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Thursday, 24 November 2011 12:12

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Penguins

-Dave Molinari's recap from last night's game. "We weren't ready to play that game the way they were." - Dan Bylsma.

-The St. Louis Post-Dispatch's recap. "We just tried keeping him out of the zone as much as possible." - Blues coach Ken Hitchcock on defending Sidney Crosby (above).

-The Associated Press' recap. “For sure it wasn’t the same game that it was Monday." - Marc-Andre Fleury.

-NHL.com's recap. "The first two periods weren't good. There's no real explanation or excuses." - Crosby.

-Highlights:

-Deryk Engelland versus St. Louis' Ryan Reaves:

-Happy times for the Penguins:

-Crosby taking the ice:

-St. Louis' Kris Russell and Jordan Staal battling in front of the St. Louis net:

-St. Louis' Ian Cole got the drop here on Crosby:

-Bylsma speaks:

-Marc-Andre Fleury speaks:

-Crosby speaks:

-Zbynek Michalek played in his 500th career game.

-The Penguins honored their 25,000,000th fan:

-Crosby is flipping houses.

-Bryan Lerg had two goals for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in a 7-5 loss to the Syracuse Crunch. Alexander Picard added a goal and an assist for the Penguins while teammate Colin McDonald recorded two assists.

-Forward Brian Day models the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins third "Christmas Sweater" jersey:

-Poor Brian Day.

-Happy 76th birthday to former Penguins coach/executive Eddie Johnston (right, with a somewhat successful draft pick). Hired as the team's head coach July 15, 1980, "EJ" coached the team for parts of six seasons and served as general manager for parts of four seasons. In 1980-81, Johnston led the team to a 30-37-13 record and an appearance in the postseason where it fell, 3-2, in a preliminary round series to the Blues. Johnston followed it up in 1981-82 with a 31-36-13 record. The team returned to the postseason but once again fell, 3-2, in a preliminary round series to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Islanders. Johnston ended his first stint as the Penguins coach in 1982-83 by leading the team towards a dreadful 18-53-9 mark. In the 1983 offseason, he was promoted to general manager. Johnston - who drafted Mario Lemieux and traded for defenseman Paul Coffey - served in that capacity until he was replaced in the 1988 offseason. Johnson would also play a role in perhaps the biggest transaction in franchise history despite being the general manager of another team. On March 4, 1991, while serving as the general manager of the Hartford Whalers, Johnston agreed to a trade which sent Ron Francis, Grant Jennings and Ulf Samuelsson to the Penguins in exchange for John Cullen, Jeff Parker and Zarley Zalapski. The Penguins would win the Stanley Cup two months later while the Whalers eventually moved to Carolina five years later. After leaving the Whalers in 1992, Johnston returned as the Penguins head coach June 22, 1993. He directed the team to a 44-27-13 record and a division title in the newly-formed Northeast Division in 1993-94. In the postseason, the team fell, 4-2, to the Capitals in an Eastern Conference quarterfinal round series. During the lockout-shortened 1994-95 campaign, the Penguins went 29-16-3 record. In the 1995 playoffs, the Penguins defeated the Capitals, 4-3, in an Eastern Conference quarterfinal round and fell to the Devils, 4-1 in the semifinal round. Johnston's finest season as coach came in 1995-96. The team went 49-29-4  for 102 points - a mark which remains the third-best total in franchise history - and another Northeast Division title. In the postseason, the Penguins beat the Capitals, once again, 4-2, in the Eastern Conference quarterfinal round and the Rangers, 4-1, in the semifinal round. The team advanced to the Eastern Conference final where it fell to the "Rat Trap" Panthers, 4-3. After 62 games, a 31-26-5 record in 1996-97, Johnston was removed as head coach and replaced by Craig Patrick. Johnston assumed a front office position until retiring in 2009 following the team's third Stanley Cup title. As head coach, Johnston is the franchise's career leader in games (516), wins (232), losses (224), ties (60) and points (524). In 46 playoff games, Johnston's record was 22-24. Only Scotty Bowman (23) and Dan Bylsma (26) have more wins. In 400 games as general manager, Johnston's record was 140-220-40. He currently serves as a community relations/alumni liaison for the Penguins.

