NHL Three Stars: Stepan saves Rangers; Pavelec blanks Wild
No. 1 Star: Derek Stepan, New York Rangers
Stepan took on the role of hero Monday night as the Rangers came from behind to defeat the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-3 in overtime. Down a goal with under a minute left in the third period, Stepan put home a nice Chris Kreider pass with 28 seconds remaining to force overtime:
In the extra period, Stepan picked up a loose puck in front and beat Sergei Bobrovsky to put the Rangers a win away from clinching the Presidents’ Trophy:
No. 2 Star: Ondrej Pavelec, Winnipeg Jets
Goals from Blake Wheeler and Drew Stafford were enough as the Jets blanked the Minnesota Wild 2-0. Pavelec recorded his third shutout of the season with a 32-save night, including this denial of Zach Parise on the doorstep:
No. 3 Star: Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars
The Stars’ captain scored twice and added an assist as Dallas downed the San Jose Sharks 5-1. Benn’s three-point night puts him one behind Sidney Crosby for the NHL’s scoring lead. Jhonas Enroth stopped 23 shots, while Tyler Seguin and Jason Spezza each recorded a pair of assists.
Honorable Mention: The Buffalo Sabres nearly blew a 4-0 lead, but hung on to beat the Carolina Hurricanes 4-3. Anders Lindback made 48 saves and Tyler Ennis, Johan Larsson, Brian Gionta and Zach Bogosian each recorded two points. The game featured zero penalties, a first this season in the NHL, according to Scouting the Refs … Carolina’s first goal came via this lovely solo effort by Patrick Dwyer … Daniel Sedin tied the game midway through the third period (via a great pass from his brother) and Chris Higgins tallied the only goal in the shootout as the Vancouver Canucks edged the Los Angeles Kings 2-1. The assist on Daniel’s goal was brother Henrik’s 700th of his NHL career. Eddie Lack (36 saves) and Jonathan Quick (37) were both stellar in a great goaltending duel.
Did You Know?
Dishonorable Mention: The loss snapped the Blue Jackets’ nine-game winning streak … Minnesota has lost three in a row for the first time since mid-January … LA dropped to 2-8 in the shootout this season. Valuable points lost as they sit outside the Western Conference playoff picture … San Jose has now been eliminated from postseason contention, ending their 10-season streak, which was second-longest in the NHL.
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