Empty Netter Assists - 11-24-09

Penguins

-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. The Penguins' power play might stink, but it came through when it had to last night.

-The Miami Herald's recap. "If we're going to be a good team, we need to hold a lead." - Panthers defenseman Keith Ballard.

-The Sun Sentinel's recap. "Against a team like that, give them any life at all and you see what happens." - Panthers coach Pete DeBoer.

-The Associated Press' recap. "I’m not sure how it got in." - Sidney Crosby (above) on his overtime goal.

-NHL.com's recap. The Panthers should probably quit trying to sit on 2-0 leads in the third period against the Penguins.

-They're a little choppy, but here are your highlights:

-Mike Rupp versus Bryan Allen:

-Ben Lovejoy, not scoring:

-Fleury stretching out for a save:

-Crosby waiting for a faceoff:

-Happy times for Maxime Talbot:

-A look at the Panthers' new third jerseys:

-Those aren't bad jerseys, but they fall victim to something that ruins many jerseys. Bad secondary logos on the shoulders. That stupid little sunny "FLA" thing on the shoulder looks like it should be on those stickers you get on your oranges at Giant Eagle.

-As we said last night, Tomas Vokoun's pad dont' mesh well with the new jerseys:

-To say the least, Florida coach Pete DeBoer failed to captivate Kenndal McArdle (right):

-Dan Bylsma does not expect Tyler Kennedy to play against Montreal Wednesday.

-The Penguins have quite a bit of depth on the blue line.

-Sergei Gonchar was home for one night (PG+).

-Happy 74th birthday to former Penguins coach and general manager Eddie Johnston. "EJ" is the team's all-time winningest head coach with 232 wins.

-Happy 59th birthday to former Penguins forward Hank Nowak. Nowak appeared in 13 games for the 1974-75 Penguins and was a minus-14.

Atlantic Division

-Josh Bailey's (above) overtime goal gave the Islanders a 4-3 win at Toronto. New York goaltender Dwayne Roloson made a career-high 58 saves in the win. The Islanders got a goal and an assist from Sean Bergenheim and two assists from Bruno Gervais. Tomas Kaberle and Matt Stajan each had two assists for Toronto which matched a franchise record with 61 shots on net.

-Highlights. Bailey's goal is at the 5:45 mark:

-A good look at the mask of Toronto's Vesa Toskala:

-Islanders defenseman Brendan Witt returned to the lineup. He had not played since Nov. 14 due to personal reasons. It was revealed his dauther was hospitalized after being bitten by a venomous spider.

-Two goals and two assists from Marian Gaborik helped the Rangers beat the Blue Jackets, 7-4. Artem Anisimov added a goal and two assists while teammate Sean Avery scored two goals. Jared Boll led the Blue Jackets with a goal and an assist.

-We don't want to suggest Gaborik should look into using a wooden stick, but...

-Boll had a pretty good fight with New York's Aaron Voros:

-Cool photo of the fight:

-Awkward Photo of the Night: Columbus' Mike Blunden getting tanled up with New York's Donald Brashear and Brian Boyle:

-Avery, center, being popular:

-Columbus' Jan Hejda was challenged to a push-up contest:

-Devils captain Jamie Langenbrunner says composite sticks are to blame for a lot of injuries in the NHL.

-Islanders goaltender Rick DiPietro is expected to practice with his team today for the first time this season today. He has been sidelined for most of the past two seasons due to a knee ailment.

-With forwards Blair Betts and Darroll Powe each dealing with shoulder injuries, the Flyers recalled forwards Andreas Nodl and Jared Ross from Adirondack of the AHL.

-Flyers forward Ian Laperriere made his return to Colorado last night.

Northeast Division

-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: Mike Fisher's (above, with Milan Michalek) overtime goal gave the Senators a 4-3 win against the Capitals. Filip Kuba recorded three assists for Ottawa while goaltender Brian Elliott made 25 saves in the victory. The win moved the Senators into first place in the Northeast DIvision and third place in the Eastern Conference with 27 points. The Capitals earned a point but fell to second place in the conference behind the Penguins. Each team has 31 points, but the Penguins are in first place on account of having more wins.

-Senators goaltender Pascal Leclaire sat out of the game due to a "lower-body" injury then ended up taking a puck to the face while sitting on the bench.