-Happy 61st birthday to former Penguins forward Hank Nowak. Acquired from the Hershey Bears of the AHL in exchange for cash in the 1973 offseason, Nowak's Penguins career amounted to 13 games and zero points in 1973-74. In the 1974 offseason, Nowak was traded to the Red Wings in exchange for a draft pick.

Atlantic Division

-Two goals by Daniel Briere, including on in overtime, gave the Flyers a 4-3 win against the Islanders. Scott Hartnell had a goal and an assist for Philadelphia while teammate Braydon Coburn recorded two assists. Sergei Bobrovsky made 23 saves in the win. Kyle Okposo had two goals and an assist for New York.

-Briere's overtime goal:

-Goal of the Night: Check out the passing on this tic-tac-toe play which led to Okposo's goal:

-The Islanders voluntarily decided to wear these train wreck jerseys:

-Speaking of questionable choices, Flyers forward and former Penguins captain Jaromir Jagr is sporting this... thing... on his face:

-After missing two games due to a groin injury, Jagr left the game due to the same injury.

-Zach Parise's shootout goal gave the Devils a 2-1 win against the Blue Jackets. Martin Brodeur made 35 saves in the victory.

-Parise's shootout goal was sweet:

-The Devils recalled forward Tim Sestito from Albany of the AHL.

-The Islanders demoted goaltender goaltender Anders Nilsson to Bridgeport of the AHL.

Northeast Division

-Benoit Pouliot's shootout goal gave the Bruins a 4-3 win against the rival Sabres. Tyler Seguin had a regulation goal and an assist for Boston while teammate Patrice Bergeron recorded two assists. Tim Thomas made 31 saves for Boston which has won 10 consecutives games. Marc-Andre Gragnani had two assists for Buffalo.

-This was the first meeting between the two teams since Bruins forward Milan Lucic injured Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller Nov. 12. Buffalo forward Paul Gaustad tried to settle the score with Lucic:

-“It wasn’t much of a conversation. It was straight to the point." - Lucic on the fight.

-Boston captain Zdeno Chara had a pretty one-sided fight with Buffalo's Robyn Regehr:

-Check out this "save" by Chara on Buffalo's Thomas Vanek:

-Thomas denied Buffalo's Drew Stafford on this shot:

-Vanek > Boston's Brad Marchand:

-Funny Face of the Night: Boston's Rich Peverly battling in front with Buffalo goaltender Jhonas Enroth and former Penguins defenseman Jordan Leopold:

-Captain Brian Gionta's shootout goal gave the Canadiens a 4-3 win against the Hurricanes. Lars Eller had a regulation goal and an assist for Montreal while Carey Price made 30 saves in the victory. Brandon Sutter and Jiri Tlusty netted a goal and an assist for Carolina.

-Carolina's Jeff Skinner > Price:

Southeast Division

-Jose Theodore made 19 saves for the Panthers in a 2-1 defeat of the Rangers. Tomas Fleischmann recorded two assists for Florida.

-"He was cutting in. I went to finish my check. I just remember that he went down. I haven't seen it. I don't know how bad it is. I know I elbowed him. He came back, so that's good." - Deveaux on the hit.

-Two goals by Jason Chimera, including one in overtime, led the Capitals to a 4-3 win against the Jets. Tomas Vokoun made 22 saves in the victory. Captain Andrew Ladd and Kyle Wellwood each netted a goal and an assist for Winnipeg.

-Chimera's overtime goal:

-Check out this save by Winnipeg Ondrej Pavelec on Chimera:

-Jets defenseman Zach Bogosian will have an in-person hearing with NHL discipline czar Brendan Shanahan over a hit to the head of Capitals forward Cody Eakin.

-After being a healthy scratch in the previous game, Capitals forward Alexander Semin rebounded with a goal.

