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Thursday, 01 December 2011 04:12

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Penguins

-The Penguins are expected to recall defenseman Simon Despres (above) from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and demote defenseman Alexandre Picard.

-The Penguins expect a good effort from the Capitals under new coach Dale Hunter.

-“He’s a guy that you want to be physical with, but it’s not that easy." - Capitals defenseman Dennis Wideman on Sidney Crosby.

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-A reader of The Pensblog spotted the play where Zbynek was potentially injured in Montreal:

-Forbes values the Penguins value at $264 million, ninth-most in the NHL. (PG+)

-Those Civic Arena roof ornaments are pretty darn popular.

-Happy 32nd birthday to former Penguins forward Ryan Malone (right). A fourth-round pick in 1999, Malone, the son of former Penguins forward and executive Greg Malone, spent parts of four seasons with the Penguins. As a rookie in 2003-04, Malone saw action in 81 games and scored 43 points, including a team-leading 22 goals. After spending the 2004-05 lockout in Finland and Italy, Malone returned to the Penguins in 2005-06 and appeared in 77 games while scoring 44 points. Injuries limited Malone in 2006-07 to 64 games and 31 points. In the 2007 offseason, Malone played in five games but failed to record a point. Arguably Malone's best NHL season was in 2007-08. While playing primarily on a line with Evgeni Malkin and Petr Sykora, Malone appeared in 77 games and set career highs in goals (27) and points (51). In that spring's playoffs, Malone played in 20 games and contributed 16 points while helping the franchise reach its third Stanley Cup final. During the 2008 offseason, Malone and Gary Roberts were traded to the Lightning in exchange for a draft pick. In 299 regular season games with the Penguins, Malone scored 169 points, 42nd-most in franchise history. In 25 postseason games, he scored 16 points. He is currently a member of the Lightning.

-Happy 49th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Steve Dykstra. Claimed prior to the 1988-89 season in a waiver draft from the Oilers, Dykstra's Penguins career amounted to 65 games and seven points that campaign. In the 1989 playoffs, Dykstra saw action in one game and failed to record a point. During the 1989 offseason, Dykstra joined the Hartford Whalers as a free agent.

-Today would have been the 46th birthday of former Penguins forward Roger Belanger. Along with Doug Bodger and some other guy, Belanger was one of three first-round picks for the Penguins in 1984. His Penguins career amounted to 44 games and eight points in 1984-85. After spending most of the next four seasons with the club's minor league affiliates in Baltimore and Muskegon, Belanger retired in the 1988 offseason due to injuries. He passed away September 16, 2011 at the age of 45.

Atlantic Division

-Devils forward Dainius Zubrus suffered a right ankle injury last night.

-The Devils demoted forward Brad Mills to Albany of the AHL.

-Flyers forward Brayden Schenn (right) is expected to return to the lineup after being sidelined since Oct. 26 due to a foot injury.

-The Rangers placed forward Andre Deveaux on waivers.

-Has Al Montoya emerged as the Islanders' top goaltender?

Northeast Division

-Two goals by Milan Lucic led the Bruins to a 6-3 win against the Maple Leafs. David Krejci had a goal and two assists for Boston while captain Zedno Chara added a goal and an assist. Tim Thomas made 34 saves in the victory. Luke Schenn recorded two assists for Toronto.

-The Bruins are 12-0-1 in their last 13 games.

-Check out this pass from Toronto's Clarke MacArthur setting up Mikhail Grabovski for a goal:

-Not to be outdone, check out Toronto's Phil Kessel setting up Joffrey Lupul:

-Hit of the Night: We're not sure who hit who exactly, but Boston's Adam McQuaid and Toronto's Matt Frattin had a big-time collision:

-With former Penguins defenseman Jordan Leopold dealing with an "upper-body" injury, the Sabres recalled defenseman Joe Finley from Rochester of the AHL.

Southeast Division

-The Lightning signed defenseman Victor Hedman to a five-year contract extension worth a total of $20 million. Hedman, who is in the final year of his entry-level contract, will have a salary cap hit of $4 million under his new contract.

