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Friday, 16 December 2011 05:51

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Penguins

-Brooks Orpik (above) like to hit.

-Jordan Staal and Joe Vitale are game-time decisions for tonight.

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-“I think that’s over and done with, that was a long time ago and I think it was all kind of blown out of proportion." - Senators forward Nick Foligno on his verbal sparring with Sidney Crosby last month.

Atlantic Division

-Sergei Bobrovsky made 28 saves for the Flyers in a 4-3 win against the Canadiens. Matt Carle recorded three assists for Philadelphia which has won seven consecutive games. David Desharnais netted a goal and an assist for Montreal.

-Flyers forward and former Penguin Maxime Talbot scored a nice goal off a feed from Jakub Voracek:

-Fire Ray Shero.

-Check out the effort by Philadelphia's Harry Zolnierczyk on this goal:

-Check out this boomer of a one-timer by Philadelphia's Andrej Meszaros:

-Happy times for Meszaros:

-Montreal's Tomas Plekanec had the entire world looking at him here:

-Flyers captain Chris Pronger will miss the remainder of the season due to post-concussion syndrome.

-Devils forward Travis Zajac is exepcted to return to the lineup tonight against the Stars for the first since undergoing surgery to repair an Achilles tendon injury.

-Prior to the game, the Devils will retire the No. 27 of former defenseman Scott Niedermayer.

-The Devils actually tried to trade up for Eric Lindros in the 1991 draft but ended up with Niedermayer instead.

-The Islanders placed goaltender Rick DiPietro (groin) on injured reserve and recalled defenseman Calvin de Haan and goaltender Kevin Poulin from Bridgeport of the AHL.

Northeast Division

-Bruins defenseman Adam McQuaid was fined $2,500 for a knee-on-knee hit against Foligno Wednesday. The hit in question:

-Sabres forward Thomas Vanek and Derek Roy are each scheduled to play in their 500th career games tonight against the rival Maple Leafs.

-The Sabres signed forward Kevin Sundher, a third-roudn pick in 2010, to a three-year entry-level contract.

-Maple Leafs forward Tim Connolly returns to Buffalo for the first time leaving Buffalo this past offseason.

Southeast Division

-Michal Neuvirth made 26 saves for the Capitals in a 1-0 shutout of the Jets. Winnipeg had a five-game home winning streak snapped.

-Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored the game-winner late in regulation:

-Two goals by Drayson Bowman led the Hurricanes to a 4-3 win against the Canucks. Tuomo Ruutu had a goal and an assist for Carolina while teammate Cam Ward made 33 saves. Alex Burrows and Mason Raymond each had a goal and an assist for Vancouver.

-Save of the Night: Ward on Vancouver's Keith Ballard:

-Second Save of the Night: Ward on Vancouver captain Henrik Sedin:

-An overtime goal and an assist by Steven Stamkos gave the Lightning a 5-4 win against the Flames. Steve Downie and Victor Hedman each recorded two assists for Tampa Bay while former Penguin Mathieu Garon made 23 saves in the victory. Fire Ray Shero. Olli Jokinen had a goal and an assist for Calgary.

-Stamkos' goal:

-Check out this rocket of a one-timer goal by Lightning forward and former Penguin Ryan Malone:

-Fire Ray Shero.

-Goal of the Night: Check out this re-direction goal by Jokinen off a shot/pass from Alex Tanguay:

-Check out this nifty blind pass by Calgary's Matt Stajan to set up Tim Jackman for a goal:

-Carolina's RBC Center will be known as the PNC Center in the near future.

-The Panthers are asking season ticket holders to sell back their tickets to a Dec. 31 game against the Canadiens so they can jack up the price and re-sell them to Montreal fans.

-Florida demoted forward Mark Cullen to San Antonio of the AHL.

Central Division

-A goal and an assist by Alexander Steen led the Blues past the Rangers, 4-1. Brian Elliott made 25 saves in the victory.

