NHL Three Stars: Panthers keep torrid pace; Crosby heats up
No. 1 Star: Roberto Luongo, Florida Panthers
The Florida netminder stopped 39 of 39 New York Rangers shots on goal to help his team pick up a record eighth straight win. The Panthers retook the top spot in the Atlantic Division with the victory, jumping past idle Montreal. Also, Luongo’s shutout was his 71st of his NHL career, which tied him for 11th in league history.
No. 2 Star: Karri Ramo, Calgary Flames
Ramo improved to 14-12-1, making 26 saves in a 4-0 shutout of the Colorado Avalanche. Former Flames captain Jarome Iginla remained stuck on 599 goals after firing just one shot on goal in the game. Ramo is 8-4-0 in his last 12 games played. Calgary is one point behind the Vancouver Canucks for the final playoff spot in the Pacific Division.
No. 3 Star: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
The Pittsburgh captain scored two goals in a 5-2 win over the New York Islanders. Crosby has 10 points in his last seven games and the Penguins are 4-1-1 in their last six games played. Crosby has 91 points in his career against the Islanders
Honorable Mention: Los Angeles Kings defenseman Drew Doughty scored one goal and played 25:27 in a 2-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Teammate Jonathan Quick stopped 29 of 30 Philly shots on goal … Flyers forward Brayden Schenn scored a goal … Arizona Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue stopped 38 of 41 Edmonton Oilers shots on goal in a 4-3 shootout loss … Jordan Eberle scored two goals for the Oilers … Max Domi and Anthony Duclair hooked up for a gorgeous goal … Vincent Trochek scored a goal for the Panthers. Teammate Brandon Pirri also scored … Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang notched three assists in the win over the Islanders as did teammate Evgeni Malkin … Pens goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury stopped 38 of 40 shots on goal in his return from a concussion. Fleury hadn’t played since Dec. 14 … New Jersey Devils forward Kyle Palmieri scored a goal in a 3-2 overtime win over the Dallas Stars. It was Palmieri’s 17th of the season … Defenseman John Moore scored the OT winner for New Jersey … Forward Patrick Sharp scored for Dallas … Defenseman Mattias Ekholm fired the overtime winner for the Nashville Predators in a 2-1 win at Carolina. The win for the Preds was their first in the new 3-on-3 OT format … Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel scored two goals in a 4-3 loss to the Detroit Red Wings. Detroit’s Tomas Tatar broke a 3-3 third period tie with a goal at the 17:10 mark … Sam Reinhart scored a goal for Buffalo, his ninth of the season … Detroit’s Riley Sheahan scored one goal and added one assist … Columbus Blue Jackets forward Brandon Saad scored two goals in a 5-4 shootout win over the Washington Capitals … Columbus defenseman Jack Johnson scored two goals and added one assist in the win … Washington’s Braden Holtby hasn’t lost in regulation since Nov. 10 … Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman was a plus-1 and played 25:06 in his team’s 3-2 shootout win over the Minnesota Wild … Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 30 of 32 shots on goal … Charlie Coyle scored one goal and added an assist for the Wild … The Maple Leafs improved to 7-3-0 against the Central Division with a 4-1 win over the St. Louis Blues … Maple Leafs winger Nazem Kadri scored one goal in a 4-1 win over the Blues. Teammate Michael Grabner scored one goal and added an assist … Toronto goaltender Jonathan Bernier stopped 39 of 40 St. Louis shots on goal to pick up his fifth win of the season. All his victories have come since a conditioning stint in the American Hockey League … Flames forward Josh Jooris scored one goal and added one assist in Calgary’s 4-0 drubbing of the Colorado Avalanche … Flames defenseman Dougie Hamilton scored one goal and teammates Mark Giordano and Dennis Wideman each picked up assists…Winnipeg Jets forward Joel Armia scored the first goal of his NHL career in a 4-1 win over the San Jose Sharks. Drew Stafford and Mathieu Perreault also scored for Winnipeg … Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Anton Forsberg relieved an injured Curtis McElhinney in the first minute of overtime and stopped six Caps’ shots on goal in a shootout win. It was Forsberg’s first win of his NHL career. He is the first goalie to earn his first NHL win after entering the game following regulation.
Did You Know?With a 4-1 loss to the Maple Leafs, the Blues will not pick up any points against Toronto for the first time since the 1978-79 season.
Dishonorable Mention: Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss was yanked after allowing four goals in 26 shots on goal by the Penguins … Colorado Avalanche forward Iginla remained stuck on 599 goals. The legendary winger hasn’t scored since Dec. 27 against the Arizona Coyotes … The Blues have lost three of four games. They haven’t won in regulation since Dec. 22… San Jose Sharks goaltender Martin Jones was pulled after stopping 17 of 20 Winnipeg Jets shots on goal in the loss.
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