Penguins
-Has the Penguins' slump hurt Marc-Andre Fleury's (above, with Jordan Staal) chances to make the Canadian Olympic roster?
-KDKA-TV has a solid piece on Mike Lange and how he prepares for games.
-We talked to Bruce Ciskie of Fanhouse about the Penguins and other NHL related items. Click here to listen.
-A goal and an assist from Luca Caputi helped the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins beat the Albany River Rats, 3-1. Dustin Jeffrey contributed two assists while Brad Thiessen made 38 saves in the victory.
-Thiessen recorded his first professional win.
-Joey Haddad's overtime goal gave the Wheeling Nailers a 4-3 win against the Johnstown Chiefs. Thomas Beauregard and Blair Yaworski each had a goal and an assist for Wheeling while Adam Berkhoel made 22 saves in the win.
-This is beyond belief. Former Penguins defenseman Zarley Zalapski is still playing. The 41-year-old just joined Lausanne HC in Switzerland.
-Happy 57th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Bryan Watson (right). "Bugsy," who currently owns a restaurant and catering business in Alexandria, Va., was an antagonist who led the NHL with 212 penalty minutes while with the Penguins in 1971-72. By the time he retired as a player in 1979, Watson was the NHL's career leader in penalty minutes with 2,212 minutes. He has since been surpassed and is currently 39th on that list.
-Happy 40th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Greg Andrusak. Andrusak appeared in 19 games with the Penguins over the course of four seasons in the 1990s and recorded five assists.
-Happy 37th birthday to former Penguins forward Ed Patterson. Patterson was one of three players from the Penguins' 1991 draft class to reach the NHL. The others were Markus Naslund and Rusty Fitzgerald.
Atlantic Division
-Kyle Okposo's overtime goal gave the Islanders a 4-3 win at Carolina. Okposo also had an assist while teammate John Tavares scored two goals. Martin Biron (above) made 25 saves in the win. Brandon Sutter had two assists for the Hurricanes who extended their losing streak to 14 games.
-Islanders forward and former Penguin Jon Sim didn't appear to enjoy this tumble:
-The Rangers recalled forward P.A. Parenteau from Hartford of the AHL and demoted forward Dane Byers.
-In Thursday's win in Pittsburgh, Devils defenseman Andy Greene became the first player in franchise history to score or assist the game-winning goal in five consecutive games.
-The Flyers aren't the only hot Atlantic Division team. The Flyers are on a five-game winning streak.
Northeast Division
-Shootout goals by Derek Roy (above, beating Miikka Kiprusoff) and Jason Pominville gave the Sabres a 2-1 win against the Flames. Ryan Miller made 26 saves in the win. Mikka Kiprusoff made 32 saves for Calgary which had a four-game winning streak snapped.
-Happy times for Miller and teammate Patrick Kaleta:
-We dont' want to accuse Buffalo's Drew Stafford of goaltender interference, but...:
-Canadiens defenseman Jaroslav Spacek is dealing with a "lower-body" injury.
-Former Penguins forward Alex Kovalev has struggled in his first season with the Senators. He only has eight points (four goals, four assists) in 16 games.
-With Mats Sundin gone, has defenseman Tomas Kaberle become the face of the Maple Leafs?
Southeast Division
-Semyon Varlamov made 29 saves and led the Capitals to a 3-1 defeat of the Penguins. Washington improved to 4-1-0 without Alex Ovechkin who was out due to an "upper-body" injury. Josh Harding made 38 saves for Minnesota.
-Happy times for the Capitals. Not so much for Harding:
-Capitals forward Mike Knuble suffered a broken finger and is expected to be sidelined three to four weeks.
-No word yet if Knuble's fingers were injured by rabid puck-hungry children:
-Is it really necessary to call this Chris Clark fan on the right for a jersey foul:
-Wearing a jersey backwards is more of a life foul in our book.
-Ondrej Pavelec made 38 saves for the Thrashers who shut out the Kings, 7-0. Ilya Kovalchuk and Maxim Afinogenov each had a two goals and an assist for Altanta while teammate Evander Kane contributed two goals and an assist.