-Two goals by captain Shea Weber helped the Predators beat the Red Wings, 4-3. Jordin Tootoo added a goal and an assist for Nashville while teammate Pekke Rinne made 37 saves. Pavel Datsyuk and Ian White each recorded two assists for Detroit.

-Weber scored the game-winner off a fluky hop:

-Passes of the Night: Detroit's Todd Bertuzzi to Jiri Hudler to Henrik Zetterberg for a goal:

-Intense Photo of the Night: Weber and Detroit's Johan Franzen racing for this puck:

-Painful times for Nashville's Jordin Tootoo:

-Detroit's Jimmy Howard had issues with this puck:

-Detroit's Valtteri Filppul wouldn't led Nashville's Craig Smith reach for this puck:

-With former Penguins forward Chris Conner dealing with a fractured hand, the Red Wings recalled forward Tomas Tatar from Grand Rapids of the AHL.

-The Blackhawks recalled forward Ben Smith from Chicago of the AHL.

Northwest Division

-Wild captain Mikko Koivu is dealing with a leg injury. Additionally, Minnesota forward Casey Wellman is dealing with a wrist injury.

-The Oilers demoted defenseman Colten Teubert to Oklahoma City of the AHL.

-Former Canucks forward Mark Messier says the club still owes him money. He played for the Canucks from 1997 until 2000.

Pacific Division

-Jamie Benn and Loui Eriksson each had a goal and an assist for the Stars in a 3-2 win against the Islanders. Richard Bachman made 25 saves in the win. Kyle Okposo had a goal and an assist for New York.

-Defensive Play of the Night: New York's Marty Reasoner breaking up a pass which could have led to a goal by Dallas' Eric Nystrom:

-Happy times for the Stars:

-Dallas' Steve Ott had issues with New York's Travis Hamonic:

-He also tried to tag Ott here:

-New York's John Tavares kept his eyes on this puck:

-The Islanders being popular:

-Captain Dustin Brown had a goal and an assist for the Kings in a 2-1 defeat of the Blue Jackets. Jonathan Quick made 24 saves for Los Angeles which won for the first time under interim coach John Stevens.

-The Kings surrounded this puck:

-Columbus' Curtis Sanford reached out for this puck:

-Oliver Ekman-Larsson had a goal and an assist for the Coyotes in a 4-2 win against the Oilers. Martin Hanzal and Ray Whitney each recorded two assists for Phoenix while teammate Mike Smith made 18 saves. In his first game back from a shoulder injury, Taylor Hall scored both of Edmonton's goals.

-Check out this nifty backhanded pass by Edmonton's Ryan Smyth to set up Hall for a goal:

-Check out this save by Edmonton's Devan Dubnyk on Phoenix captain Shane Doan:

-Cool Photo of the Night: The Oilers and Coyotes taking the ice:

-Happy times for the Oilers:

-This was a road game for the Oilers right?

-A goal and an assist by Logan Couture led the Sharks to a 5-4 win against the Avalanche. Martin Havlat added two assists for San Jose while teamamate Antti Niemi made 23 saves. Paul Stastny led Colorado with two goals and an assist.

-Fight of the Night: Colorado's Daniel Winnik versus San Jose's Ryane Clowe:

-A couple of good looks at the fight:

-San Jose's Brad Winchester and Colorado's Cody McLeod also had issues:

-The Coyotes recalled defenseman Chris Summers from Portland of the AHL.

(Photos: Orpik-Harry How/Getty Images; Flyers/Canadiens-Richard Wolowicz/Getty Images; Canucks/Hurricanes-Gerry Broome/Associated Press; Red Wings/Predators-Frederick Breedon/Getty Images and Mark Humphrey/Associated Press; Stars/Islanders-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Kings/Blue Jackets-Terry Gilliam/Associated Press and John Grieshop/Getty Images; Oilers/Coyotes-Christian Petersen/Getty Images; Avalanche/Sharks-Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)

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