Empty Netter Assists - 11-07-09

Penguins

-Sergei Gonchar and Evgeni Malkin (above) are kind of key to the Penguins' power play.

-Is Mike Yeo the key to the Penguins' power play troubles?

-Bob Errey's epic piece on stick management from Thursday's game:

(Kudos to EN reader Kim Griffin for the heads up.)

-Ryan Bayda scored the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' only goal in a 2-1 home loss to the Norfolk Admirals. John Curry made 25 saves for the Penguins.

-Jordan Fox scored the Wheeling Nailers' only goal in a 2-1 home loss to the South Carolina Stingrays. Jordan Parise made 20 saves for the Nailers.

-PensBurgh takes a look at the Penguins' prospects. Forwards and defensemen/goaltenders.

Atlantic Division

-Yann Danis (above) made 23 saves and led the Devils to a 2-1 defeat of his former team, the Islanders. New Jersey forward Patrik Elias made his season debut after missing 13 games due groin and hip injuries.

-New Jersey's Mark Fraser warming up with his shadow:

-There was just a scrum of humanity in front of the Islanders' net:

-We don't want to question Devils tough guy Andrew Peters' skating ability, but...

-Lots of empty seats the Prudential Center:

-Daniel Carcillo had two goals and helped the Flyers beat the Sabres, 5-2. Teammates Chris Pronger contributed a goal and an assist while Ian Laperriere had two assists. Derek Roy led Buffalo with a goal and an assist.

-Carcillo and Buffalo captain Craig Rivet had heck of a night. First Rivet said something to Carcillo about his moustache looking like it belonged to a 13-year-old boy:

-Carcillo said it was cool:

-Rivet said it wasn't:

-The Devils signed forward Dean McAmmond to a one-year two-way contract. He been with the club's AHL affiliate in Lowell.

-The last time Rangers forward Sean Avery was in Calgary, he opened his mouth and got into a lot of trouble.

-Islanders prospect Bobby Hughes was arrested on first-degree criminal sexual act and third-degree criminal sexual act charges.

Northeast Division

-How bad are the Hurricanes? They can't even beat the Maple Leafs. Jason Blake's goal and an assist helped Toronto edge Carolina, 3-2. Jonas Gustavsson (above) made 34 saves in the win. The Hurricanes' losing streak is now at 11 games.

-Check out this save by Gustavsson:

-With injuries to Andrei Markov, Hal Gill and others, Roman Hamrlik has become the Canadiens' workhorse on defense.

-With so many blueliners beat up, the Habs claimed defenseman Jay Leach off waivers from the Devils.

-From the "There's No Side To Root For" department, Canadiens forward Maxim Lapierre and annoying TSN/NBC analyst Pierre McGuire are at odds.

Southeast Division

-Brian Pothier had a goal and two assists and helped the Capitals win at Florida, 4-1. Teammate Brendan Morrison added two goals while Jose Theodore made 28 saves in the victory which snapped a three-game losing streak.

-The Capitals lost defensemen Mike Green ("upper-body") and Jeff Schultz ("lower body") to injuries last night.

-Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman was officially diagnosed with a concussion following a monster hit by Senators forward Chris Neil Thursday.

Central Division

-The Blackhawks recalled forward Bryan Bickell from Rockford of the AHL.

-A Michigan State student was killed after he was hit by a car and drug nearly a more than a quarter mile following a Red Wings game Thursday night.

Northwest Division

-Shootout goals by Marek Svatos and Chris Stewart (above) gave the Avalanche a 4-3 win against the Blackhawks. Ryan O'Reilly scored two goals in regulation for Colorado which won its sixth consecutive home game while teammate David Jones had a goal and an assist. Patrick Kane and Kris Versteeg led Chicago with two assists.

-Chicago's Troy Brouwer was stoned by Colorado's Craig Anderson on this shot:

-Chicago's Duncan Keith leading a rush up the ice:

-Chicago's Brian Campbell had some issues with his stick:

-"Jags and I text back and forth. I talked to him about six weeks ago. He's on our radar. He has NHL years ahead of him. No question." Oilers associate coach Tom Renney on former Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr. Renney used to be Jagr's head coach with the Rangers.

Pacific Division

-Marty Turco (above) made 32 saves and helped the Stars edge the Canucks, 2-1. Vancouver's Cory Schneider took the loss despite making 45 saves.

-Check out two of Schneider's saves:

-Cool Photo of the Night: The national anthem at American Airlines Center in Dallas:

-The Coyotes recalled defenseman Shaun Heshka from San Antonio for the AHL and demoted forward Mikkel Boedker, a first-round pick in 2008.

-Ducks forward Teemu Selanne moved past Canadiens legend Jean Beliveau for 38th place on the NHL's career scoring list during Thursday's defeat of the Predators. Selanne has 1,221 career points while Beliveau has 1,219.

Patrick Division

-The NHL Network will carry the Hockey Hall of Fame inductions live on Monday beginning at 7 p.m.

-Brooks Ostergard made 37 saves for the Robert Morris men's team in a 2-0 loss at Bemidji State.

-Jennifer Kindret scored two goals for the Robert Morris women's team in a 3-1 win at No. 6 Wisconsin.

-Today would've been the 99th birthday of former Pittsburgh Hornets forward Glenn Brydson.

(Photos: Gonchar, Fraser, scrum, Peters and Prudential Center-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Danis-Bill Kostroun/Associated Press; Carcillo and Rivet first and second-Rick Stewart/Getty Images; Carcillo and Rivet third-David Duprey/Associated Press; Gustavsson-Karl B DeBlaker/Associated Press; Stewart-David Zalubowski/Associated Press; Brouwer, Keith and Campbell-Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; Turco-Tim Sharp/Associated Press; Anthem-Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)