-Cool Photo of the Night: Elliott and Scotiabank Place:

-"Dude, seriously, Green looks like the biggest $#@&@! in those pictures. Don't tell anyone I said so though."

-What the heck is up with the eyes of Washington's Semyon Varlamov?

-Patrice Bergeron had four assists for the Bruins who won at St. Louis, 4-2. Tuukka Rask, playing in his third game in relief of injured starter Tim Thomas, made 29 saves in the win which was the third in a row for Boston. Carlo Colaiacovo led the Blues with a goal and an assist.

-St. Louis defenseman Roman Polak took a puck to the face last night:

-Marc Savard returned to the lineup last night after missing 15 games due to a broken foot.

-Canadiens forward and former Penguins enforcer Georges Laraque was suspended five games by the NHL for his knee-on-knee hit that injured Red Wings defenseman Niklas Kronwall Saturday.

-The Canadiens sent forward Guillaume Latendresse to the Wild in exchange for forwards Benoit Pouliot, the fourth-overall pick in the 2005 draft.

-Busy day in Montreal. The Canadiens recalled forward Sergei Kostitsyn from Hamilton of the AHL.

-As if things weren't bad enough in Toronto, forward John Mitchell (knee) and goaltender Vesa Toskala (groin) were dinged up last night.

-Why can't the Senators sell-out games?

Southeast Division

-Former Penguins forward Dominic Moore is digging life with the Panthers (PG+).

-A month after being knocked out by a hit to the head by Flyers captain Mike Richards, Panthers forward David Booth (right) still has trouble exercising or even watching television. But it was legal.

-The Lightning demoted defenseman Mike Lundin to Norfolk of the AHL.

-The Capitals had a 3-1 lead at the start of the third period of last night's game in Ottawa only to lose in overtime, 4-3. Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau called it a "collapse by 20 guys."

Central Division

-Martin Erat had two goals for the Predators in a 3-1 win against the Red Wings. Pekka Rinne made 30 saves in the victory which was the sixth in a row for Nashville. Detroit has lost three out of its past four games.

-Detroit's Chris Osgood had to reach back to make this save:

-With former Penguins forward Marian Hossa expected to make his season debut Wednesday against the Sharks, the Blackhawks demoted forward Bryan Bickell to Rockford of the AHL. Hossa has been sidelined all season due to a shoulder ailment.

-The Blue Jackets put forward Derek Dorsett on injured reserve due to what is described as a concussion.

-Are the Red Wings inflating their attendance numbers?

Northwest Division

-Paul Stastny (above) had a goal and two assists for the Avalanche which edged the Flyers, 5-4. Colorado got two goals from David Jones and two assists from Ryan O'Reilly. Craig Anderson made 30 saves in the win. Daniel Briere led Philadelphia with two goals and two assists.

-Click this link and check out the cheap shot Briere gave to Avalanche defenseman Scott Hannan after Hannan had scored a goal (0:35 mark). We can't find anything on YouTube but here's a screen grab of the check that was floating around on HFBoards:

-Essentially, Briere left his feet to hit Hannan in the face with his shoulder or arm after he had scored. Hannan was injured and did not return to the game.

-Briere deserves some sort of suspension for the hit. It was after the play and he clearly left his feet to deliver the blow. But this is the NHL. We're sure Colin Campbell will let Briere off the hook since he's a star and they cite the lame "prior history" excuse as a reason.

-Speaking of cheapshots, here's a "shocking" image. Philadelphia's Scott Hartnell, two officials and Colorado goaltender Craig Anderson in a heap on the ice:

-Philadelphia's Ian Laperriere might be the best glove juggler in the NHL:

-Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers made 36 saves and led the Oilers to a 4-0 shutout of the Coyotes. Sheldon Souray and Shawn Horcoff each had a goal and an assist and set a team record by scoring goals seven seconds apart in the first period. Lubomir Visnovsky added two assists.

-Drouin-Deslauriers recorded his first professional shutout since the 2006-07 season when he was a member of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

-Happy times for Drouin-Deslauriers and the Oilers in their sharp throwback uniforms:

-Coyotes forward and former Penguin Paul Bissonnette got the drop on Edmonton's Zach Stortini:

-Wild defenseman Brent Burns is out indefinitely due to a concussion.

-Canucks forward Alex Burrows, who had 28 goals last season, hasn't scored since Oct. 11.

