-The Prudential Center is another Atlantic Division venue that seems to produce some amazing photos: Here are some cool shots from the net. Parise and Varlamov:

-Varlamov not making a save:

-By the looks of things, Varlamov was pretty used to seeing Parise's butt by the end of the night:

-New Jersey's Ilkka Pikkarainen looking like he's trying to pronounce his name:

-New Jersey forward Rob Niedermayer suffered an "upper-body" injury.

-The Devils recalled forward Matt Halischuk from Lowell of the AHL.

-The NHL suspended forward Dane Byers for one game for getting an instigator penalty for a fight late in the third period of Tuesday's 4-1 loss in Vancouver. The fight took place within the final five minutes. Additionally, Rangers coach John Tortorella was fined $10,000 for Byer's actions. Both the fine and suspension are automatic for any player receiving an instigator penalty in the final five minutes of regulation.

-Former Penguins prospect Matt Moulson has developed some chemistry with Islanders forward John Tavares, the first overall pick in this summer's draft. Fire Ray Shero.

Northeast Division

-Ryan Miller (above) made 24 saves for the Sabres in a 3-0 shutout of the Islanders. Thomas Vanek led Buffalo with a goal and an assist. Derek Roy went an insane 14 for 14 in the faceoff circle. New York had a four-game winning streak snapped.

-Buffalo's goals as called by Sabres play-by-play guy Rick Jeanneret. Check out the passing on Vanek's goal:

-Sabres forward Patrick Kaleta got dumped on a pretty nice hip check then got into a skirmish with Islanders goaltender Martin Biron:

-New York's Jon Sim cared not for the impromtu dental examination of Buffalo's Craig Rivet:

-Buffalo's Steve Montador cared not for the butt of New York's Richard Park:

-With former Penguins goaltender Patrick Lalime dealing with a groin injury, the Sabres recalled goaltender Jhonas Enroth from Portland of the AHL.

-Senators forward and former Penguin Jarkku Ruutu is on pace for a career-high 27 goals. Fire Ray Shero.

-The Canadiens recalled forward Tom Pyatt and Ryan White from Hamilton of the AHL.

-The Bruins recalled forward Mikko Lehtonen from Providence of the AHL.

-Boston has been shutout for two consecutive games. The only time the franchise was shutout in three straight contests was in 1928-29, the last season the NHL forbid forward passing in the offensive zone.

-What recession? The Boston Red Sox are reportedly offering sessions on the Winter Classic rink at Fenway Park for a mere $7,000 to $10,000 an hour.

-Former Sabres forward Vaclav Varada has joined HC Kometa Brno in the Czech Republic.

Southeast Division

-Tomas Vokoun made 32 saves for the Panthers in a 3-0 shutout of the Hurricanes. Steven Reinprecht (above) and Cory Stillman each had a goal and an assist. Carolina has lost 10 consecutive games.

-Florida's Rostislav Olesz cares not for the personal space of Carolina's Cam Ward:

-Hurricanes captain Rod Brind'Amour apparently has trouble seeing around his nose these days:

-The Capitals recalled forward Michael Nylander from Grand Rapids of the AHL.

-"I don’t believe in discounts." - Mark Gandler, the agent for Capitals forward Alexander Semin, on the possibility his client, scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after this season, would re-sign with Washington for less than market value.

-Thrashers goaltener Kari Lehtonen, who has yet to play this season due to offseason back surgery, will miss an additional six to eight week following another operation on his back.

-"He's winning so you keep playing him." - Lightning coach and former Penguins forward Rick Tocchet offering a pretty simple, straight forward reason why he keeps playing goaltender Antero Nittymaki over starter Mike Smith.

-The Lightning put forward Ryan Craig on re-entry waivers.

-With former Penguins forward Dominic Moore still recovering from nasal surgery, the Panther recalled former Penguins forward Jeff Taffe from Rochester of the AHL.

Central Division

-Columbus has all kinds of issues. The Blue Jackets activated defenseman Jan Hejda from injured reserve and recalled Derek MacKenzie from Syracuse of the AHL on an emergency basis. Forwards Kristian Huselius (right) is dealing with an undisclosed injury. Forward Derick Brassard is dealing with a hand ailment. And forward Michael Blunden suffered an "upper-body" injury last night. Forward Alexandre Picard is expected to be recalled from Syracuse.

