NHL Three Stars: Miller blanks Penguins; Dubnyk stays hot for Wild
No. 1 Star: Ryan Miller, Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks shutout the Pittsburgh Penguins for the second time this season with a 5-0 win Saturday night. Alex Burrows and Radim Vrbata had two points, while Miller made 31 saves for his sixth shutout of the season and 35th of his career. Daniel Sedin netted his 115th career power play goal, passing Markus Naslund for the Canucks franchise record.
No. 2 Star: Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota Wild
The red-hot netminder needed only 18 saves to help blank the Colorado Avalanche 1-0. Charlie Coyle scored the only goal for the Wild, who won their fifth straight. Dubnyk is now 7-1-1 since being dealt to Minnesota and has posted four shutouts in his last nine starts.
No. 3 Star: Justin Williams, Los Angeles Kings
“Mr. Game 7” scored twice and Jonathan Quick made 26 saves as the Kings doubled up the Tampa Bay Lightning 4-2. He snapped a seven-game pointless streak in the process and reached the 100-goal plateau as a member of the Kings.
Honorable Mention: Rob Gronkowski did the ceremonial face-off honors before Bruins-Islanders and spiked the puck into the crowd … Lightning assistant coach Rick Bowness was behind the bench for his 2,000th NHL game … Mike Ribeiro’s goal with 7:14 left in the third period snapped a 2-2 tie and gave the Nashville Predators a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. The goal was also Ribeiro’s 700th career NHL point. Rick Nash tallied his NHL-best 33rd goal in the loss … Jhonas Enroth made 38 stops and Chris Stewart assisted on all three Buffalo Sabres goals as they edged the Dallas Stars 3-2. The win ended a six-game slide at home for the Sabres … Dale Weise and Tomas Plekanec each scored twice and Dave Desharnais and P.K. Subban each had three helpers as the Montreal Canadiens downed the New Jersey Devils 6-2 … A four-goal third period helped the Columbus Blue Jackets beat the Ottawa Senators 4-1. Scott Hartnell and Cam Atkinson each had a goal and an assist, while Nick Foligno recorded his 21st of the year:
The Toronto Maple Leafs ended their 11-game winless streak with a 5-1 rout of the Edmonton Oilers. James Reimer made 31 saves and Jake Gardiner and Peter Holland each had a pair of points. Morgan Rielly had the goal of the night with a pretty end-to-end individual effort … This little Leafs fan is the best and got her wish:
Andrej Sekera broke a 3-3 tie late in the third period and the Carolina Hurricanes hung on for a 5-4 win over the San Jose Sharks. Justin Faulk recorded three assists and Cam Ward made 23 saves … … Petr Mrazek made 22 saves and Tomas Tatar factored into all three goals with a goal and two assists as the Detroit Red Wings beat the Arizona Coyotes 3-1 … Loui Eriksson’s goal with 7:34 left in the third period helped give the Bruins a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders. Tuukka Rask made 39 stops for his fourth win in six starts.
Did You Know? Minnesota has shutout Colorado in all three of their meetings this season. (AP)
Dishonorable Mention: Tampa had their 10-game home winning streak snapped … Ben Bishop was pulled after the first period after allowing three goals on 9 shots … The Penguins have been shutout six times this season, matching their total from 2013-14 … Alec Martinez was knocked out of this afternoon’s game after taking this vicious hit from Cedric Paquette:
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