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Wednesday, 01 February 2012 14:33

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Penguins

-Jenn Menendez's recap from last night's game. "I think a lot of teams, down, 4-1, in the third, might have shelled up and called it quits." - The great Joe Vitale.

-The Globe and Mail's recap. “That was a steal." - Mario Lemieux.

-The Toronto Star's recap. “We took the game to them for the first 55 (minutes). We sat back, tightened up a little bit and they took over the game. They just kept coming and they broke us.” - Maple Leafs captain Dion Phaneuf.

-The Associated Press' recap. “I’m not sure we deserved the fate we got tonight.” - Dan Bylsma.

-NHL.com's recap. "I don't think our team gave a solid effort but, at the end of the day, we had guys that had big goals and big plays at the end of the game." - Kris Letang.

-Highlights:

-The disallowed goal by Toronto's Tyler Bozak deserves another look:

-Toronto's Nazem Kadri > Paul Martin:

-Happy times for Fleury and Richard Park:

-A good look at Fleury forcing Toronto's Phil Kessel wide in the shootout:

-Zbynek Michalek and Toronto's Clarke MacArthur each kept their eyes on this puck:

-Marc-Andre Fleury speaks:

-Letang speaks:

-Bylsma speaks:

-"I think the biggest thing to take from it is that [the neck injury] is something I can work on. There's a pretty big possibility that it could be causing some of the issues. I really hope that's the case and hope that with some treatment it will improve and that's, hopefully, the end of it." - Sidney Crosby on his neck injury.

-"I don't care what people on the outside say. We know we have great team doctors, and they do a really good job. They've done a really great job of taking care of me, making sure [my injuries] are evaluated well and taking care of [me]. They're great doctors." - Zbynek Michalek.

-Players seeking second and third opinions outside the team is not an uncommon practice.

-“I tried to retrain mentally myself and how I view the game. So when I go and play, it’s different. Right now, it’s at a point where it’s second nature. Certain situations, I just approach differently. I try to get the puck more than I did before." - Matt Cooke on changing his game.

-The Penguins claim Cal O'Reilly off waivers from the Coyotes.

-Should there be a "Mario Lemieux Hat Trick?"

-Mellon Arena isn't going down without a fight.

-Happy 44th birthday to former Penguins all-star forward Mark Recchi (right). A fourth-round pick in 1988, Recchi spent parts of seven seasons with the Penguins over three different stints. As a rookie in 1988-89, Recchi appreared in 15 games and recorded two points. He followed that up in 1989-90 by playing in 74 games and recording 67 points. In 1990-91, Recchi saw action in 78 games and led the team with 40 goals and 113 points. During that spring's postseason, Recchi played in all 24 of the team's games and scored 34 points while helping the franchise claim the Stanley Cup for the first time. After 58 games and 70 games in 1991-92, Recchi was traded to the Flyers along with Brian Benning and a draft pick in exchange for Rick Tocchet, Kjell Samuelsson, Ken Wregget and a draft pick. After several seasons with the Flyers and Canadiens, Recchi returned to the Penguins as a free agent in the 2004 offseason. Following the 2004-05 lockout, Recchi played in 63 games and scored 57 points in 2005-06 before being traded to the Hurricanes at the trade deadline in exchange for Niklas Nordgren, Krys Kolanos and a draft pick. Recchi returned to the Penguins yet again as a free agent in the 2006 offseason. In 2006-07, he played in all 82 games and scored 68 points. During the 2007 postseason, he appeared in five games and recorded four assists. After 18 games and eight points in 2007-08, Recchi was claimed off waivers by the Thrashers. In 389 regular season games with the Penguins, Recchi scored 385 points, 13th-most in franchise history. In 29 playoff games, he scored 38 points, 10th-most in franchise history.