-With defensemen Jonathan Ericsson and Brian Rafalski recovering from illnesses, the Red Wings demoted defenseman Doug Janik to Grand Rapids of the AHL.

-Detroit forward Dan Cleary has been stuck on 99 career goals for 11 games.

-"We’re going to have to fight just to make the playoffs and it’s going to be a grind. To get home-ice advantage would be a miracle. A miracle." - Red Wings executive Jim Devellano being less than optimistic about his team's postseason hopes.

-With forward J.P. Dumont dealing with an "upper-body" injury, the Predators recalled forward Andreas Thuresson from Milwaukee of the AHL.

-With forward Andy McDonald dealing with suspected head injuries, the Blues recalled forward Lars Eller, a first-round pick in 2007, from Peoria of the AHL.

-St. Louis needs bigger contributions from its star players.

-Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews returned to practice for the first time since suffering a concussion Oct. 21.

-Kukla's Korner found this quality video on last season's Winter Classic at Wrigley Field:

Northwest Division

-Two goals by Jarome Iginla (above), including one in overtime, helped the Flames claim a 3-2 win at Dallas. Iginla also recorded an assist while Curtis McElhinney made 38 saves in the win. Karlis Skrastins led the Stars with two assists.

-Iginla's goal:

-Iginla stepped up after being called out by head coach Brent Sutter.

-McElhinney denying Dallas' Loui Eriksson:

-Happy times for the Flames:

-How about the Minnesota North Stars fan on the left hand side?

-Awkward Photo of the Night: Stars goaltender Marty Turco "stopping" teammate Nicklas Grossman:

-Stars forward Mike Ribeiro got a little scared last night:

-Two goals and an assist by Milan Hejduk helped the Avalanche beat the Coyotes, 4-1. Paul Stastny added three assists while Peter Budaj made 27 saves and won his first start of the season.

-The Avalanche played in front of an announced crowd of 11,012, the smalled in the franchise's history since it moved to Denver.

-Coyotes forward Radim Vrbata was going all Michael Jordan with his tongue:

-Vancouver defenseman Shane O'Brien was suspended for one game for spearing Rangers forward Sean Avery from the bench Tuesday.

-It turns out Canucks forward Michael Grabner fractured his ankle during a pregame soccer warm-up.

-The Canucks demoted forward Mario Bliznak to Manitoba of the AHL.

-Oilers forward Shawn Horcoff will be sidelined seven to 10 days due to a shoulder injury.

-Canucks forward Ryan Kesler is the NHL's highest scoring American-born player with 16 points (five goals, 11 assists).

-Today's "neck-stabbing with a bottle" story amazingly doesn't involve a Flyers fan.

-Wild goon Derek Boogaard doesn't exactly score too many goals.

-An employee with Alberta Health Services was fired after it was learned members of the Calgary Flames organization were given preferential treatment with the distribution of swine flu vaccinations.

Pacific Division

-A shootout goal by Dan Boyle (above, scoring on Columbus' Steve Mason) gave the Sharks a 3-2 shootout win at Columbus. Evgeni Nabokov made 26 saves in the win. Anton Stralman led the Blue Jackets with two assists.

-Awesome Photo of the Night: Columbus' Steve Mason lost in a haze of ice spray or fog or Johann Krauss:

-Columbus' Rostislav Klesla didn't exactly appreciate this hit by San Jose's Dany Heatley:

-San Jose's Scott Nichol (right) and Jed Ortmeyer tried to put the squeeze on Columbus' Michael Blunden:

-The Sharks recalled forward Logan Couture, a first-round pick in 2007, and Jamie McGinn from Worcester of the AHL.

-The Stars activate forwards Jere Lehtinent and Mike Modano from injured reserve. Modano had missed 13 games due to a rib injury.

-Coyotes defenseman Kurt Sauer is dealing with an "upper-body" injury.

-Here's a good look at the art on Coyotes goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov's lid:

-Ehhh... we've seen better.

Smythe Division

-What's the best way to approach the shootout?

-Today's "The NHLPA is a Disaster" article is brought to you by Jeff Z. Klein of The New York Times.

-Erie Otters forward Michael Liambas was supsended for the rest of the OHL's season for a hit that fractured the skull of Kitchener Rangers defenseman Ben Fanelli. Fanelli remains in a hospital and is in serious but stable condition.

