NHL Three Stars: Holtby slams door on Bruins; Tarasenko scores a beauty
No. 1. Star: Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
The Caps netminder picked up his eighth shutout of the season in a 2-0 win over the Boston Bruins. The win stopped a two-game losing skid for the Caps. Washington had also lost three of its previous four games.
No. 2 Star: Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues
He was at his creative best with a goal in 15:13 of action in a 3-0 blanking of Dallas. That’s now 34 scores and 67 points in 69 games for Tarasenko. With the win and a Nashville loss, St. Louis tied the Preds for the top spot in the Central Division.
No. 3. Star: Andrew Hammond, Ottawa Senators
Stopped 27 of 28 Philadelphia shots on goal to improve to 10-0-1 this season. He has a 1.39 goals against average and .955 save percentage. Still, Ottawa remains five points back of Boston for the final Wild Card playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
Honorable Mention: Blues goaltender Jake Allen stopped 28 of 28 shots on goal in the win over the Dallas Stars … St. Louis defenseman Alex Pietrangelo notched two assists and forward T.J. Oshie scored one goal and added one assist … Hurricanes forward Brad Malone scored a goal in a 3-2 win over Columbus … Hurricanes goaltender Anton Khudobin allowed two toals on 24 shots on goal … New York goaltender Cam Talbot stopped 38 of 39 shots on goal to pick up his 17th win of the year for the Rangers. It was his fourth straight win, a 2-1 victory over Florida … Rangers forward Matt Hunwick scored a goal and added an assist … Florida’s Nick Bjugstad notched an assist … Red Wings forward Henrik Zetterberg scored a goal and added an assist in a 5-1 win over Pittsburgh … Detroit goaltender Peter Mrazek stopped 42 of 43 Pens shots on goal … Capitals forward Nicklas Backstrom notched two assists in a win over the Bruins … Columbus forward Scott Hartnell scored his fifth goal in his last four games … Ducks forward Patrick Maroon notched two assists in a 4-2 win over Nashville … Anaheim defenseman Hampus Lindholm also picked up two helpers. Nate Thompson scored the game winner.
Did You Know?: The Rangers have allowed one goal or fewer in regulation in seven straight games for the first time in franchise history.
Dishonorable Mention: Pittsburgh’s Marc-Andre Fleury was yanked after allowing four goals on 16 shots on goal against Detroit … Florida’s Dan Ellis lost his first game in regulation since his all cup from the AHL. He’s now 3-1-1 … Pittsburgh defenseman Ian Cole was a minus-3 … Nashville has lost eight of its last 10 games, and blew a 2-0 third period lead in the loss at Anaheim.
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