Pacific Division

-Marty Turco (above, with Mike Modano) made 22 saves for the Stars in a 2-0 shutout of the Hurricanes. It was Turco's 38th career shutout. Brad Richards had a goal and an assist. Manny Legace made 27 saves for Carolina which has yet to win on the road this season.

-Second Cool Photo of the Night: Dallas' Stephane Robidas and American Airlines Center:

-Here's another shocking image. Dallas' Steve Ott leaving his feet to deliver a check to Carolina's Patrick Dwyer:

-Happy times for Dallas' Jamie Benn:

-Hurricanes forward and former Penguin Tom Kostopoulos didn't seem to appreciate this scuffle with Dallas' Mike Ribeiro:

-Carolina's Erik Cole had an uncomfortable time suggesting a brand of deoderant to Dallas' Jeff Woywitka. We think:

-Teemu Selanne's shootout goal gave the Ducks a 3-2 win against the Flames. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 41 saves in the win. Olli Jokinen had two assists for the Flames who tied the game up and sent it to overtime when captain Jarome Iginla scored with 18 seconds left in regulation.

-Selanne's goal:

-Selanne being popular:

-Giguere recorded his first win in seven months.

-Fight of the Night: Ducks forward and Washington, Pa. native George Parros versus Calgary's Brian McGrattan:

-Anaheim captain Scott Niedermayer and teammate Ryan Getzlaf were looking ahead along with Calgary goaltender Miikka Kiprusoff and teammate Jay Bouwmeester:

-Kiprusoff apparently needs a sippy cup:

-Ducks defenseman and former Penguin Ryan Whitney got a rough ride into the boards from Calgary's Eric Nystrom:

-Whitney had nothing on teammate Kyle Calder who had his face mashed in by Calgary's Adam Pardy:

-Ducks coach and former Penguins all-star Randy Carlyle tries to guess how many players on his team actually like him:

-Third Cool Photo of the Night: Iginla in the Honda Center:

-A close look at Giguere's mask:

-The Flames are 1-12-6 in Anaheim since 1999.

-Talks between the Ducks and forward Bobby Ryan over a contract extension have broken down.

-Ducks forward Ryan Getzlaf's brother, Chris, is a starting wide receiver for the Saskatchewan Roughriders who are playing in the CFL's Grey Cup Sunday.

-The Kings put forward Ryan Smyth on injured reserve due to an "upper-body" injury and recalled forwards Andrei Loktionov and Brandon Segal from Manchester of the AHL.

-The Sharks recalled forward Torrey Mitchell from a conditioning assignment to Worcester of the AHL and demoted forwards Benn Ferriero, Ryan Vesce and 2007 first-round pick Logan Couture.

Norris Division

-Former Whalers, Hurricanes, Canucks, Rangers and Lightning defenseman Marek Malik has joined Servette Geneva in Switzerland. Malik is best remembered for this amazing shootout goal in 2005-06 while with the Rangers:

-Former Blues and Hurricanes forward Jeff Heerema has joined Medvescak Zagreb in Croatia.

-How involved is Donald Fehr, the outgoing head of the Major League Baseball Players Association, with the NHLPA?

-How important is a shootout specialist?

-Today would've been the 99th birthday of former Pittsburgh Hornets goaltender Earl Robertson.

(Photos: Crosby, Lovejoy, Talbot and Fleury-Joel Auerbach/Getty Images; Panthers and Vokoun-J Pat Carter/Associated Press; Bailey-Nathan Denette/Canadian Press; Toskala-Abelimages/Getty Images; Gaborik, Blunden and Hejda-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Voros and Avery-Paul J. Bereswill/Associated Press; Fisher-Fred Chartrand/Canadian Press; Elliott, Ovechkin and Varlamov-Phillip MacCallum/Getty Images; Booth-Richard Heathcote/Getty Images; Osgood-Mark Humphrey/Associated Press; Stastny, Hartnell and Laperriere-Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; Drouin-Deslauriers and Bissonnette-John Ulan/Canadian Press; Turco, Ott, Benn and Kostopoulos-Mike Fuentes/Associated Press; Robidas and Cole-Ronald Martinez/Getty Images; Selanne, Niedermayer, Kiprusoff, Whitney, Calder, Carlyle, Iginla and Giguere-Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images)