-This is the hit in question:

-We're not all that familar with the OHL's rules regarding contact from behind, but Liambas' punishment seems way over the top. Liambas didn't target the head and hit the player shoulder on shoulder. Fanelli just happened to turn to the boards at the last second and struck the boards in a brutal fashion. We're not blaming Fanelli or Liambas for what happened. It was one player applying normal pressure on a forecheck you see countless times in countless games at every level of play. It almost reminds us of Brooks Orpik's hit on Carolina's Erik Cole several years ago:

-One player went to initiate legal contact. The other tried to avoid it at the last minute. The results just happened to turn out horribly in each instance.

-Team Canada will announce its men's roster for the 2010 Olympics on New Year's Eve, one day before the United States reveals its roster.

-Former Capitals coach Glen Hanlon quit as head coach of Belarus' national team three months prior to the Olympics.

-While they link to use quite a bit, we don't nearly return the favor nearly enough. So we're going to give Illegal Curve a free plug for their nifty touques.

-Today would've been the 107th birthday of the incredibly-named Harold "Baldy" Cotton, a former forward with the NHL's Pittsburgh Pirates.

(Photos: Crosby-Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press; Brodeur, Parise, Langenbrunner, benches, Pikkarainen-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Miller, Rivet, Park-Rick Stewart/Getty Images; Reinprect, Olesz and Brind'Amour-Joel Auerbach/Getty Images; Huselius-Harry How/Getty Images; Iginla, McElhinney, Flames, Turco and RIbeiro-Ronald Martinez/Getty Images; Vrbata and Bryzgalov-Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; Boyle-Terry Gilliam/Associated Press; Mason, Klesla and Blunden-Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

Oops - 11-04-09

That "record" the Penguins tied last night with their seven consecutive road win to start the season? Hmmm not quite...

As has been reported in various outlets, including this forum, the Penguins tied the NHL record for road wins without a loss at the start of the season. The mark is supposedly shared by the 1940-41 Maple Leafs, the 1985-86 Flyers, the 2005-06 Red Wings and the current New Jersey Devils.

Well that's incorrect. As Shelly Anderson points on out at PG+, the record is actually held by the Chris Drury, Daniel Briere (above) and the 2006-07 Sabres who started that season a marvelous 10-0-0 on the road.

The culprit in this snafu? Here you go:

Turn to page 165 of that publication and here is your "record:"

(Photo: Photobucket)

Bill Guerin - By the numbers - 11-04-09

Bill Guerin (above) appeared in his 1,200th career game last night. Guerin's nearly played for that many teams.

Not really, but when you break down his numbers, you'll see that he's spread those games out.

Note: The percentages of his 1,200 games are broken down by team as well:

Guerin also became the 12th one-time Penguins player to reach the 1,200 game mark:

(Photo: Michael Perez/Associated Press)

Empty Netter Assists - 11-04-09

Penguins

-Shelly Anderson's recap from last night's game. The Penguins tied an NHL record by starting the season 7-0 on the road.

-The Orange County Register's recap. "They don't win a championship with two guys." - Ducks forward Corey Perry on the Penguins' depth.

-The Associated Press' recap. "The way we’ve gotten them hasn’t been perfect." - Dan Bylsma.

-NHL.com's recap. What California jinx?

-Mike Lange's goal calls.

-Highlights courtesty of EN contributor GhostWalker40:

-"It's not a very good technical move to do, but it worked out great for him." - Marc-Andre Fleury on Sidney Crosby's late "save" on Ducks defenseman Scott Niedermayer. (PG+).

-Pascal Dupuis, Sidney Crosby and Alex Goligoski speak:

-Tyler Kennedy was really happy for Mike Rupp's goal:

-Happy times for the Ducks:

-So why did the Penguins reveal Evgeni Malkin's shoulder injury but stayed tight-lipped on Tyler Kennedy's mystery ailment?

-Speaking of injuries, according to Jonathan Bombulie of the Citizens Voice in Wilkes-Barre, an undisclosed injury to Crosby prompted the brief call-up of Mark Letestu from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last week.

-Chris Kunitz got the Penguins' bus lost while trying to find the practice rink.

-Kunitz talks about his day with the Stanley Cup:

-Team Russia released an updated list of players being considered for the 2010 Olympic roster. Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin are included along with former Penguins forward Alex Kovalev, Aleksey Morozov and defenseman Sergei Zubov.

-Ruslan Fedotenko ain't no Tom Selleck. (PG+)

-Are the 2008-09 Penguins only the sixth best team of this decade?

