Sunday, February 1, 2009

Empty Netter Assists - Eastern Conference - 2-1-09

Penguins


-Shelly Anderson's recap from last night. Mathieu Garon was not sharp.


-The Associated Press' recap. Luke Schenn was big.


-The Globe and Mail's recap. Toronto survived its first test without Tomas Kaberle.


-Tyler Kennedy versus Luke Schenn:









-The Leafs were pretty mad about Kennedy coming off the bench to start that brawl. Toronto overlord called the NHL about the matter and the league is investigating it.


-This just leaves us speechless:









-Cool story about the great Mike Zigomanis. He arranged for the entire Kingston Frontenac junior team Doug Gilmour coaches to attend the Penguins-Maple Leafs game last night. Zigomanis is a former member of the team.


(Kudos to The Pensblog for the find.)


-Sidney Crosby paid some respect to Gilmour.


-Remember Sergei Gonchar? He's expected to be back in three weeks.


-Don't get too attached to Alex Goligoski.


-How much will Consol Energy Center impact Uptown?


-As a courtesy to the Penguins, Devils announcer Mike Emrick kept a speech short during a ceremony in his honour Friday night.


-Tim Wallace had two goals and led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 4-1 win at Syracuse. Luca Caputi added a goal and an assist.


-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forward Aaron Boogaard had a pretty decisive win against Syracuse tough guy Jon "Nasty" Mirasty:









-Round 2 went a little bit more in Mirasty's favor:









(Kudos to Jonathan Bombulie of the Wilkes-Barre Citizens Voice for the heads up.)


-Jordan Morrison had a goal and an assist for the Wheeling Nailers in a 4-3 home loss to the Mississippi Sea Wolves. Former Robert Morris forward Ryan Cruthers had a goal and an assist for Mississippi.


Atlantic Division


-Scoreboard watch for the Penguins: The Islanders helped the Penguins a bit as Mike Comrie had a goal and an assist and led New York to a 3-1 win against the Panthers. Yann Danis made 37 saves in the win. The loss keeps Florida in ninth place at 54 points, one point better than the Penguins.


-The Penguins helped Jamie Langenbrunner make history. With his overtime goal Friday, he became the first player in Devils history to score overtime winners in consecutive nights or consecutive games.


-Rangers defenseman Dmitri Kalinin is dealing with a back injury.


-Even if they wanted to, the Islanders won't have an easy time leaving the Island.


Northeast Division


-In his first NHL start in nearly 14 months, Tuukka Rask made 35 saves and led the Bruins to a 1-0 win against the Rangers.


-Saku Koivu had a goal and an assist and led the Canadiens to a 4-3 defeat of the Kings. Montreal ended a four-game losing streak. Dustin Brown and Jarrett Stoll each had a goal and an assist for Los Angeles.


-Check out this brutal cheap shot Kings defenseman Denis Gauthier delivered to Montreal blue liner Josh Gorges last night:









-We assume Gorges' girlfriend is fine so no further punishment will be levied against Gauthier.


-Scoreboard watch for the Penguins: Ryan Miller made 28 saves for the Sabres in a 2-0 shutout win at Phoenix. Buffalo is in seventh place in the Eastern Conference with 57 points, four more than the Penguins.


-Check out this pretty interesting read about Maple Leafs forward and former Penguin Dominic Moore and his relationship with teammate Brad May and team boss Brian Burke. May and Burke were both members of the Canucks are were connected to Todd Bertuzzi's attack on Moore's brother, former Avalanche.



-Toronto defenseman Luke Schenn had it going on last night.


Southeast Division


-Alex Ovechkin (right, with teammate Nick Schultz) scored two goals and led the Capitals to a 4-2 win against the Red Wings. Teammates Mike Green and Viktor Kozlov each had a goal and and assist while Nicklas Backstrom added two assists. Detroit has lost five consecutive games.


-The Capitals have shown they belong with the big boys of the NHL.


-How special was Capitals forward Alexander Semin yesterday? He was dropped to the team's third line.


-Scoreboard watch for the Penguins: Cam Ward made a "whopping" 19 saves and led the Hurricanes to a 2-0 shutout of the Thrashers. Ward recorded his ninth career shutout. Is it us, or does it seem like Ward should have more than that? Matt Cullen had a goal and an assist. Carolina is in eighth place in the Eastern Conference with 55 points, two more than the Penguins.


-Atlanta may have hit the low point of its season last night.


-The Thrashers had some rare road support last night.


-Florida blew a big opportunity last night.


-There shouldn't be anything interim about Lightning coach and former Penguins forward Rick Tocchet.


(Photo: Nick Wass/Associated Press)

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