--Happy 73rd birthday to former Penguins defenseman Bob Blackburn. Claimed from the Rangers in an intra-league draft during the 1969 offseason, Blackburn spent two seasons with the Penguins. In 1969-70, he appeared in 60 games and scored 11 points. He appeared in six games that postseason and failed to record a point. During 1970-69, Blackburn saw action in 64 games and scored nine points. Just prior to 1971-72, he was traded to Vancouver of the WHL in exchange for cash. In 124 games with the Penguins, he scored 20 points.

Atlantic Division

-Ilya Kovalchuk's shootout goal gave the Devils a 4-3 win against the rival Rangers. David Clarkson had  regulation goal and an assist for New Jersey while teammate Martin Brodeur made 23 saves. Marian Gaborik and Carl Hagelin each recorded two assists for New York.

-Clarkson tied the game with 47.6 seconds left in regulation off a forunate hop:

-Defensive Play of the Night:  New York's Ryan McDonagh preventing New Jersey's Dainius Zubrus from scoring with a poke check:

-Happy times for the Devils. Not so much for the Rangers:

-Happy times in the Garden State:

-Brodeur had issues with this puck:

-Before this season, Kovalchuk was 11 for 42 (26.2%) in his career in shootouts. This season, he is 8 for 9 (88.9%).

-Two goals and two assists by John Tavares led the Islanders to a 5-2 win against the Hurricanes. Former Penguins forward prospect Matt Moulson collected a goal and an assist for New York while teammates Kyle Okposo and PA Parenteau each had a goal and an assist. Fire Ray Shero. Kevin Poulin made 21 saves in the victory.

-Check out this save by Poulin on Carolina's Brandon Sutter:

-The Devils activated defenseman Andy Greene (foot) from injured reserve and placed defenseman Henrik Tallinder (blood clot/leg) on injured reserve.

Northeast Division

-Captain Zdeno Chara, Milan Lucic and Dennis Seidenberg each had a goal and an assist for the Bruins in a 4-3 comeback win against the Senators. Joe Corvo recorded two assists for Boston while teammate Tim Thomas made 30 saves. Filip Kuba had two assists for Ottawa.

-Seidenberg air mailed his goal:

-Ottawa's Craig Anderson got down low for this puck:

-Cool Photo of the Night: Anderson needed to cool off:

-A goal and two assists by Paul Gaustad led the Sabres to a 3-1 win against the Canadiens. Christian Ehrhoff recorded two assists for Buffalo while teammate Ryan Miller made 27 saves.

-Check out this goal by Buffalo's Ville Leino:

-Hit of the Night: Alexei Emelin on Buffalo captain Jason Pominville:

-Emelin > Buffalo's Tyler Ennis:

-Sabres forward Thomas Vanek left the game due to an "upper body" injury.

-Gaustad was accused of saying "Where's Chara?" to Canadiens forward forward Max Pacioretty. It was in reference to Bruins captain Zdeno Chara who injured Pacioretty with a hit into the boards last season.

Southeast Division

-A shootout goal by Bryan Little gave the Jets a 2-1 win against the Flyers. Ondrej Pavelec made 27 saves in the victory.

-An overtime goal and an assist by Steve Stamkos gave the Lightning a 4-3 win against the Capitals. Martin St. Louis added a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay while former Penguin Mathieu Garon made 26 saves in the victory. Fire Ray Shero.

-Stamkos' goal:

-St. Louis' breakaway goal was smooth:

-Save of the Night: Washington's Tomas Vokoun on Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier:

-Happy times for the Lightning. Not so much for Washington's Mathieu Perreault:

-"I've heard rumors I'm going to every team in the NHL. I must be really playing well." - Hurricanes forward Tuomo Ruutu on speculation he might be traded.

-The Hurricanes demoted forward Jerome Samson to Charlotte of the AHL.

-The Lightning recalled forward Pierre-Cedric Labrie from Norfolk of the AHL.

Central Division

-Jimmy Howard made 28 saves for the Red Wings in a 3-1 win against the Flames. Detroit has won eight out of its past nine games.