-Capitals forward Joel Ward overslept for a team meeting and was a healthy scratch.

-Jets defenseman Ron Hainsey returned to the lineup after missing 16 games due to a head injury.

-Panthers defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is dealing with a groin injury.

-The Lightning recalled forward Dana Tyrell from Norfolk of the AHL.

Central Division

-Two goals by Tomas Holmstrom led the Red Wings to a 5-3 defeat of the Flames. Pavel Datsyuk and Ian White each collected a goal and an assist for Detroit while teammates Jiri Hudler and Nicklas Lidstrom both recorded two assists. Jimmy Howard made 19 saves in the victory.

-Check out this complete softie of a goal Calgary's Brendan Morrison scored on Howard:

-Cool Photo of the Night: White and Calgary's Mikael Backlund kicking up some ice:

-Calgary's Miikka Kiprusoff kept his eyes on this puck:

-The Predators demoted forward Niclas Bergfors to Milwaukee of the AHL.

-The Red Wigns recalled forward Fabian Brunnstrom from Grand Rapids of the AHL and demoted defenseman Brendan Smith to Grand Rapids.

Northwest Division

-Corey Schneider made 24 saves for the Canucks in a 3-0 shutout of the Avalanche. The win gave head coach Alain Vigneault the 247th of his Canucks' career, a new franchise record.

-Save of the Night: Schneider robbing Vancouver's Ryan O'Reilly:

-A good look at the save:

-If there's a picture to describe Colorado coach Joe Sacco's season, it's this:

-Josh Harding made 23 saves for the Wild in a 3-2 win against the Predators. Captain Mikko Koivu recorded two assists for Minnesota which has won five consecutive games. Jordin Tootoo netted a goal and an assist for Nashville.

-Bizarre Goal of the Night: What in the world happened here to Nashville's Pekka Rinne on this goal by Minnesota's Cal Clutterbuck:

-With starter Niklas Backstrom out for personal reasons and minor-leaguer Matt Hackett unable to catch an earlier flight from the AHL affiliate in Houston, the Wild were forced to sign 51-year-old Paul Deutsch as their emergency back-up goaltender:

-The dude looks pretty good for 51.

Pacific Division

-Steve Ott's overtime goal gave the Stars a 3-2 win against the Kings. Jamie Benn had a goal and an assist for Dallas while Kari Lehtonen made 22 saves in the victory.

-Ott's goal:

-Happy times for Ott:

-Patient Goal of the Night: Benn waiting out Los Angeles' Jonathan Quick:

-Two goals by Radim Vrbata led the Coyotes to a 4-2 defeat of the Ducks. Oliver Eckman-Larsson and Keith Yandle each added a goal and an assist for Phoenix while captain Shane Doan recorded two assists. Mike Smith made 19 saves in the victory.

-Smith making the walk to the rink:

-Jobing.com Arena didn't draw many folks in Arizona:

-The Sharks' Antti Niemi made 24 saves in a 1-0 shutout of his former team, the Blackhawks.

-Niemi alone in the dark:

-San Jose's Jason Demers got some torque on his stick here:

-Kings defenseman Drew Doughty was fined $2,500 for a hit from behind on Blues forward T.J. Oshie Tuesday.

Adams Division

-Former Sharks/Islanders/Canucks/Devils defenseman Rob Davison has joined EC Salzburg of the EBHL in Austria.

(Photo: Blues/Penguins-Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press and Jamie Sabau/Getty Images; Day-Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins; Johnston first-Post-Gazette archives; Johnston second and Flyers/Islanders-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Bruins/Sabres-Rick Stewart/Getty Images;  Canadiens/Hurricanes-Karl B DeBlaker/Associated Press; Flames/Red Wings-Dave Sandford Getty Images; Canucks/Avalanche-Doug Pensinger/Getty Images; Kings/Stars-Brandon Wade/Associated Press; Ducks/Coyotes-Christian Petersen/Getty Images; Blackhawks/Coyotes-Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

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