NHL Three Stars: Hat tricks for Galchenyuk, Tarasenko; Bob blanks Red Wings
No. 1 Star: Alex Galchenyuk, Montreal Canadiens
The young Hab netted his first career hat trick as Montreal downed the Carolina Hurricanes 4-1. All three goals were assisted by Max Pacioretty. Galchenyuk’s opening goal was definitely the prettiest one of the night after some slick passing in the Carolina zone:
No. 2 Star: Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues
After Marian Gaborik helped the Los Angeles Kings race out to a 2-0 lead, Tarasenko and Blues answered five times en route to a 5-2 victory. The forward netted his second career hat trick and reached the 20-goal plateau for the second straight season:
No. 3 Star: Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets
The Detroit Red Wings couldn’t solve Bob as the Blue Jackets grabbed the extra point after a 1-0 shootout win. Bobrovsky made 30 saves for his first shutout of the season and 10th of his career. Boone Jenner and Ryan Johansen scored Columbus’ only goals in the shootout.
Honorable Mention: Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 23 shots and won his NHL debut as the Tampa Bay Lightning edged the Philadelphia Flyers 3-1. Steven Stamkos and Tyler Johnson scored five minutes apart in the second period to help pace Tampa to their sixth straight win over the Flyers … Four third period goals, including a pair from Phil Kessel, helped the Toronto Maple Leafs beat the Anaheim Ducks 6-2 for their sixth win in a row. Jonathan Bernier made 40 saves for his fourth win in a row. Nazem Kadri had a goal himself in lovely fashion:
It took 20 rounds, but Nick Bjugstad finally ended things as the Florida Panthers got by the Washington Capitals 2-1 after a historic shootout … Derek Roy scored the only goal in the shootout and Pekke Rinne made 33 saves as the Nashville Predators defeated the Boston Bruins 3-2 … Mark Scheifele scored twice and assisted on another and Ondrej Pavelec made 27 saves as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Buffalo Sabres 5-1. Michael Frolik and Evander Kane each chipped in two points … Three points each from Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews were enough to survive a Minnesota Wild comeback as the Chicago Blackhawks were 5-3 victors. Annti Raanta made 26 saves and won his fourth straight start. Despite the loss Nino Niederreiter contributed this highlight-reel penalty shot:
Rick Nash reached the 20-goal mark with a pair of goals and Henrik Lundqvist stopped 29 shots as the New York Rangers beat the Calgary Flames 5-2 … Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s goal with 0.3 seconds left in overtime helped the Arizona Coyotes snap a nine-game home losing streak and give them a 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers.
Did You Know? “Toronto improved to 14-0 when scoring first and 13-0 after leading through two periods. The Leafs also haven’t lost to Anaheim since Oct. 21, 2008, a 3-2 shootout decision.” (AP)
Dishonorable Mention: Via the AP, Philadelphia is 2-13-1 against the Lightning since 2010-11 … Detroit has dropped four in a row, while Carolina hasn’t won in six … LA has dropped five of six.
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