User Rating: / 0
PoorBest 

Friday, 10 February 2012 03:43

Written by Seth Rorabaugh

Penguins

-"It's a tough experience, just to be out for so long. I'm excited to come back." - Simon Despres (above) on recovering from a knee injury.

-Tyler Kennedy will be sidelined four to six weeks due to a high ankle sprain.

-Dan Bylsma speaks:

-Chris Kunitz speaks:

-Paul Martin counts his money speaks::

-Happy 44th birthday to former Penguins defenseman Peter Popovic. Acquired in the 1999 offseason in a deal that sent defenseman Kevin Hatcher to the Rangers, Popovic played one season with the Penguins. In 54 games in 1999-2000, he recorded six points. Popovic left the team in the 2000 offseason as a free agent.

-Happy 23rd birthday to current Penguins forward prospect Eric Tangradi. Acquired midway through the 2008-09 season along with Chris Kunitz in a deal which sent Ryan Whitney to the Ducks, Tangradi has spent parts of three  seasons with the Penguins. After appearing in one game and failing to score a point in 2009-10, Tangradi played in 15 games last season and scored three points in 2010-11. This season, Tangradi has seen action in 12 games and has no points. In 28 career games with the Penguins, he has three points. He is currently with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Atlantic Division

-Brad Richards' overtime goal gave the Rangers a 4-3 win against the Lightning. Derek Stepan added a goal and an assist for St. Louis while teammate Michael Del Zotto recorded two assists. Martin Biron made 14 saves in the victory. Steven Stamkos netted a goal and an assist for Tampa Bay.

-Richards' goal:

-Rangers forward Ruslan Fedotenko left the game in the third period after he was stuck in the head by Lightning forward Dominic Moore.

-The hit in question:

-EN Says: Suspend him. Forget intent. Forget Moore's mostly clean history. That's a predatory, blindside hit to the head. It shouldn't be tolerated whatsoever. But matters like these are never so simple in this garage league.

-A goal and an assist by Scott Hartnell helped the Flyers beat the Maple Leafs, 4-3. Sergei Bobrovsky made 24 saves for Philadelphia. Tyler Bozak scored two goals for Toronto.

-Hartnell ended up with a Gordie Howe hat trick after he fought Toronto captain Dion Phaneuf following his goal:

-Toronto's Mike Brown > Philadelphia's Zac Rinaldo:

-Philadelphia's Marc-Andre Bourdon got the drop on Toronto's Nikolai Kulemin here:

-Toronto's James Reimer was quite upset but wasn't getting much support from Wes McCauley:

-We think.

-With goaltender Ilya Bryzgalov dealing with an illness, the Flyers recalled goaltender Jason Bacashihua from Adirondack of the AHL.

-Islanders defenseman Milan Jurcina returned to the lineup after missing two games due to an elbow injury.

-The Devils recalled goaltender Jeff Frazee from Albany of the AHL.

Northeast Division

-A hat trick by Max Pacioretty led the Canadiens to a 4-2 win against the Islanders. Carey Price made 31 saves in the victory.

-Pacioretty's hat trick:

-“I wasn't feeling sorry for myself, I've just kept working." - Canadiens forward Scott Gomez on scoring his first goal in over a calendar year.

-Gomez's goal:

-Two goals and an assist by Jason Spezza helped the Senators defeat the Predators, 4-3. Defenseman Chris Phillips scored two goals for Ottawa while teammates Bobby Butler and Milan Michalek each recorded two assists. Martin Erat had a goal and an assist for Nashville.

-After failing to score a goal in his previous 74 games, Phillips' two goals came in his 1,000th career game.

-Controversy involving Bruins goaltender Tim Thomas and politics just isn't going away. A day after he posted a message via Facebook regarding birth control, Thomas repeatedly declined to answer questions regarding the post. Thomas said, "I say that's my personal life and that has absolutely nothing to do with the Bruins or hockey and I'm going to use my right to remain silent.''

-EN Says: Thomas (right) certainly has his right to speak to the media in any way shape or form he sees fit. But considering he seems to be well versed in politics, it's a shame he doesn't feel the need to open up on them. He comes across as  a pretty intelligent individual. Why not share that knowledge beyond a simple Facebook post which gets lost in the midst of Farmville requests and silly Photoshops?

Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown had political stances which were hardly accepted on a universal level, particularly in the volatile 1960s. But that never prevented them from openly discussing them in any forum. To a lesser degree, Thomas' teammate, former Penguins defenseman Andrew Ference, is very up front about his feelings regarding the environment, another polarizing issue. They have the bravery to do so. It's a shame Thomas isn't displaying that same bravery.

Thomas obviously has a message he would like to get across. And he's using his celebrity to deliver it. Unfortunately, his stubborn attitude about addressing it directly overshadows everything else.