-Happy 38th birthday to former Penguins forward Roman Simicek. Simicek was one of eight natives of the Czech Republic to suit up for the 2000-01 Penguins.

-Happy 31st birthday to former Penguins defenseman Rick Berry. Berry was acquired along with Ville Nieminen in a 2002 trade that sent defenseman Darius Kasparaitis to the Avalanche. He currently plays for EV Duisburg Die Füchse in Germany.

Atlantic Division

-Flyers rookie forward James van Riemsdyk (right), the second-overall pick in the 2007 draft, has 13 points (two goals, 11 assists) in 10 games this season.

-Lukas Kaspar, who started the season with the Flyers' AHL affiliate in Adirondack, has joined Karpat in Finland. He was a first-round pick of the Sharks in 2004.

Northeast Division

-Senators owner Eugene Melnyk has filed a grievance with the NHLPA over the $4 million bonus he was forced to pay former Senators forward Dany Heatley. The team paid Heatley the bonus per a stipuation line contract July 1. Heatley had demanded a trade prior to that but since he had a no-trade clause in his contract, he refused an arranged deal that would've sent him to the Oilers. The team contends Heatley's refusal to accept the trade hurt ticket sales.

-There's nothing about the phrases "Metallica concert" and "Jarkko Ruutu" being in the same article that we don't like.

-Money quote: "Finland is a metal country, big time."

-He didn't score, but forward Phil Kessel put 10 shots on net in his Maple Leafs debut.

-"You should not be allowed to target the head. That's not a clean hit." - Toronto coach Ron Wilson calling for an end to hits to the head.

-Random Ex-Penguins Photo: Bruins forward Mark Recchi on the bench during last night's game in Detroit:

-Canadiens goaltender Carey Price lost his fifth consecutive game.

-With former Penguins defenseman Hal Gill expected to miss several weeks due to a leg injury, the Habs officially recalled defenseman Mathieu Carle from Hamilton of the AHL.

Southeast Division

-An overtime goal by former Penguin Ryan Malone gave the Lightning a 2-1 win at Toronto. Malone now leads the NHL with four game-winning goals. Fire Ray Shero. Antero Niitymaki made 41 saves in the win.

-Highlights including Malone's goal at the 5:35 mark:

-Check out this hit Lightning defenseman Mattias Ohlund stuck on Kessel:

-And he managed to do it without hitting Kessel in the head.

-Kessel was a little foggy after the hit:

-"Clean hit. He really got me good." - Kessel.

-Check out this dirty little hit by Tampa Bay's Lukas Krajicek on Toronto's Niklas Hagman and the subsequent fight between the two:

-Happy times for the Lightning. No so much for Toronto goaltender Jonas Gustavsson:

-Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis doing what he can to sneak by Toronto's Garnet Exelby:

-Rich Peverly had a goal and two assists for the Thrashers in a wild 5-4 win at Montreal. Former Penguin Colby Armstrong scored the game-winning goal. Fire Ray Shero. Teammate Bryan Little scored a goal and an assist while teammate Nik Antropov added two assists. Brian Gionta led the Canadiens with two goals.

-The Hurricanes demoted defenseman Jay Harrison to Albany of the AHL.

-The Capitals recalled forward Mathieu Perreault from Hershey of the AHL and demoted forward Keith Aucoin.

-Washington's about to find out what life is like without Alex Ovechkin.

-Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau accused the the Blue Jackets of targeting Ovechkin physically in Sunday's game. Columbus coach Ken HItchcock's response essentially was, "Yeah, and your point is...."

-Seriously, did Boudreau just start coaching yesterday? Your team's best player is getting targeted physically? Oh no! God forbid that would ever happen to any elite player in the NHL.  Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Henrik Zetterberg, Pavel Datsyuk, Rick Nash, Ilya Kovalchuk, Vincent Lecavalier, Jaromir Jagr, Paul Kariya, Joe Thornton, Peter Forsberg, Joe Sakic, Mario Lemieux, Eric Lindros, Mark Messier, Brett Hull, Guy Lafleur, Bobby Orr, Stan Mikita, Gordie Howe, Jean Beliveau, Maurice Richard or any other MVP-caliber player surely never, ever had to fight off a check or any sort of contact on a hockey rink.

