Penguins
-Bill Guerin apparently had to comfort a depressed Sergei Gonchar (above) when he lost his second goal to Pascal Dupuis. We think.
-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. "We're getting everyone chipping in." - Jay McKee.
-The Associated Press' recap. The Penguins' 7-1-0 start is the second-best in franchise history.
-The St. Petersburg Times recap. Lightning captain Vincent Lecavalier has not scored a goal in 14 games.
-The Tampa Tribune's recap. Lightning general manager Brian Lawton tore into his team in the locker room after the game.
-Highlights courtesy of EN contributor GhostWalker40:
-Brooks Orpik even looks intense just putting contact lenses in:
-Marc-Andre Fleury, Sidney Crosby, Mike Rupp and Jay McKee speak:
-Here are the Monday Night Football-esque introductions FSN Pittsburgh had for last night's starting lineup:
-When will Chris Bourque, Brent Johnson and Martin Skoula find some more playing time?
-Penguins assistant general manager Jason Botterill doesn't have the most impressive hockey resume in his family.
-Evgeni Malkin talks about his summer with the Stanley Cup:
-Just for the heck of it, Lyndon Slewidge singing the national anthems prior to the Penguins' game in Ottawa last week:
-Shootout goals by Mark Letestu and Wyatt Smith gave the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins a 4-3 win against the Syracuse Crunch. Ryan Bayda had two regulation goals while Dustin Jeffrey recorded three assists.
-John Curry stopped all four shots he faced and improved to 6-1 all-time in shootouts.
-T.J. Fox scored the Wheeling Nailers' only goal in a 4-1 loss to the Gwinnett Gladiators.
-Happy 51st birthday to former Penguins defenseman Kjell Samuelsson. A member of the 1992 Stanley Cup-winning team and the 1992-93 squad which won the Presidents' Trophy, Samuelsson was one of the tallest players in franchise history at 6-foot-6. He is currently an assistant coach with the Flyers' AHL affiliate in Adirondack.
Atlantic Division
-The Rangers keep pace with the Penguins. Brandon Dubinsky had a goal and assist and helped the Rangers claim their seventh consecutive win, a 4-1 victory at Toronto. Marian Gaborik recorded two assists for New York which tied a franchise record with a 7-1-0 start. Henrik Lundqvist made 34 saves in the win. The Maple Leafs dropped to 0-6-1 and matched their worst start in franchise history.
-New York defenseman and former Penguin Michal Rozsival put a nasty-looking hit on Toronto's Mikhail Grabovski:
-There's quite a bit going on in this photo of Toronto forwards Jason Blake, Lee Stempniak, Rozisval and goaltender Henrik Lundqvist:
-The Devils got a little bit of revenge of the team that knocked them out of last season's playoffs. Martin Brodeur made 26 saves and led New Jersey to a 2-0 win against Carolina. Brodeur's shutout was the 102nd of his career. He is one short of tying Terry Sawchuk's NHL career record. Zach Parise had a goal and an assist.
-Try as he might, New Jersey's Mike Mottau simply can't make an uglier face than Rod Brind'Amour:
-Will captain Doug Weight stay with the Islanders the entire season?
-Islanders forward and former Penguin Jon Sim was apparently trying to count the dots on the floor in the locker room:
-The Islanders demoted forward Joel Rechlisz to Bridgeport of the AHL.
-The Flyers have been up and down this season.
Northeast Division
-Daniel Alfredsson and former Penguin Alex Kovalev each had a goal and an assist for the Senators in a 3-1 defeat of the rival Canadiens. It was Kovalev's first game against the Canadiens since they allowed him to leave in the offseason as a free agent. He received a standing ovation from Montreal fans for his goal. Mike Fisher added two assists while Montreal lost its fifth consecutive game.
-Kovalev's goal and the crowd's reaction:
-Kovalev actually came out to acknowledge the crowd when he was named the third star:
-We really dig the striping scheme on Pascal Leclaire's pads:
-Offical Dean Morton might deserve a two-minute minor for interfering with Montreal's Josh Gorges on this play:
-Bruins forward Milan Lucic is dealing with a broken right index finger. With Lucic sidelined, former Penguins forward Guillaume Lefebvre was recalled from Providence of the AHL.
-Bruins coach Claude Julien chose an odd time to confront Marc Savard about stealing his Hot Pocket out of the microwave:
-"We've hit rock bottom." - Maple Leafs forward Lee Stempniak on his team's terrible start.
-If the Maple Leafs slide continues, could coach Ron Wilson lose his job as the United State's head coach for the 2010 Olympics?
-To say the least, Maple Leafs goaltender Joey MacDonald didn't react well when he was pulled for two guys with shovels:
-The Maple Leafs, who seem to do a tribute to someone before every game, did a 1990s tribute last night:
-We assume there was a "Fresh Prince of Bel-Air" marathon afterwards.
