Penguins
-So... Sergei Gonchar or Evgeni Malkin?
-Eric Godard. Power-play specialist.
-Evgeni Malkin ain't no Erik Christensen.
-EN contributor Eric Politowski has compiled all of the Penguins' highlights from the first seven games of the season:
-His timing might be a bit off, but this young man is a pretty big fan of the "Hey Song:"
-Much like Kris Letang learning to get the puck out of danger in the defensive zone, that timing issue will solve itself with experience.
-Speaking of Letang, he got a hair cut:
-We'll see what the Penguins are really made of now.
-Ryan Bayda's overtime goal gave the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins a 1-0 road win against the Manitoba Moose. John Curry made 23 saves in the win.
-The win moved the AHL Penguins into first place in the East Division.
-There were a few fights in this game. Aaron Boogaard versus Matt McCue:
-Jesse Boulerice versus Tommy Maxwell:
-Boogaard versus Maxwell:
-The Wheeling Nailers and WesBanco Arena has agreed to a one-year lease that will keep the team in the facility through the end of the season.
-Happy 57th birthday to former Penguins forward Ron Lalonde. A former alternate captain with the Penguins, Lalone scored the first hat trick in the history of the Capitals franchise during the 1974-75 season.
-Happy 42nd birthday to former Penguins forward Brad Aitken. He was the team's third-round pick in the 1987 draft.
Atlantic Division
-Yann Danis made 31 saves in his first start of the season and led the Devils to a 2-1 win at Boston. Tim Thomas made 29 saves in the loss for the Bruins.
-The face of Boston's Brad Marchand did not agree with the elbow of New Jersey's Zach Parise:
-New Jersey's Jacques Lemaire chose an odd time to accuse a team employee of stealing Jawbreakers out of his desk in the office:
-The Penguins aren't the only Atlantic Division suffering from significant injuries. Devils defenseman Johnny Oduya left last night's game with a "lower-body" injury.
-Rangers forward Marian Gaborik makes his return to Minnesota tonight (if he's healthy.)
-Rangers forward Sean Avery thinks Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau intakes too many carbs.
Northeast Division
-Senators defenseman Anton Volchenkov is expected to miss significant time due to a right elbow injury.
-With Volchenkov down, the Senators recalled defenseman Brian Lee from Binghamton of the AHL on an emergency basis.
-Senators goaltender Brian Elliott chose an awfully inconvenient time to be consious of how big his butt was in those goalie shorts:
-Buffalo has opted to keep 19-year-old rookie defenseman Tyler Myers instead of sending him back to his junior team.
-The Sabres aren't trying to get too excited about their 7-1-1 start.
-After getting blasted by the Penguins Wednesday, Canadiens coach Jacques Martin went all Herb Brooks on his team in practice Thursday.
-Former Maple Leafs forward Boyd Devereaux has joined HC Lugano in Switzerland.
Southeast Division
-Two goals and an assist from Alexander Ovechkin (above) helped the Capitals win at Atlanta, 4-3. Teammate Brooks Laich had three assists while Semyon Varlamov made 38 saves in the win. Zach Bogosian led the Thrashers with two goals.
-We don't want to say Ovechkin is lax on his defense, but this is a little ridiculous:
-Varlamov stopped Atlanta's Jim Slater on this penalty shot:
-Pretty neat shot here of the helmt of Todd White for Atlanta. Notice the Hockey Fights Cancer sticker and the sticker for the Thrashers' tenth anniversary:
-The Thrashers are 10 already? Geez.
-Atlanta's Ondrej Pavelec all by himself in the dark:
-And just for the heck of it, here's Colby Armstrong:
-Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist for the Lightning in a 5-2 win against the Senators. Former Penguin Ryan Malone added a goal and two assists for Tampa Bay while teammate Alex Tanguay contributed a goal and an assist. Fire Ray Shero.
-Check out the sick shot Stamkos scored one of his goals on:
-Senators forward and former Penguin Jarkko Ruutu renewed hostilities with Lightning forward Steve Downie:
-"'I've already won the awards for top goal scorer and point leader. It's better to win something new." - Alexander Ovechkin talking about the Lady Byng Trophy. We think.
-The Panthers are replacing a former Penguin with a former Penguin. With forward Dominic Moore sidelined due to nasal surgery, Florida recalled forward Jeff Taffe from Rochester of the AHL.
-Capitals defenseman Mike Green cares not for the swine flu.
Central Division
-Pekka Rinne made 22 saves for the Predators who got a much needed 2-0 shutout of the Blackhawks.