-Sergei Gonchar, Jamie Heward and Daniel Briere unavailable for comment:

-The Panthers have scored 12 goals in their past three games. Their top line of Steven Reinprect (four), Nathan Horton (one) and Cory Stillman (one) have accounted for six of them.

Central Division

-Chris Osgood (above) made 29 saves for the Red Wings in a 2-0 shutout of the Bruins. It was Osgood's 50th career shutout. Pavel Datsyuk recorded assists on each of Detroit's goals.

-"I don't put much merit in shutouts. I don't know why, but I never have. Like I've said a million times, I grew up watching (former Edmonton goalie) Grant Fuhr and all he cared about was winning the game. That's always been my mindset. I don't really care about the score." - Osgood.

-Check out this goal Detroit's Henrik Zetterberg scored right off the faceoff:

-Check out this big, legal hit Boston's Daniel Paille stuck on Detroit's Ville Leino:

-Detroit's Kris Draper going all Michael Jordan with his tongue:

-Happy times for the Red Wings:

-With defensemen Jonathan Ericsson and Brian Rafalski dealing with illnesses, the Red Wings recalled defenseman Doug Janik from Grand Rapids of the AHL.

-Red Wings general manager Ken Holland denied his team has interest in free agent forward Peter Forsberg.

-Former Red Wings forward Darren McCarty pretty much confirmed his retirement.

-The Blackhawks are doing a "dad's trip." Defenseman Duncan Keith is bringing his grandfather.

-Predators forward Colin Wilson is dealing with a groin injury.

Northwest Division

-Two goals from former Penguin Mikael Samuelsson helped the Canucks claim a 4-1 win against the Rangers. Teammate Ryan Kesler recorded three assists while Andrew Raycroft made 22 saves and claimed his third win in place of injured starting goaltender Roberto Luongo.

-Check out the dazzling pass by Kesler that set up a goal for Rick Rypien:

-This game featured a skirmish in the third period that involved 17 players:

-Someone needs to be suspened over that.

-"I got jumped and somehow we were on the penalty-kill." - Ryan Kesler offering his side of the story.

-We can only assume Sean Avery was offering a concise, well-thought-out and articulate opinion to the officials:

-The injury-ravaged Canucks saw another first liner, Henrik Sedin, suffer an undisclosed injury.

-Former Penguins forward Bill Thomas has signed a pro tryout agreement with the Springfield Falcons, the Oilers' AHL affiliate.

-The Wild demoted goaltender Anton Khudobin to Houston of the AHL.

-Minnesota forward Eric Belanger is a natural fit for the high-tempo system of new coach Todd Richards.

-The Alberta government has launched an investigation into how members of the Flames organization were able to receive vaccinations for the swine flu at a special clinic while several members of the public were turned away.

Pacific Division

-Ducks defenseman and former Penguin Ryan Whitney (above) is digging life on the West Coast. Also, Ducks forward and former former Penguin Erik Christensen cleared waviers.

-Ducks defenseman James Wisniewski is pretty mad about his two-game suspension for a hit on Coyotes forward Shane Doan.

-Anaheim has the worst power play/penalty kill disparity in the NHL.

-Kings forward Alexander Frolov (right) is dealing with a hip flexor ailment.

-The Coyotes recalled forward Mikkel Boedker from San Antonio of the AHL.

Norris Division

-The roster for the United States' Olympic team will be announced during the Winter Classic, Jan. 1.

-There are now less than 100 days left until the Olympics.

-We don't know what Sidney Crosby is planning on doing with the Olympic torch when he has his day with it, but it probably won't be as cool (pardon the pun) as the guy who surfed with it off the coast of British Columbia.

-Happy 92nd birthday to former Pittsburgh Hornets forward Pete Langelle.

-Happy 85th birthday to former Pittsburgh Hornets forward Howie Meeker.

-Today would've been the 82th birthday of former Pittsburgh Hornets defenseman John Arundel.

-Today would've been the 97th birthday of former Pittsburgh Hornets forward Max Bennett.

(Photos: Penguins, Kennedy, Ducks-Jeff Gross/Getty Images; van Riemsdyk-Tom Mihalek/Associated Press; Kessel, Gustavsson and St. Louis-Abelimages/Getty Images; Recchi, Osgood, Draper and Red Wings-Gregory Shamus/Getty Images; Avery-Darryl Dyck/Canadian Press; Whitney-Francis Specker/Associated Press; Frolov-Elsa/Getty Images)