Southeast Division
-Ilya Kovalchuk had two goals and led the Thrashers to a 4-2 win at Buffalo. Nik Antropov and Slava Kozlov each recorded two assists for Atlanta while former Penguins goaltender Johan Hedberg made 40 saves in the win. Fire Craig Patrick. Tim Connolly led the Sabres with two assists. Another former Penguins goaltender, Patrick Lalime, made 23 saves in the loss.
-Thrashers forward Maxim Afinogenov made his return to Buffalo last night.
-Former Penguins forward Colby Armstrong tried to compare his nose to the schnoz of the moose on Johan Hedberg's helmet:
-Alex Ovechkin's shootout goal gave the Capitals a 3-2 win against the Predators. He also scored both of Washington's regulation goals while Mike Knuble assisted on both of them.
-Even if it wasn't officially a hat trick, Capitals fans threw hats on the ice for Ovechkin for his shootout goal.
-Ovechkin's goals:
-Lightning forward Ryan Malone has no regrets leaving the Penguins.
Central Division
-Former Penguin Ty Conklin (above) made 26 saves and led the Blues to a 5-0 shutout of the Ducks. Fire Ray Shero. Andy McDonald had two goals and an assist against his former team. T.J. Oshie recorded a goal and an assist while Erik Johnson had three assists.
-Steve Mason made 27 saves for the Blue Jackets in a 4-1 defeat of the Kings.
-The Blue Jackets signed defenseman Kris Russell to a three-year contract extension worth a total of $3.9 million. The salary cap hit will worth $1.3 million per season.
-The Blackhawks claimed forward Andrew Ebbett off waivers from the Ducks and recalled forward Jack Skille from Rockford of the AHL.
-"I feel like I let the team down." - Blackhawks goaltender Cristobal Huet after a poor game against the Stars last night.
-The Predators demoted forward Ben Guite to Milwaukee of the AHL.
Northwest Division
-Shootout goals by Marek Svatos and Milan Hejduk gave the Avalanche a 4-3 win at Detroit. Cody McLeod scored two goals for Colorado in regulation. Rookie forward Matt Duchene, the third overall pick in this year's draft scored his first career NHL goal.
-McLeod had a pretty spirited fight with Detroit's Brad May:
-Roberto Luongo made a "whopping" 18 saves for the Canucks in a 2-1 defeat of the Wild. Niklas Bakstrom made 37 saves for Minnesota which lost for the fifth consecutive game. At 1-6-0, the Wild is off to its worst start in franchise history.
-Check out the nice little adjustment Vancouver forward and former Penguin Mikael Samuelsson made on this goal:
-Just further proof Canadians do anthems better than us:
-The Canucks recalled forward Alexandre Bolduc from Manitoba of the AHL.
-Avalanche defenseman Kyle Quincey clarified his comments about not getting a Stanley Cup ring in 2008 with the Red Wings.
-Goaltender Craig Anderson has been the biggest reason for Colorado's fast start.
-Former Penguins forward Petr Sykora was apparently... born to be wild:
-Minnesota's Nick Schultz might have the goal oddest celebration face in the NHL:
-Minnesota's Nicklas Backstrom went all-out for this save:
Pacific Division
-Joe Thornton had a goal and two assists for the Sharks in a 4-1 defeat of the Islanders. Evgeni Nabokov, playing in his 500th career game, made 31 saves in the win. Former Penguins prospect Matt Moulson scored New York's only goal. Fire Ray Shero.
-The game-winning goal was scored by forward Ryan Vesce, a native of Long Island. It was also his first NHL goal.
-Sharks goaltender Evgeni Nabokov got some help on this save:
-A pretty sweet overhead shot of Nabokov and New York's Doug Weight:
-Vesce was called up from Worcester of the AHL prior to the game. Forward Steve Zalewski was demoted in his place.
-Keith Yandle had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes in a 4-1 defeat of the the Bruins. Captain Shane Doan contributed three assists.
-Coyotes forward and former Penguin Paul Bissonnette went at it with Boston's Johnny Boychuk:
-Alex Auld made 29 saves for the Stars in a 4-3 win at Chicago.
-Check out the brutal game-winner Stephane Robidas scored on against Cristobal Huet:
-Former Penguins forward Toby Petersen fills a lot of rolls for the Stars.
-The Ducks basically dumped forward Andrew Ebbett because of a poor training camp.
-The city of Glendale, Ariz. has spent $2.1 million in the past year to keep the Coyotes.
Smythe Division
-What exactly is the point of a bag skate?
-Robert Morris' men's team beat Alaska-Anchorage, 5-3, in the Brice Gold Rush.
-Robert Morris' women's team fell to St. Lawrence, 6-3.
(Photos: Gonchar and Guerin-Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press; Rozsival, Blake and MacDonald-Abelimages/Getty Images; Mottau-Paul Bereswill/Getty Images; Sim and Nabokov-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Kovalev-Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press; Leclaire and Gorges-Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images; Julien-Christian Petersen/Getty Images; Armstrong and Hedberg-Don Heupel/Associated Press; Conklin-Chris Carlson/Associated Press; Schultz and Backstrom-Rich Lam/Getty Images)
Posted
Oct 18 2009, 12:41 AM
by
Seth Rorabaugh