NHL Three Stars: Johnny Hockey’s hatty; Devils dads are awesomely awkward
No. 1 Star: Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
Just another night for the one they call Johnny Hockey. In an insane game against Boston (see Honorable Mention), the hockey version of the Boy Who Lived scored four points. His biggest point of the night came in overtime when he scored a game-winning goal to seal a hat trick:
No. 2 Star: Anders Nilsson, Edmonton Oilers
The normally potent offense of the Dallas Stars was held to a single goal on 43 shots against the Oilers. Taylor Hall and Mattias Janmark were the goal scorers in regulation. A mere 45 seconds into overtime, Jordan Eberle snapped a six game point-less drought with the game winning goal.
No. 3 Star: The New Jersey Devils Dads
Matt Read knocked Kyle Palmieri down to the ice, took the puck, and skated to the opposite end of the rink to send a dribbler past Cory Schneider in overtime. The real winners of the night, even though their team lost the game, are the New Jersey Devils dads. Mike Cammalleri potted the game-tying goal with a minute left on the clock. The fathers section went nuts! Awkward high fives and hugs for everyone!
Honorable Mention: The Boston Bruins and Calgary Flames traded goals the entire game. In the final 66 seconds, Brad Marchand was awarded a penalty shot of which he scored on to put the Bruins ahead by one. Then Jiri Hudler potted the tying goal with 1.2 seconds remaining:
… Continue to circulate those Fredrick Andersen trade rumors as John Gibson earned his second shut-out of the season. Gibson stopped all 23 of the San Jose Sharks shots and his defense held the Sharks to only 2 shots on goal in the third period. Mike Santorelli scored the game’s lone goal … Max Domi netted both Arizona Coyotes goals in the 5-2 loss to the Buffalo Sabres. Evander Kane also picked up two goals in the game. Here’s his first of the night, a short-handed breakaway:
… Al Montoya stopped one of four shooters in the Florida Panthers 2-1 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets … Thomas Greiss made 31 saves through regulation and overtime then stopped Kevin Shattenkirk and Vladimir Tarasenko in the shoot-out. Frans Nielsen and Kyle Okposo both scored for the Islanders in the skills competition.
Did You Know? New York Islanders forward Frans Nielsen ranks first in NHL history with 41 career shootout goals & 17 career game-deciding goals. (@PR_NHL)
Dishonorable Mention: Scott Hartnell was a healthy scratch for the Columbus Blue Jackets … Jonas Gustavsson was pulled after allowing 3 goals on 11 shots in 21:56 TOI. David Jones played only 2:07 before he left the game after taking a shot to the foot and did not return … Not a great night for Bobby Farnham. He misses a check, almost goes into the Flyers bench, then gets cross-checked in the kidneys for his efforts:
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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter! Follow @MsJenNeale_PD.
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