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Thursday, 17 March 2011 02:00

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Penguins

-Dan Bylsma (above) is kind of a good coach.

-"I wouldn't want to see my son hit that way, and I don't think that hit should be in the game." - Ray Shero on head shots.

-Kris Letang (right) underwent an exam for a head injury following a hit by Edmonton's Gilbert Brule Sunday.

-Sidney Crosby did not skate yesterday and took a scheduled day off (PG+).

-Corey Potter had a goal and an assist for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 4-1 win against the Manitoba Moose. Teammate Chris Collins recorded two assists while Brad Thiessen made 17 saves in the victory.

-Joe Vitale left the game due to an apparent "upper-body" injury.

-Peter Delmas made 36 saves for the Wheeling Nailers in a 3-1 win against the Toledo Walleye.  Mikael Bedard had two assists for the Nailers.

-Happy 32nd birthday to former Penguins defenseman Andrew Ference (right). An eighth-round pick in 1997, Ference spent parts of four seasons with the Penguins. As a rookie in 1999-2000, Ference appeared in 30 games and recorded six points. In 2000-01, Ference saw action in 36 games and netted 15 points. During the 2001 postseason, he saw action in 18 contests and recorded 10 points. Ference finally broke through as a full-time NHLer in 2001-02 by seeing action in 75 games and scoring 11 points. After 22 games and four points in 2002-03, Ference was traded to the Flames in exchange for a third-round pick. He currently plays with the Bruins. In 163 career regular season games with the Penguins, Ference scored 36 points.

-Happy 48th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Tom Thornbury. A third-round pick of the club in 1981, Thornbury's entire NHL career amounted to 14 games with the 1983-84 Penguins in which he recorded nine points. Midway through the 1984-85 season, he was dealt to the Quebec Nordiques in exchange for Brian Ford.

-Happy 41th birthday to former Penguins forward Patrick Lebeau. A free agent signing in October of 1998, Lebeau appeared in eight games for the Penguins in 1998-99 and recorded one goal. The following season, he joined HC Ambri-Piotta of the NLA in Switzerland.

Atlantic Division

-The Islanders activated goaltender Rick DiPietro (face) off injured reserve and demoted forward Justin DiBenedetto and goaltender Manny Lawson to Bridgeport of the AHL. DiPietro has been sidelined since:

-The Islanders signed defenseman Aaron Ness, a second-round pick in 2008, to a three-year entry-level contract.

-With defenseman Chris Pronger (hand) sidelined, the Flyers recalled defenseman Erik Gustafsson from Adirondack of the AHL.

-The Rangers agreed to terms with defenseman Dylan McIlrath, a first round pick in 2010, and forward Ryan Bourque, a third round pick in 2009, for three-year entry-level contracts. Bourque is the brother of former Penguins forward Chris Bourque.

-The Devils will bust our their red and green retro jerseys for making money St. Patrick's Day.

Northeast Division

-Two goals and an assist from captain Dion Phaneuf led the Maple Leafs to a 3-1 win at Carolina. James Reimer made 36 saves in the victory.

-Check out this rocket Phaneuf blasted for his second goal:

-Even NHL officials are guilty of head shots. Referee Andre St. Laurent dropped Toronto's Joffrey Lupul with a high hit:

-Toronto's Luke Schenn > Carolina's Jeff Skinner:

-Happy times for the Maple Leafs. Not so much for Carolina's Cam Ward:

-Bruins forward Brad Marchand will have a disciplinary hearing Thursday for a hit to the had of Columbus forward R.J. Umberger Wednesday:

-With forwards Tomas Plekanec and Jeff Halpern dealing with "lower-body" injuries, the Canadiens recalled forwards Nigel Dawes and Aaron Palushaj from Hamilton of the AHL.

-Senators owner Eugene Melnyk called for a complete banishment from the NHL for any player who intentionally attempts to strike an opponent in the head.

-Ottawa goaltender Craig Anderson is dealing with an undisclosed injury.

-Senators forward Jason Spezza (right) is hoping to play for Canada in the IIHF World Championships next month.

-The Senators demoted defenseman Andre Benoit and forward Jim O'Brien to Binghamton of the AHL.

Southeast Division

-The Thrashers demoted former Penguins defenseman Noah Welch to Chicago of the AHL.

Central Division

-Scoreboard Watch for the Penguins: Two goals from Henrik Zetterberg helped the Red Wings beat the Capitals 3-2. Brian Rafalski recorded three assists for Detroit while Jimmy Howard made 26 saves in the victory. Washington had a nine-game winning streak snapped. The Capitals are in second place in the Eastern Conference with 92 points, two more than the fourth-place Penguins.

-Goal of the Night: Zetterberg's second goal was a sneaky backhander:

-Todd Bertuzzi got a piece of linesman Jay Jay Sharrers here:

-Zetterberg reached the 20-goal mark for the sixth consecutive season.

-Blues owner Dave Checketts has decided to put the franchise and its lease with Scottrade Center up for sale.

-With goaltender Chris Osgood still not fully recovered from sports hernia surgery, the Red Wings recalled goaltender Joey MacDonald from Grand Rapids of the AHL.

Northwest Division

-Two goals from captain Henrik Sedin led the Canucks to a 4-2 win against the rival Avalanche. Alex Burrows added a goal and an assist for Vancouver while teammate Daniel Sedin recorded two assists. Cory Schneider made 27 saves in the victory.

-Check out this drop pass from Daniel Sedin to set up Henrik Sedin for a goal:

-Canucks forward Manny Malhotra left the game and went to the hospital due to a facial injury after being struck in the face with a puck.

-With defenseman Sami Salo recovered from a left arm injury, the Canucks demoted defenseman Yann Sauve to Manitoba of the AHL.

-"All I can say, 'I don't wish it on anybody.' They don't want to learn what it's like." - Wild forward Pierre-Marc Bouchard on missing parts of two seasons due to a concussion.

-The Flames recalled forward Ales Kotalik from Abbotsford of the AHL.

-It looks like Avalanche captain Adam Foote will retire following the season.

Pacific Division

-Jason Blake scored both of the Ducks' goals in a 2-1 defeat of the Blues. In his first NHL start since Feb. 1, 2010, Ray Emery made 30 saves in the victory.

-St. Louis' Roman Polak > Anaheim's Bobby Ryan:

-St. Louis' Jaroslav Halak had issues with this puck:

-Sharks forward Dany Heatley was suspended two games for an elbow to the face of Stars forward Steve Ott Tuesday:

-Stars forward Loui Eriksson is considered day to day due to a head injury after he was hit high by Sharks defenseman Douglas Murray Tuesday:

-EN Says:

-Two games? That's it? How can you watch that video and conclude anything other than Heatley intentionally tried to hit Ott in the face? What a joke. What is a two-game break going to teach Heatley or the rest of the NHL's players?

(Photos: Bylsma-Keith Srakocic; Letang and Spezza-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Ference-Peter Diana/Post-Gazette; Maple Leafs/Hurricanes-Karl B DeBlaker/Associated Press; Capitals/Red Wings and Blues/Ducks-Associated Press)

Comments (1)

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written by GenoSid, March 17, 2011 - 08:44 AM

The refs hit on Lupul is a clear cut Rule 48 violation.

Two games.

Spot on about Heatley. It was the dirtiest thing a non-Islander has done this year.

It was completely intentional, completely behind the play, nowhere near the puck, etc etc

I'd have given him 20 games.

The Murray hit on the other hand clearly illustrates the problem with an outright ban on head shots.

Eriksson is leaning forward lunging to poke the puck. Murray is much bigger.

What should Murray have done differently?

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