NHL Three Stars: Jake Allen stifles Stars; Okposo powers Isles
No. 1 Star: Jake Allen, St. Louis Blues
Jake Allen made 26 saves – including 7-of-7 on four penalty kills – as the Blues shut down the best offense in the NHL, topping the Dallas Stars by a score of 3-0. David Backes, Vladimir Tarasenko and Ryan Reaves (his first of the season) had the goals. Allen has now won two straight, stopping 48 of 49 shots.
No. 2 Star: Kyle Okposo, New York Islanders
Okposo had the first and last goals in the Islanders’ 3-2 overtime win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. He stole a Gregory Campbell pass and scored an unassisted goal in the first period. Then, in OT, he finished a 2-on-none breakaway with Josh Bailey with a flourish for his eighth of the season. He also had the assist on Frans Nielsen’s power-play goal. Here’s the OT goal:
No. 3 Star: Darcy Kuemper, Minnesota Wild
Kuemper saved all 25 shots he faced in a 2-0 win over the San Jose Sharks. Zach Parise had a goal and an assist. Kuemper became the first Wild goalie to pitch a shutout in San Jose since No. 2001.
Honorable Mention: Ryan Spooner had two goals as the Boston Bruins outlasted the Florida Panthers, 3-1. Tuukka Rask made 26 saves. … Max Pacioretty’s 14th of the season ended up being the game-winner as the Montreal Canadiens defeated the Ottawa Senators, 3-1. Dustin Tokarski made 24 saves. … Semyon Varlamov made 34 saves and Andreas Martinsen had the game-winner in the third period as the Colorado Avalanche topped the Nashville Predators, 3-2. … Victor Rask scored his ninth in overtime, just 53 seconds in, to lead the Carolina Hurricanes to a 5-4 win over the Arizona Coyotes. Anthony Duclair had two goals and an assist in a losing effort. He set up Connor Murphy’s goal at 19:44 in the third period to tie the game after an impressive rally. … T.J. Brodie had the game-winner as the Calgary Flames defeated the New York Rangers in overtime, 5-4. The teams scored five goals in the third period alone, including one by Tanner Glass. Johnny Gaudreau had two goals and an assist. … Ryan O’Reilly scored a brilliant goal while falling to the ice as the Buffalo Sabres defeated the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1. … Braden Holtby made 30 saves to lead the Washington Capitals to a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Luckily, Evgeny Kuznetsov is on his team, so he doesn’t have to face sneaky moves like this:
Did You Know? Shane Doan can still outhustle you. Watch here.
Dishonorable Mention: Craig Anderson was pulled after Pacioretty appeared to score a goal, but it was disallowed on video review, and yet Anderson remained out of the game after making 28 saves on 31 shots. … Jake McCabe had a goal taken down on an offside review. … The Columbus Blue Jackets had a goal off the board on a kicked puck.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at [email protected] or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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