-The Penguins aren't the only Stanley Cup finalist suffering significant injuries. Red Wings forward Valtteri Filppula will be sidelined six to eight weeks due to a broken wrist.
-Detroit needs more offense out of forward Ville Leino.
-Blues captain Eric Brewer returned to the lineup last night after missing the previous 64 regular season games due to a shoulder injury.
-Is it us, or does Blues forward Keith Tkachuk look like Vikings quarterback Brett Favre these days:
-Blues goaltender Chris Mason. Scared of kids:
-St. Louis' Brad Boyes making that walk down the tunnel:
-This item from the Chicago Tribune about Blackhawks defenseman Brent Seabrook returning to the lineup after missing two games due to a concussion might have the best lead ever. "With the Sommet Center still reeking of beer from Wednesday night's Kiss concert..."
-Predators forward Martin Erat is dealing with a "lower-body" injury.
-Former Penguins forward Eric Boguniecki signed with the Alaska Aces, the ECHL affiliate of the Blues.
Northwest Division
-Patrick O'Sullivan's shootout goal gave the Oilers a wild 6-5 win against the Red Wings. Ales Hemsky had two goals and an assist for Edmonton while teammate Dustin Penner added a goal and three assists. The Oilers also got a goal and two assists from Shawn Horcoff. Patrick Eaves, Jonathan Ericsson and Darren Helm each had a goal and an assist for Detroit. Despite scoring four third period goals, the Red Wings lost for the fourth time in five games.
-Edmonton's Nikolai Khabibulin celebrating the win in Edmonton's sparkling throwback uniforms:
-Check out this higher resolution shot of Khabibulin's crazy eyes.
-To say the least, Detroit's Jimmy Howard and Brian Rafalski didn't win this encounter with Penner:
-Nobody ever said it was easy being Detroit's Tomas Holmstrom. He was getting in the face from the puck and in the back from Khabibulin:
-Check out the nifty five-hole shot Hemsky scored on:
-Eaves tried to set a fairly unconventional screen here on Khabibulin:
-Shootout goals by Ryan Kesler and former Penguin Mikael Samuelsson gave the Canucks a 2-1 win at Los Angeles. Vancouver's Andrew Raycroft made 30 saves in his first start of the season in place of the injured Roberto Luongo.
-Samuelsson's goal on Los Angeles' Jonathan Quick:
-Things aren't working out so well for former Penguins forward Petr Sykora in Minnesota.
-Wild forward Andrew Brunette is dealing with an unknown injury.
-Avalanche forward T.J. Galiardi is dealing with an ankle injury.
Pacific Division
-Ilya Bryzgalov (above) made 32 saves for the Coyotes in a 2-0 shutout win at St. Louis. It was Bryzgalov league-leading third shutout of the season. Vernon Fiddler led Phoenix with two assists.
-Coyotes defenseman Ed Jovanovski looks awfully frightened by the official here:
-"I hate the shootout." - Kings coach Terry Murray.
-The Kings claimed defenseman Randy Jones off waivers from the Flyers. Los Angeles also put defenseman Alex Martinez on long-term injured reserve retroactive to Oct. 5.
-Los Angeles will wear it's black and white third jerseys when the Penguins roll into town Thursday.
-The Coyotes demoted defenseman Sean Sullivan to San Antonio of the AHL.
-The Stars' Marc Crawford will coach his 1,000th career NHL game tonight.
-Dallas forward Mike Modano (right) is still hoping he can make the United States' Olympic roster.
-The Stars demoted forward Francis Wathier to Texas of the AHL.
-The Bakersfield Condors, the Ducks' ECHL affiliate, will wear Michael Jackson tribute jerseys for an upcoming game. The get-up will include each player wearing one white hockey glove.
Adams Division
-Former Sabres goaltender Dominik Hasek suffered a leg injury in a Czech league game. The injury has significantly hurt his chances to play for the Czech Rebuplic in the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver.
-What's the true value of a hot start?
(Photos: Gonchar and Malkin-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Parise and Lemaire-Elsa/Getty Images; Elliott-Chris O'Meara/Associated Press; Ovechkin, Varlamov, White, Pavelec and Armstrong-Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images; Tkachuk, Favre, Mason, Boyes, Bryzgalov and Jovanovski-Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images; Khabibulin, Penner, Holmstrom and Eaves-Jimmy Jeong/Canadian Press; Samuelsson-Jeff Gross/Getty Images; Modano-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Posted
Oct 30 2009, 01:36 AM
by
Seth Rorabaugh