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Sunday, 10 October 2010 04:43

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Penguins

-So it's 10-10-10? Can we call this Pierre Larouche-Ron Francis-Gary Roberts day?

-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. "Obviously, the third goal is not a good goal." - Dan Bylsma on Scott Gomez's game-winning goal against Marc-Andre Fleury.

-The Montreal Gazette's recap. "He made game-winning saves throughout the game." - Montreal's Mike Cammalleri on his goaltender, Carey Price.

-The Associated Press' recap. Gomez compared his goal to a change-up pitch by Roy Halladay.

-Highlights:

-Happy times for Mark Letestu and Tyler Kennedy:

-Fleury stretched out for this puck:

-Chris Kunitz and Montreal's P.K. Subban has issues:

-Linesman Scott Cherry found a good seat:

-Matt Cooke speaks:

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-Brooks Orpik speaks:

-Mark Letestu speaks:

-Hockey Night in Canada's Elliotte Friedman caught up with Sidney Crosby:

-HNIC worked in the Mario Lemieux "water" ceremony from Thursday into its pregame montage:

-Mike Rupp has been picking up some of Jordan Staal's time on the penalty kill.

-The Penguins have at least one fan in former coach Michel Therrien.

-Sidney Crosby wouldn't pull a LeBron James... right?

-Shootout goals by Nick Johnson, Geoff Walker and Brett Sterling led the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to a 4-3 season-opening win against the rival Hershey Bears. Andrew Hutchinson led the Penguins with a goal and an assist in regulation while Brad Thiessen made 30 saves in the victory.

-Happy 48th birthday to former Penguins goaltender Roberto Romano (right). A free agent signing midway through the 1982-83 season, Romano spent parts of six seasons with the Penguins in two seperate stints. As a rookie in 1982-83, he saw action in three games - all losses - and had a 6.97 goals against average. In 1983-84, Romano appeared in 18 games, had a 6-11-0 record, a 4.59 goals against average, a .876 save percerntage and one shutout. Platooning with Denis Herron in 1984-85, Romano played in 31 games, went 9-17-2, had a 4.42 goals against average, .877 save percentage and one shutout. Romano's only season as the team's primary starter was 1985-86. He played in 46 games, had a 21-20-3 record, a 3.55 goals against average, .886 save percentage and two shutouts. After 25 games, a 9-12-2 record, a 3.72 goals against average and .876 save percentage in 1986-87, Romano was traded to the Bruins in exchange for Pat Riggin. After bouncing around the AHL and Italy, Romano returned to the Penguins in 1993-94 by appearing in two games, going 1-0-1 with a 1.44 goals against average and .946 save percentage. He retired in the 1994 offseason. In 125 games with the Penguins, Romano was 46-62-8 with a 3.96 goals against average and recorded four shutouts.

-Happy 64th birthday to former Pittsburgh Hornets and Penguins forward Pete Mahovlich (right). Acquired early in the 1977-78 season along with Peter Lee in a deal which sent Pierre Larouche and future considerations to the Canadiens, Mahovlich spent two seasons in Pittsburgh. In 1977-78, he saw action in 57 games and finished second on the team with 61 points. That season, he actually recorded a hat trick in his first game with the team, a 6-4 win against the Red Wings. He followed that up in 1978-79 by playing in 60 games and netting 53 points. In that spring's postseason, Mahovlich appeared in two games and recorded one assist. During the 1979 offseason, Mahovlich was traded to the Red Wings in exchange for Nick Libett. In 117 regular season games for the Penguins, Mahovlich scored 114 points, 66th most in franchise history.

-Happy 50th birthday to former Penguins forward Ron Flockhart (right). Acquired prior to the 1983-84 season along with Andy Brickley, Mark Taylor and draft picks in a deal which sent Rich Sutter and draft picks to the Flyers, Flockhard spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. In 1983-84, he appeared in 68 games and scored 45 points. After 12 games and five assists in 1984-85, Flockhart was traded to the Canadiens in exchange for John Chabot. in 70 games with the Penguns, Flockhart scored 50 points.

-Happy 38th birthday to former Penguins forward Brian Holzinger. Acquired at the 2003 trade deadline in a deal which sent Marc Bergevin to the Lightning, Holzinger spent parts of two seasons with the Penguins. He finished the 2002-03 season by appearing in nine games and scoring three points for the Penguins. In 2003-04, Holzinger saw action in 61 games and scored 21 points. At the 2004 trade deadline, Holzinger was traded to the Blue Jackets in exchange for Lasse Pirjeta. One of six natives of Ohio to play for the Penguins (Ab DeMarco, Moe Mantha, Ian Moran, Mike Rupp and Bryan Smolinski were the others), Holzinger played in 70 games for the Penguins and scored 24 points. Holzinger is also one of four former Hobey Baker Award winners to play for the Penguins. Brian Bonin, Jordan Leopold and Kip Miller are the others.

