(We sort tried to make a reference to Three Days Grace with the headline. We're not sure it worked out as well as we had hoped.)

With as many injuries as the Penguins have suffered this season, getting some off days can be invaluable. Time is the only thing that will heal injuries to guys like Marc-Andre Fleury and Gary Roberts.

That said, for whatever reason, three-day breaks between games, like the one the Penguins are in now, aren't kind to the Penguins on the scoreboard. Excluding those always troublesome breaks of 169 days (the time between the Penguins final playoff game last season and their season opener this season), the Penguins are at their worst after resting for three days.

A look at the Penguins performance based on number of days off:

Days Off	Record	Points	Point Percentage	Average Goals For	Average Goals Against
0	4-3-0	8	.571	3.14	3.43
1	13-7-3	29	.630	2.83	2.22
2	7-2-0	14	.778	3.33	3.00
3	1-3-0	2	.250	2.75	3.25
4	-	-	-	-	-
5	1-0-0	2	1.000	4.00	1.00
169	0-1-0	0	.000	1.00	4.00

We really don't think there's any sort of legitimate trend here with the off days. It's probably coincidence more than anything. Their only five-day break saw them thump a pretty good Dallas Stars team, 4-1, Nov. 4.

Either way, the Tampa Bay Lightning skate into Mellon Arena tomorrow with the numbers on their side. Given that the Lightning has only won four games out of its last 18, it will probably take any advantage it can get.

EMPTY NETTER ASSISTS

Penguins

-You might want to keep that Fleury jersey in the closet for the time being.

-Erik Christensen's life seems as if it's been kind of cruddy the last couple of days or so.

-Perhaps they felt bad for kicking the heck out of the Rangers Monday. Either way, the Penguins got some of that Karma back when they made their annual visit to Children's Hospital yesterday.

-Essentially, this is a staged public relations photo shoot. But who cares? Those kids don't know that. All they know is Sidney Crosby came by and hung out for a little while. The Penguins have more photos on their Web site.

-The cute little girl in the pink shirt looks kind of mad that she had to meet Ryan Stone.

-Don't plan on getting that Marian Hossa jersey anytime soon.

-Sidney Crosby's Winter Classic jersey is going for almost $26,000 at the time of this posting. You can bid on it here if you have sticker price of a Chevy Colorado with options laying around.

-Ty Conklin for the Hart Trophy? Damien Cox says so.

-Conklin watches WWE.

-For the first time in something like three centuries, the Maple Leafs won't be broadcast nationally in Canada Saturday. They've been replaced by the Penguins-Canadiens game that night.

-There's not sound to it, but someone spotted this pretty good fight between Chris Tamer and Brad May the 1994-95 season:

-The Pensblog found quite a few links we "borrowed" for today's post. Instead of giving them credit for every single one, we're just going to post an obligatory link.

Atlantic Division

-Rick DiPietro made 37 saves while Bill Guerin scored two goals for the Islanders in a 3-1 win at New Jersey.

-Kimmo Timonen had a goal and two assists while teammate Daniel Briere scored two goals as the Flyers beat the Panthers 5-3.

-A couple of highlights from this game: A brutal turnover by Derian Hatcher at 3:55 of this video and check out the sick save Antero Niittymaki made at 5:05.

-Brandon Dubinsky and Petr Prucha each had a goal and an assist for the Rangers in a 2-1 win against Buffalo.

-Rangers forward Jaromir Jagr has been dealing with a foot injury for over two weeks.

-Flyers forward Steve Downie took another cheap shot last night. This time the victim was Radislav Olesz of the Panthers:

Southeast Division

-The Lightning stinks.

-Panthers defenseman Cory Murphy practiced for the first time in two months.

-Capitals goaltender Olaf Kolzig has considered retirement.

-Check out this nifty goal Capitals forward Alexander Semin scored against Ottawa Tuesday:

Central Division

-Dustin Byfuglien and Patrik Kane each had three-point games while former Penguin Patrick Lalime made 32 saves as the Blackhawks routed the Blues, 6-1.

-Predators forward Steve Sullivan will miss the entire season due to a back injury. It's a shame. Sullivan is cut from the same mold as Daniel Briere and Sidney Crosby. While he's not nearly as skilled as either of those two, he's small, shifty, speedy and there isn't an ounce of quit in him. The NHL needs guys like Sullivan.

-Red Wings goaltender Chris Osgood says he looks young because he used Noxzema as a kid. Rebecca Gayheart unimpressed:

(Kudos to No Pun Intended for finding the Osgood article.)

Northwest Division

-Shootout goals by Kristian Huselius and Jarome Iginla gave the Flames a 3-2 win at Minnesota.