-The NHL will not discipline Hurricanes defenseman Derek Joslin for a hit to the head of Panthers forward Kris Versteeg Tuesday.

-The Jets recalled forward Carl Klingberg from St. John's of the AHL.

Central Division

-Pavel Datsyuk and Jonathan Ericsson each had a goal and an assist for the Red Wings in a 4-2 win against the Lightning. Jimmy Howard made 21 saves for Detroit which has won six consecutive games. Semyon Varlamov made all of 18 saves in the victory.

-Check out the dazzling passing on this play to set up Detroit's Johan Franzen for a goal:

-Pass of the Night: Tampa Bay's Matt Gilroy setting up Steven Stamkos for a goal:

-Save of the Night: Howard robbing Gilroy on a breakaway:

-"They know how to win." - Stamkos on the Red Wings.

-During the game, the Red Wings paid tribute to former captain and current Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman:

-Detroit recalled former Penguins forward Chris Conner from Grand Rapids of the AHL.

-The Red Wings are trying to host a Winter Classic within the next two seasons.

-The Predators recalled forward Kyle Wilson from Milwaukee of the AHL.

-Blackhawks forward Daniel Carcillo is hosting a musical radio show?

Northwest Division

-Ryan O'Reilly had a goal and two assists for the Avalanche in a 6-1 rout of the Devils. Captain Milan Hejduk added a goal and an assist for Colorado while teammate Kyle Quincey recorded two assists.

-Defensive play of the Night: Colorado's T.J. Galiardi forcing New Jersey's Henrik Tallinder into a turnover and scoring a goal:

-Shootout goals by Pierre-Marc Bouchard, captain Mikko Koivu, Dany Heatley and Kyle Brodziak gave the Wild a 3-2 win against the Oilers. Niklas Backstrom made 28 saves in the victory. Jorden Eberle and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins each had a regulation goal and an assist for Edmonton.

-Happy times for the Wild:

-Happy times for Minnesota forward and former Penguin Nick Johnson:

-Happy times for Eberle:

-Not so happy times for Edmonton's Tom Gilbert:

-The win moved Mike Yeo's Minnesota Wild ahead of the Penguins for first place in the NHL's overall standings.

-Wild forwards Cal Clutterbuck and Darroll Powe left the game due to apparent leg injuries.

-Clutterbuck was injured on this knee-on-knee hit with Oilers defenseman and former Penguin Ryan Whitney:

-Canucks forward Mason Raymond is expected to return to the lineup tonight against the Predators for the first time since suffering a broken vertebrae in Game 6 of last season's Stanley Cup final.

-The Flames demoted defenseman Brett Carson to Albany of the AHL and placed defenseman Mark Giordano (hamstring) on injured reserve.

Pacific Division

-Stunning news here. The Ducks fired head coach Randy Carlyle and replaced him with former Capitals coach Bruce Boudreau. Along with Carlyle, the Ducks fired assistant coaches Dave Farrish and Mike Foligno and video coordinator Joe Trotta.

-Carlyle, who led the Ducks to the franchise's only Stanley Cup title in 2007, is the the team's all-time winningest coach with a 273-182-61 record. He has a contract which runs through 2014.

-Before he was fired, Carlyle directed the Ducks to a 4-1 win against the Canadiens. Captain Ryan Geltzlaf and Corey Perry each had a goal and two assists for Anaheim while Jonas Hiller made 19 saves in the victory.

-Check out this re-direction goal by Anaheim's Corey Perry:

-Funny Face of the Night: Anaheim defenseman and former Penguin Nate Guenin getting run into the boards by Montreal's Mathieu Darche:

-The Coyotes return to Winnipeg tonight for the first time since they were the original Jets.

-Coyotes captain Shane Doan, the only member of the team who played for the original Jets, also returns to Winnipeg for the first time.

-The Sharks demoted defenseman Justin Braun to Worcester of the AHL.

(Photos: Despres-Claus Andersen/Getty Images; Malone-Jim McIsaac/Getty Images; Schenn-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Wild/Oilers-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Canadiens/Ducks-Jeff Gross/Getty Images)

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