-Detroit's Jan Mursak had some unique equipment issues:

-Calgary's Tim Jackman and Detroit's Mike Commodore got into a fight:\

-And Commodore got the worst of it:

-Prior to the game, soem members of the Flames wore jerseys to honor former defenseman and assistant coach Brad McCrimmon who lost his lift this past summer in the plane crash involving the KHL's Yaroslavl Lokomotiv franchise:

-Mike Fisher scored two goals and led the Predators a to a thrilling 5-4 comeback win against the Wild. Matt Halischuk and Brandon Yip each collected a goal and an assist for Nashville while teammate Pekka Rinne made 21 saves. Dany Heatley had two goals and an assist for Minnesota.

-Both of Fisher's goals came in the final three minutes to win the game:

-Check out this hand-eye coordination by Heatley for his second goal:

-"There's no way in 100 years we should have lost that game." - Wild goaltender Josh Harding on blowing a three-goal lead.

-The Blackhawks activated captain Jonathan Toews (wrist) and forward Patrick Sharp (wrist) from injured reserve.

Northwest Division

-Daniel Sedin's overtime goal gave the Canucks a 3-2 win against the rival Blackhawks. Alexander Edler recorded two assists while teammate Corey Schneider made 37 saves.

-Sedin's goal:

-Happy times for Sedin:

-Check out this wicked wrister by Vancouver's Ryan Kesler:

-Lucky Save of the Night: Schneider on Calgary's Brendan Morrison:

-Intense Photo of the Night: Chicago's Dave Bolland and Vancouver's Aaron Rome battling for a puck:

-Devan Dubnyk made 31 saves for the Oilers in a 3-2 defeat of the Avalanche. Colorado has lost three consecutive games.

-Goal of the Night: Jordan Eberle faking the wraparound scoring on Colorado's Semyon Varlamov:

-"I can't be quiet. If I would be a healthy scratch, if it helped the team, that's good. I will not cry. I will not tell him he's wrong. But if he doesn't want to play me again, again, I have to do something." - Wild defenseman Marek Zidlicky complaining about head coach Mike Yeo making him a healthy scratch.

-The Oilers recalled forward Philippe Cornet from Oklahoma City of the AHL.

Pacific Division

-A hat trick by Andrew Cogliano led the Ducks to a 4-1 win against the Coyotes. Nick Bonino recorded two assists for Anaheim while teammate Jonas Hiller made 25 saves in the victory.

-Cogliano's hat trick:

-A good look at Hiller's lid:

-"It might have been the ugliest hat trick I've ever seen." - Ducks coach Bruce Boudreau.

-Antti Niemi made 30 saves for the Sharks in a 6-0 shutout of the Blue Jackets. Captain Joe Thornton had two goals and an assist for San Jose while teammates Michal Handzus, Jamie McGinn and Joe Pavelski each collected a goal and an assist.

-Niemi kicked out this puck:

-Thornton being good people:

-Pavelski being popular:

-San Jose's Jim Vandermeer and Columbus' Jared Boll had all kinds of issues:

-The Stars activated forward Brenden Morrow (neck/back/shoulder) from injured reserve.

(Photos: Penguins/Maple Leafs-Gene J. Puskar/Associated Press and Jamie Sabau/Getty Images; Recchi-Penguins Hockey Cards; Rangers/Devils-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images and Julio Cortez/Associated Press; Senators/Bruins-Elsa/Getty Images; Sabres/Canadiens-Ryan Remiorz/Canadian Press; Capitals/Lightning-Phelan M. Ebenhack/Associated Press; Red Wings/Flames-Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press and Mike Ridewood/Getty Images; Blackhawks/Ducks-Rich Lam/Getty Images; Ducks/Coyotes-Christian Petersen/Getty Images; Sharks/Blue Jackets-Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images and Paul Sakuma/Associated Press)

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