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Saturday, 26 February 2011 13:23

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Penguins

-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. "Maybe I caught him in the chin, possibly, but I thought I went shoulder to chest." - Matt Niskanen on his second period hit which injured Hurricanes forward Eric Staal.

-The Raleigh News & Observer's recap. Eric Staal is expected to miss today's game against the Canadiens due to an "upper-body" injury.

-The Associated Press' recap. "Ward came up with the saves, especially at that early part of the second when we were trying to make a push with our power play.” - Dan Bylsma on Carolina's Cam Ward.

-NHL.com's recap. "It's a little different playing with him, but I started feeling more comfortable throughout the game." - Jordan Staal on playing with Alex Kovalev.

-Highlights:

-Niskanen's hit on Staal:

-Thinking Out Loud: That seemed a lot like the hit by Washington's David Steckel on Sidney Crosby in the Winter Classic. Unfortunate and unintentional.

-Happy times for the Hurricanes. Not so much for the Penguins:

-Carolina's Erik Cole > Marc-Andre Fleury:

-Mike Rupp getting run into Ward by Carolina's Jay Harrison:

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-How cool is Kovalev? He flew himself to Raleigh to hook up with his new/old team.

-"Myself and Craiger have to be focused and we have to lead by example." - Tim Wallace on himself and Ryan Craig returning to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

-Peter Delmas made 24 saves for the Wheeling Nailers in a 3-1 loss to the Elmira Jackals.

-Happy 54th birthday to former Penguins all-star forward and assistant coach Joe Mullen (right). "Slippery Rock Joe" was acquired in the 1990 offseason in a trade that sent a second-round pick to Calgary and spent parts of six seasons with the Penguins over two different stints as a player. His first season was 1990-91. He appeared in 47 games and scored 39 points. During that spring's postseason, he saw action in 22 games, scored 17 points and helped the franchise claim its first Stanley Cup championship. In 1991-92, Mullen saw action in 77 games and scored 42 goals and 87 points. Injuries limited him to nine games and seven points during the 1992 postseason but he won his second consecutive Stanley Cup ring. Mullen played in 72 games and scored 70 points in 1992-93. During that spring's postseason, he saw action in 12 games and scored six points. In 1993-94, played in all 84 games and netted 70 points, including a team-leading nine game-winning goals. He appeared in six postseason games that spring and scored one goal. During the lockout-shortened, Mullen played in 45 games and scored 37 points. The 1995 postseason saw him appear in 12 games and recorded three assists. In the 1995 offseason, he joined the Bruins as a free agent and returned to the Penguins as a free agent in the 1996 offseason. Mullen finished his playing career in 1996-97 by playing in 54 games and scoring 22 points. He saw action in one postseason game that spring and failed to record a point. Mullen returned to the Penguins as an assistant coach and served in that capacity from 2000-01 into the 2005-06 season. Midway through that season, he replaced Michel Therrien as the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He is currently an assistant coach with the Flyers. The first United States-born player in NHL history score 500 career goals, Mullen was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2000. In 379 regular season games with the Penguins, Mullen scored 325 points, 19th-most in franchise history. In 62 postseason games, he scored 31 points, 12th-most in franchise history.

-Happy 36th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Mike Wilson. A free agent signing in the 2001 offseason, Wilson's Penguins career amounted to 21 games and two points in 2001-02. Wilson spent most of 2001-02 and 2002-03 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and was traded to the Rangers along with Alex Kovalev, Janne Laukkanen and Dan LaCouture in exchange for Joel Bouchard, Richard Lintner, Rico Fata and Mikael Samuelsson.

Atlantic Division

-Henrik Lundqvist made 36 saves for the Rangers in a 6-0 shutout of the Capitals. Former Penguin Erik Christensen had two goals and an assist for New York while teammates Dan Boyle, Vaclav Prospal and Derek Stepan each netted a goal and an assist. Fire Ray Shero.

-Capitals defenseman Mike Green appeared to suffer a head injury following this hit by Rangers forward Derek Stepan:

-“Obviously, I didn’t try to do it. But sometimes it happens. I think my shoulder got him. I was just trying to protect my body and I kind of caught him off guard. I know if I do (get a call from the NHL), it’s not like I was trying to make a dirty hit. It was just a battle for position. It makes it tough. It wasn’t like I was viciously spinning around. It was just a puck battle. I caught him in a vulnerable spot.” - Stepan.

-Stepan was fined for the hit but not suspended.

-Thinking Out Loud: That's worth at least five games of suspension.

-Check out this slick behind the back pass by New York's Ryan Callahan to set up Christensen for a goal:

-With defenseman Chris Pronger dealing with a hand/wrist injury, the Flyers recalled defenseman Erik Gustafsson from Adirondack of the AHL.

-The Flyers also claimed defenseman Nick Boynton off waivers from the Blackhawks.

-Devils forward David Clarkson suffered a cut on his right forearm which required 18 stitches.

-Islanders defensemen Radek Martinek (lower-body) and Milan Jurcina (groin) are dinged up.

Northeast Division

-A goal and an assist by Cody McCormick led the Sabres to a 4-2 win against the rival Senators. Steve Montador recorded two assists for Buffalo while Ryan Miller made 29 saves in the victory. Jason Spezza netted a goal and an assist for Ottawa.

-Ottawa's Bobby Butler kept his eyes on this puck while fighting off Buffalo's Chris Butler:

-Maple Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul lost his iPhone. How did he recover it? By asking if anyone saw it via Twitter.

-The Millers - Buffalo's Ryan and Detroit's Drew - are brothers and they face each other tonight.