Southeast Division

-Shootout goals by Blake Wheeler and Bryan Little gave the Jets a 3-2 win against the Capitals. Dustin Byfuglien had a regulation goal and an assist for Winnipeg while teammate Ondrej Pavelec made 34 saves. Captain Alex Ovechkin and Alexander Semin each collected a regulation goal and an assist for Washington.

-Winnipeg captain Andrew Ladd and Washington's Troy Brouwer, teammates in Chicago, caught up on old times:

-Winnipeg's Jim Slater and Washington's Mathieu Perreault were ready for this faceoff:

-Capitals forward Mike Knuble was a healthy scratch.

-Scott Clemmensen made 22 saves for the Panthers in a 3-1 defeat of the Kings. Shawn Matthias recorded two assists for Florida.

-Hurricanes general manager and former Penguins goaltender Jim Rutherford said he will make a decision on the future of pending unrestricted free agent Tuomo Ruutu next week.

-The Lightning demoted defenseman Evan Oberg to Norfolk of the AHL.

Central Division

-T.J. Oshie's shootout goal gave the Blues a 4-3 win against the Devils. Penguins athletic trainer Chris Stewart had a regulation goal and an assist for St. Louis while teammate Brian Elliott made 15 saves. Ilya Kovalchuk recorded two assists for New Jersey which had a five-game winning streak snapped.

-Pass of the Night: Kovalchuk setting up Patrik Elias for a goal:

-Devils defenseman Kurtis Foster was ejected from the game in the third period for boarding Blues forward Chris Elliott:

-EN Says: What a ticky-tack call.

-Oshie > New Jersey's Johan Hedberg:

-The NHL officially announced next season's Winter Classic will be held at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The league will make approximately 115,000 tickets available.

-Red Wings captain Nicklas Lidstrom admitted the potential in playing in the game could impact his decision on potentially retiring this summer.

-Lidstrom and teammate Henrik Zetterberg took in "The Big House" yesterday:

-Here's what the stadium looked like in 2004 for a game between Michigan and rival Michigan State:

-Maple Leafs overlord Brian Burke is confident he can sell 50,000 seats to Maple Leafs fans.

-Red Wings coach Mike Babcock isn't exactly hiding his reluctance over appearing on HBO's "24/7."

-As part of festivities leading up to the game, the Maple Leafs and Red Wings AHL affiliates - the Toronto Marlies and Grand Rapids Griffins - will play an outdoor game at Comercia Park, the Detroit Tigers' stadium.

-Former Red Wings captain and current Lightning general manager Steve Yzerman will not participate in the alumni game.

-Blue Jackets defenseman Marc Methot (broken jaw) and forward Jared Boll (broken foot) each suffered injuries last night against the Stars.

Northwest Division

-A goal and an assist by Daniel Sedin led the Canucks to a 5-2 defeat of the Wild. Corey Schneider made 22 saves for Vancouver. Devin Setoguchi recorded a goal and an assist for Minnesota.

-Check out this nifty re-direction goal by Vancouver's Manny Malhotra:

-Setoguchi's goal was a real snipe:

-"We flat-out stink the last two months. We stink." - Wild coach and former Penguins assistant Mike Yeo on his team having a 5-14-5 record since Dec. 13.

-The Canucks recalled forward Mike Duco from Chicago of the AHL.

-The Wild demoted forward Jed Ortmeyer to Houston of the AHL.

-Wild defenseman Clayton Stoner was placed on injured reserve due to a leg ailment.

Pacific Division

-Two goals by Jamie Benn led the Stars to a 4-2 win against the Blue Jackets. Former Penguin Alex Goligoski and Stephane Robidas each added a goal and an assist for Dallas while teammate Mike Ribeiro recorded two assists. Kari Lehtonen made 26 saves in the victory. Fire Ray Shero. Derrick Brassard and Fedor Tyutin each netted two assists for Columbus.

-Goligoski's goal was a bit unusual as it came with him right in the crease:

-An overtime goal by Shane Doan gave the Coyotes a 2-1 win against the Flames. Mike Smith made 23 saves in the victory.

-Doan's goal:

-Bloody, glove-throwing times for Calgary's Alex Tanguay:

-The Stars recalled defenseman Adam Pardy from Texas of the AHL.

Adams Division

-Marty Howe, sone of hockey legend Gordie Howe, said his father's battle with mild cognitive impairment is due in part to concussions.

(Photos: Despres and Maple Leafs/Flyers-Paul Bereswill/Getty Images; Thomas-Bruce Bennett/Getty Images; Jets/Capitals-Greg Fiume/Getty Images; Blues/Devils-Julio Cortez/Associated Press; Lidstrom and Zetterberg-Paul Sancya/Associated Press; Michigan Stadium-Carlos Osorio/Associated Press; Flames/Coyotes-Ross D. Franklin/Associated Press)

Comments (0)

Subscribe to this comment's feed