Atlantic Division

-Derek Stepan became the first Ranger and fourth NHL player in league history to record a hat trick in his NHL debut and led the Rangers to a 6-3 win at Buffalo. Brandon Dubinsky added two goals for New York while teammates Sean Avery and Dan Girardi each recorded two assists. Henrik Lundqvist (above) made 33 saves in the victory. Former Penguin Jordan Leopold led the Sabres with two goals and an assist.

-Stepan's hat trick:

-The other three players to record hat tricks in their NHL debuts were Alex Smart of Montreal in 1943, Réal Cloutier of Quebec in 1979 and Fabian Brunnstrom of Dallas in 2008.

-Leopold and Buffalo's Ryan Miller kept their eyes on this puck:

-The more we look at them, we kind of dig these third jerseys the Sabres sported last night:

-Anthem time in Buffalo:

-Gee who would've thunk signing Ilya Kovalchuk to the biggest contract in the history of life (give or take) would have negative repercussions? With defenseman Anton Volchenkov (face) and forward Brian Rolston (back) injured and forward Pierre-Luc Letournea-Leblond facing a potential suspension, the Devils might have to face the Penguins with fewer than 20 skaters Monday since they don't have the salary cap space to even recall someone from the AHL.

-Life just keeps getting better and better for the Islanders. Forward John Tavares left last night's game due to a concussion.

Northeast Division

-Phil Kessel, Clarke MacArthur and Kris Versteeg each had a goal and an assist for the Maple Leafs who pounded the rival Senators, 5-1. Former Penguin Tim Brent scored his second goal in as many games for Toronto while Jean-Sebastien Giguere made all of 17 saves in the win. Fire Ray Shero Former Penguins defenseman Sergei Gochar recorded an assist, his first point with Ottawa. Fire Ray Shero.

-Brent's goal came off a bad play by Ottawa's Pascal Leclaire:

-"I’m here to prove every day that I belong here." - Brent.

-Check out the steal by MacArthur to set up Nikolai Kulemin:

-Here's a match made in heaven. Toronto's Mike Brown and Ottawa's Chris Neil:

-It wouldn't be a Maple Leafs-Senators games unless Toronto's Colton Orr and Ottawa's Matt Carkner fought for the 455th time in a row:

-The Bruins signed captaini Zdeno Chara to a seven-year contract extension worth a total of $45.5 million. He will have a salary cap hit of $6.5 million. Chara, who will be 41 when the extension expires, was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent after this season.

Southeast Division

-Alex Ovechkin had two goals and an assist for the Capitals in a 7-2 rout of the Devils. John Carlson added a goal and two assists for Washington while teammate Tomas Flesichmann contributed a goal and an assist. Michael Neuvirth earned the win with 31 saves.

-One of Ovechkin's goals came on a penalty shot:

-This game featured five fights including an unlikely bout between Kovalchuk and Washington's Mike Green:

(For those two players, that was a surprising amount of defensive fighting.)

-A good look at the fight:

-Additionally Letourneau-Leblond fought Washington's Marcus Johansson and drew an instigator penalty within in the final five minutes of the contest. That brings an automatic one-game suspension, pending review, and a $10,000 fine for New Jersey head coach John MacLean.

-Happy times for Washington:

-Happy times for the Devils. Not so much for Carlson:

-Volchenkov suffered a broken nose when he took a deflected shot to the face.

-Washington has won nine consecutive home-openers.

-Steven Stamkos had two goals and an assist for the Lightning in a 5-3 defeat of the Thrashers. Teammate Steve Downie added a goal and an assist while Mike Smith made 27 saves in the win. Ben Eager had a goal and an assist for Atlanta.

-Check out this re-direction goal by Stamkos:

-It still unknown what caused Thrashers goaltender Ondrej Pavelec to lose consiousness in Friday's game against the Capitals. Pavelec said he had no recollection of the game.

-The Thrashers recalled goaltender Drew MacIntyre from Chicago of the AHL.

-The Hurricanes demoted defensemen Brett Carson, Bobby Sanguinetti and goaltender Justin Pogge to Charlotte of the AHL.

-Finally recovered from multiple concussions, Florida forward David Booth is ready to get his career back on track.

Central Division

-Carlo Colaiacovo's (above, left) overtime goal gave the Blues a 2-1 win against the Flyers. Alexander Steen recorded two assists for St. Louis while Jaroslav Halak made 29 saves in the victory.

-Colaiacovo's goal (1:45 mark):

-Scary scene as St. Louis' Jesse Winchester absolutely trucked his own teammate, Cam Janssen, by accident:

-Happy times for the Blues. Not so much for Philadelphia captain Mike Richards:

-We don't want to question the skating ability of Philadelphia's Darroll Powe, but we don't think goaltender Brian Boucher would protest much:

-Two goals by Valtteri Filppula led the Red Wings to a 3-2 win at Chicago. Teammate Todd Bertuzzi added a goal and an assist while Chris Osgood made 26 saves in the win.