-The Senators recalled forwards Corey Locke and Roman Wick from Binghamton of the AHL.

Southeast Division

-Dwayne Roloson made 19 saves for the Lightning in a 2-1 win against the Devils. New Jersey had an eight-game winning streak snapped.

-Roloson kept his eyes on this puck:

-Happy times for the Lightning. Not so much for New Jersey's Dainius Zubrus:

-Shootout goals by Mike Santorelli and Steve Bernier gave the Panthers a 2-1 win at Atlanta. Tomas Vokoun made 45 saves in the victory. The Thrashers have lost five consecutive games.

-Check out this effort by Blake Wheeler to score his first goal with the Thrashers:

-Bernier > Atlanta's Chris Mason:

-Mason just hanging out:

-Florida's David Booth kept his eyes on this puck:

-The Capitals claimed forward Marco Sturm off waivers from the Kings.

-The Lightning recalled goaltender Mike Smith from Norfolk of the AHL.

-The Panthers acquired defenseman Alexander Sulzer from the Predators in exchange for a seventh-round pick in 2012.

-Florida recalled forward Bill Thomas, Michal Repik and defenseman Joe Callahan from Rochester of the AHL and demoted defenseman Keaton Ellerby to Rochester.

-The Panthers' local television ratings are bad. How bad? They're getting out-done by infomercials.

-The Thrashers activated Fredrik Modin (undisclosed) from injured reserve and demoted forward Patrick Rissmiller to Chicago of the AHL.

Central Division

-A hat trick and an assist by Matt Calvert led the Blue Jackets to a 5-3 win against the Coyotes. Plum native R.J. Umberger (No, really!) added a goal and two assists for Columbus while Derek MacKenzie recorded two assists. Steve Mason made 25 saves in the victory. Mikkel Boedker netted two assists for Phoenix.

-Calvert's hat trick:

-In 18 games since defenseman Mike Commodore was banished to Springfield of the AHL, the Blue Jackets are 11-4-3.

-Speaking of which, the Blue Jackets placed Commodore on re-entry waivers.

-Ben Bishop made 39 saves for the Blues in a 5-0 shutout of the Oilers. Chris Stewart scored two goals for St. Louis while teammates Patrick Berglund and Roman Polak each netted a goal and an assist.

-Edmonton's Jason Strudwick and St. Louis' Cam Janssen had issues:

-Bishop kept his eyes on this puck:

-Edmonton's Devan Dubnyk had issues with this puck:

-Stewart has six goals in five games since joining the Blues.

-Chicago demoted defenseman Nick Leddy to Rockford of the AHL.

-The Blue Jackets placed forward Kristian Huselius ("lower body") on injured reserve.

-With forward Mike Modano (wrist) expected to return to the lineup tonight after a 41-game absence, the Red Wings demoted forward Jan Mursak to Grand Rapids of the AHL.

-The Predators recalled forwards Blake Geoffrion and Matt Halischuk from Milwaukee of the AHL.

-Blues forward David Perron is still struggling to return from a concussion he suffered Nov. 4.

Northwest Division

-Pierre-Marc Bouchard's overtime goal gave the Wild a 3-2 win at Anaheim. Antti Miettinen recorded three assists for Minnesota while Jose Theodore made 46 saves in the victory. Jason Blake had two assists for the Ducks.

-Bouchard's goal:

-Happy times for the Wild:

-Anaheim's Dan Ellis had issues with this puck:

-Ellis having a moment:

-With forward Cody Almond dealing with an "upper-body" injury, the Wild recalled forward Warren Peters from Houston of the AHL and demoted defenseman Nate Prosser to Houston.

-The Oilers recalled goaltender Martin Gerber from Oklahoma City of the AHL.

Pacific Division

-Ryane Clowe's shootout goal gave the Sharks a 4-3 win at Calgary. Antti Niemi made 21 saves in the victory which was San Jose's sixth consecutive.

-It wasn't all bad for the Flame. Check out this diving "save" by Mark Giordano:

-Clowe being popular:

-Sharks defenseman Dan Boyle missed the game after suffering an "upper-body" injury during Wednesday's game against the Penguins.

-The Ducks signed general manager Bob Murray to a four-year contract extension through 2016.

-“I wouldn’t call it dramatic. It’s a part of the job. You just have to accept it. It’s not something you can control. It’s not up to you what will happen. What you can control is how you play and what you bring to the table for the team to win. That’s all you can do, and the rest of it is up to the management. Yeah, I went through it last year. I would describe it as an experience. When you get traded for the first time, you go through some emotional stuff and you have to change some things and you go away from the family. But I think you just learn from that, and you accept it as part of your job and just go with it and go to the other team. Life goes on. You play with a different group of guys and, for sure, it’s a little bit different.” - Kings forward and former Penguin Alexei Ponikarovsky (right) on being moved at the trade deadline.

-The Dallas activated forward Raymond Sawada (shoulder) from injured reserve and demoted him to Texas of the AHL.

-With forward Ray Whitney dealing with a "lower-body" injury, the Coyotes recalled forward Brett MacLean from San Antonio of the AHL.

(Photos: Penguins/Hurricanes-Karl B DeBlaker/Associated Press; Mullen-Penguins Hockey Cards; Senators/Sabres-Rick Stewart/Getty Images; Devils/Lightning-Mike Carlson/Associated Press; Panthers/Thrashers-John Bazemore/Associated Press; Blues/Oilers-John Ulan/Canadian Press; Wild/Ducks-Jeff Gross/Getty Images; Sharks/Flames-Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press; Ponikarovsky)

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