The Penguins, hockey and more, by Seth Rorabaugh.
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Central Division
-Chris Mason made 21 saves and led the Blues to a 2-0 shutout win at Chicago. Cristobal Huet made 27 saves in the loss. Chicago rookie forward Kris Versteeg suffered an undisclosed injury in the second period and did not return.
-The Blackhawks' offense is in a slump.
-Detroit forward Pavel Datsyuk and defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom (right) will skip the All-Star Lame Game. With those two down and out, there will be no Red Wings players in the game.
-Former Red Wings goaltender Dominik Hasek is considering coming out of retirement to play in the Czech Republic.
-Columbus forward Mike Peca is dealing with a "lower-body" injury.
-Forward Justin Williams has done a little bit of everything since joining the Blue Jackets last week.
-The Predators' owners might buy unused tickets in order to qualify for full revenue sharing.
Northwest Division
-Todd Bertuzzi's shootout goal led the Flames to a 5-4 win against the Blue Jackets. Mike Cammalleri scored two goals in regulation for Calgary while teammate Jarome Iginla had a goal and an assist. R.J. Umberger, a native of some area south of New York and north of West Virginia, led Columbus with two goals.
-Check out this dirty hit by Calgary's Dion Phaneuf on Umberger:
-Thankfully, Phaneuf's girlfriend escaped the incident without any harm to her reputation so no suspensions are expected to be handed down.
-Here's a clean legal hit by Calgary's Adam Pardy on Columbus' Jared Boll:
-The Avalanche demoted defenseman Kyle Cumiskey and forward Chris Durno to Hershey of the AHL.
-Colorado coach Tony Granato is looking forward to some down time.
-The Oilers demoted forward Gilbert Brule and Liam Reddox to Springfield of the AHL.
-The Wild dealt forward Ryan Hamilton to the Maple Leafs in exchange for forward Robbie Earl.
Pacific Division
-Mike RIbeiro's first career hat trick led the Stars to a 4-1 win at Florida. Marty Turco made 27 saves in the win.
-Alexander Frolov scored two goals for the Kings who held off the Avalanche, 6-5. Teammates Dustin Brown and Jarret Stoll each had a goal and an assist. T.J. Hensick and Chris Stewart led Colorado with a goal and an assist.
-The Coyotes demoted defenseman Steve Goertzen to San Antonio of the AHL.
Adams Division
-What is technically considered a hit in NHL statistics?
(Photo: Jamie Squire/Getty Images)
I really wish the NHL would start to crack down on dirty cheap shots more. Phaneuf's hit was not the only cheap shot in the last night's Calgary Vs. Columbus game. In the second period. Regehr crosschecked Dorsett right across the face and cut his eye wide open. I was floored to see that the refs only gave Regehr a 2 minute high sticking penalty, and then proceeded to give Dorsett 2 minutes for roughing after he stood up for himself. Dorsett skated off the off the ice straight to the dressing room with blood streaming down his face. A complete garbage job by the refs.
Nice comment by the announcer at the end of the clip advising Umberger to keep his helmet on tighter. Apparently that's what the problem with the hit was, Umberger's helmet wasn't tight enough. So if you have your helmet tight enough, and someone cheap shots you from behind into the boards, you'll be fine.
According to the NHL web site, Carey Price will score a hat trick in the all-star game.
www.nhl.com/.../scores.htm