-Kovalchuk letting one loose:
-Happy times for Afinogenov:
-Kovalchuk had seven points in two games since returning from his broken foot.
-This game featured a rare double-fight between Thrashers forward and former Penguin Chris Thorburn versus Kings goon Raitis Ivanans. At the same time, Atlanta's Jim Slater dropped the glove with Los Angeles' Brad Richardson:
-The Thrashers demoted forward Spencer Machacek to Chicago of the AHL.
-"He's been elite for us." - Panthers coach Pete DeBoer on the play of goaltender Tomas Vokoun.
Central Division
-Duncan Keith had a goal and an assist for the Blackhawks who edged the Maple Leafs, 3-2. Cristobal Huet (above) made 29 saves for Chicago which has won six consecutive home games. Phil Kessel scored both of Toronto's goals.
-Chicago's Patrick Kane couldn't quite get this puck by Toronto's Vesa Toskala:
-Check out the lasers Kessel let loose for his goals:
-To say the least, Kane wasn't happy with Toronto's Francois Beauchemin here:
-Awkward Photo of the Night: Chicago's Tomas Kopecky crashing the net in a manner he might regret:
-Shootout goals by Kristian Huselius and Rick Nash gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 win against the Ducks. Huselius had a goal and an assist in regulation while teammate Antoine Vermette recorded two assists. Former Penguin Mathiu Garon made 32 saves in the win. Fire Ray Shero. Ryan Getzlaf led Anaheim with two assists.
-Nash scored despite almost taking a fall in the shootout:
-Happy times for Nash (right) and Vermette:
-Before the game, the Blue Jackets activated Huselius from injured reserve and put forward Raffi Torres on injured reserve due to facial injuries.
-The Blues demoted forward Lars Eller, a first round pick in 2007, to Peoria of the AHL.
-Blues owner Dave Checketts called out his underacheiving 6-7-4 team.
Northwest Division
-Oilers defenseman Denis Grebeshkov (left knee) and forward Fernando Pisani (ulcerative colitis) are dinged up.
-With forward Chuck Kobasew dealing with an "upper-body" injury, the Wild recalled forward Robbie Earl from Houston of the AHL.
-Wild owner Craig Leipold confirmed he is pursuing bringing a Winter Classic to Minnesota.
-Since the 2004-05 lockout, Wild goaltender Niklas Backstrom (right) has the NHL's best save percentage.
-Avalanche defenseman Tom Preissing is hoping to play tonight in his first NHL game since Jan. 15.
Pacific Division
-"I did stand very firm behind him and I am telling you the same thing
I said last year. There’s going to be a lot of players shipped out
before the coach is. We have a damn good coach and he’s proven he can coach in this
league. It’s about time some of these people prove that they’re good
hockey players. That’s enough. The coach is going nowhere." Ducks general manager Bob Murray on coach and former Penguins defenseman Randy Carlyle.
-How crazy is that Kings forward Anze Kopitar, the NHL's leading scorer, won't be able to play in the Olympics? His native country, Slovenia, didn't qualify for the tournament.
-Coyotes coach and former Penguin Dave Tippett faces the Stars, the team that fired him in the offseason tonight.
-Former Stars forward Sami Helenius joined Jokerit in Finland.
Norris Division
-"The Beanpot Trot" by the 1986 Boston College Eagles:
-A hat trick by Chris Kushneriuk helped the Robert Morris' men's team beat Niagara, 5-3.
(Photos: Staal-Mike Ridewood/Getty Images; Watson-eBay; Biron and Sim-Gerry Broome/Associated Press; Roy, Miller and Stafford-Rick Stewart/Getty Images; Varlomov, Harding, Knuble, Clark fan and Backstrom-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Kovalchuk and Afinogenov-John Bazemore/Associated Press; Huet, Toskala, Beauchemin and Kopecky-Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images; Nash-Jay LaPrete/Associated Press)
Posted
Nov 14 2009, 05:32 AM
by
Seth Rorabaugh