NHL Three Stars: Bernier blanks Kings; Benn sparks Dallas blowout
No. 1 Star: Jonathan Bernier, Toronto Maple Leafs
The struggling goaltender picked up his first win of the 2015-16 season – a 5-0 shutout over the Los Angeles Kings. Bernier is the fourth former Kings goaltender to record a shutout against his former team and the first to do since Rogie Vachon with Boston in 1981-82. This was Bernier’s third game since he returned from a conditioning stint in the American Hockey League.
No. 2 Star: Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars
The Dallas captain scored two goals and added one assist as his team cruised to a 6-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Benn is tied with Ottawa’s Mike Hoffman for the most multi-goal games this year with five. He’s had six games with three or more points. He’s tied for second in the NHL with 44 points, just four behind the league lead.
No. 3 Star: Louis Domingue, Arizona Coyotes
Domingue stopped all 25 New York Islanders shots on goal to pick up his first shutout of his NHL career in a 1-0 win. Domingue (23 years, 288 days) is the youngest Coyotes goaltender to record a shutout since Feb. 16, 2001when Robert Esche (23 years, 25 days) blanked the Carolina Hurricanes. The Coyotes moved to 15-15-2, good for third place in the Pacific Division.
Honorable Mention: Colorado Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped 39 of 40 Edmonton Oilers shots on goal to pick up a 5-1 win … Avs forward Jarome Iginla scored his 598th goal of his career … Colorado defenseman Tyson Barrie scored one goal, added one assist and was a plus-3 … Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored a goal in his team’s win over the Islanders … Nashville Predators defenseman Shea Weber notched two assists in his team’s 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild. Weber played 22:13 in the contest and has 22 points in 33 games played this season … James Neal scored his Nashville leading 13th goal of the season … Dallas center Jason Spezza scored one goal and added two assists. Teammate Tyler Seguin scored one goal and added one assist … Columbus Blue Jackets forward Brandon Saad fired his 12th goal of the season in a 3-2 shootout win over the Philadelphia Flyers … Philly winger Jakub Voracek scored his third goal of the year … Columbus goaltender Joonas Korpisalo moved to 1-2-0 with 32 saves … Carolina Hurricanes forward Jordan Staal scored a goal in a 2-1 victory against the Pittsburgh Penguins, his former team … Pens defenseman Trevor Daley notched an assist – his second point in three games since he was traded to the Penguins … Anaheim Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen stopped 21 of 22 New Jersey Devils shots on goal to pick up his first win since Nov. 19 … Ryan Kesler also scored for the Ducks … Mike Cammalleri scored New Jersey’s only goal … Toronto Maple Leafs forward Michael Grabner scored two goals and added two assists. He was a plus-4. Teammate Leo Komarov scored two goals and added one assist … Leafs forward Nazem Kadri notched two assists and was a plus-4 … St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko scored one goal and added two assists in a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames … St. Louis netminder Brian Elliott stopped 36 of 38 Calgary shots on goal … Flames defenseman Mark Giordano scored one goal and added one assist in 23:13 of action … Chicago Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane scored the game-tying goal to send his team’s contest at Buffalo into OT. He also scored the shootout winner … Chicago forward Artemi Panarin notched an assist … Ryan O’Reilly scored a goal for Buffalo.
Did You Know? The Canadiens have lost more games in December (seven) than they had in October and November combined (four).
Dishonorable Mention: Edmonton Oilers center Ryan Nugent-Hopkins was a minus-3 … Montreal starter Mike Condon was pulled after allowing six Stars goals on 23 shots on goal … The Penguins have now lost five straight … Kings forwards Anze Kopitar, Milan Lucic and Marian Gaborik were each a minus-4 … Los Angeles goaltender Jhonas Enroth stopped 29 of 34 Toronto shots on goal in the loss
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