-Prior to the game, the Blackhawks raised their championship banner from last season:

-Check out this elbow Chicago's Duncan Keith got away with Detroit's Ruslan Salei:

-Happy times for Chicago's Brent Seabrook:

-Chicago's Marty Turco had issues with this puck:

-Detroit's Todd Bertuzzi had issue with Chicago's Nick Leddy:

-Ethan Moreau's overtime goal gave the Blue Jackets a 3-2 win against the Sharks in Stockholm. Teammate Kristian Huselius added a goal and an assist while Steve Mason made 33 saves to earn the victory.

-Moreau's goal:

-Check out this pass by San Jose's Dany Heatley to set up Joe Thornton:

-San Jose's Patrick Marleau blew up Mason's throat protector with a one-timer:

-A goal and an assist by Steve Sullivan led the Predators to a 4-1 defeat of the Ducks. Teammate Shea Weber recorded two assists while Pekka Rinne made 29 saves to earn the win.

-Cool Photo of the Night: Anaheim's Teemu Selanne staring down Rinne:

-Bizarre Photo of the Night: Nashville's Anders Lindback and Anaheim's Core Perry:

-Happy times for the Predators. Not so much for Anaheim's Jonas Hiller:

-Rinne did leave the game late due to a "lower-body" injury.

-The Ducks' top line of Bobby Ryan, Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry was held without a point for the second consecutive game.

-With forward Patrick Sharp dealing with an undisclosed injury, the Blackhawks recalled Brandon Pirri from Rockford of the AHL.

-Former Thrashers/Maple Leafs defenseman Garnet Exelby has signed an AHL contract with Rockford.

Northwest Division

-Canucks forward Henrik Sedin was officially named the 13th captain in franchise history.

-The Wild demoted forward Casey Wellman and goaltender Anton Khudobin to Houston of the AHL.

Pacific Division

-Mike Ribeiro's shootout goal led the Stars to a 5-4 win against the Islanders. Captain Brenden Morrow led Dallas with two regulation goals while Ribeiro and Brad Richards each added two assists. Kari Lehtonen (above) made a whopping 43 saves in the victory. Captain Doug Weight led New York with a goal and two assists.

-Weight attempted to karate kick teammate James Wisniewski for some reason:

-We think.

-New York Jets coach Rex Ryan dropped the puck for a #$%@ing ceremonial faceoff between Morrow and Weight:

-Check out this hit New York's James Wisniewski stuck on Dallas' Jamie Benn:

-Radim Vrbata had two goals and an assist for the Coyotes in a 5-2 defeat of the Bruins in Prague. Teammate Ed Jovanovski added two assists while Ilya Brzygalov made a whopping 40 saves in the win. Nathan Horton scored both of Boston's goals.

-Boston's Tuukka Rask kept his eyes on this puck:

-Shootout goals by Anze Kopitar and Jack Johnson led the Kings to a 2-1 win at Vancouver. Jonathan Quick stopped 23 shots in the victory.

-The shootout:

-Check out this hit Vancouver's Alex Edler stuck on Los Angeles' Kyle Clifford:

-The pregame ceremony including former Penguin Dunc Wilson:

-The anthems in Vancouver:

-As you can tell, the Kings and Canucks wore some fantastic throwback uniforms:

-Canucks forward and former Penguin Mikael Samuelsson got the drop on Kings defenseman and another former Penguin, Rob Scuderi:

-This game took place on the 40th anniversary of the Canucks' first ever game, a 3-1 home loss to the Kings.

-Kings defenseman Willie Mitchell took a tough path back to the NHL after suffering a concussion at the hands of Evgeni Malkin last season.

-The Ducks recalled defenseman Brett Festerling (right) from Syracuse of the AHL.

Smythe Division

-Nathan Longpre had two goals for the Robert Morris men's team in a 4-1 defeat of American International.

-Daneca Butterfield made 29 saves for the Robert Morris women's team in a 4-1 loss to Ohio State.

-A hat trick by Meghan Agosta led the Mercyhurst women's team to a 5-2 defeat of Maine.

-Happy 69th birthday to former Pittsburgh Hornets defenseman Dallas Smith.

(Photos: Canadiens/Penguins-Justin K. Aller/Getty Images and Don Wright/Associated Press; Romano, Mahovlich and Flockhart-Penguins Hockey Cards; Rangers/Sabres-Don Heupel/Associated Press and Rick Stewart/Getty Images; Devils/Capitals-Jacquelyn Martin/Associated Press; Flyers/Blues-Jeff Roberson; Red Wings/Blackhawks-Charles Cherney/Associated Press and Jonathan Daniel/Getty Images; Ducks/Predators-Frederick Breedon/Getty Images and Mark Humphrey/Associated Press; Stars/Islanders-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Coyotes/Bruins-Micha Cizek/AFP/Getty Images; Kings/Canucks-Canadian Press; Festerling-Harry How/Getty Images)

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