NHL Three Stars: Brassard’s 5-point night; Atkinson gets hat trick
No. 1 Star: Derick Brassard, New York Rangers
Brassard set a career high with five points as the Rangers beat the Buffalo Sabres 6-3. Four of his five points came in the third period as he scored twice and assisted on two others as New York earned their eighth straight win over the Sabres.
No. 2 Star: Cam Atkinson, Columbus Blue Jackets
Atkinson recorded his third career hat trick and earned a young fan a dog as the Blue Jackets downed the Montreal Canadiens 5-2. Brandon Saad tallied a pair and Brandon Dubinsky and Booner Jenner each recorded three assists.
No. 3 Star: Louis Domingue, Arizona Coyotes
The Coyotes netminder made 34 saves in regulation and overtime and didn’t allow a goal in the shootout during a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild. Down 1-0 with 1:13 left in regulation, Antoine Vermette took advantage of a Devan Dubnyk braincramp and tied the game with a shorthanded goal:
Honorable Mention: Behind Petr Mrazek’s 27 saves and goals from Justin Abdelkader, Danny DeKeyser, Luke Glendening and Brad Richards, the Detroit Red Wings doubled up the New York Islanders 4-2 … P.K. Subban scored his fourth of the season after shooting from center ice … Brett Connolly’s goal with 1:54 left in the third period snapped a 2-2 tie and helped give the Boston Bruins a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. Tuukka Rask made 34 saves as Boston won for the fifth time in their last six games. Brad Marchand tallied his 20th of the season and has now scored in five straight games … Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza scored 80 seconds apart in the second period as the Dallas Stars edged the Calgary Flames 2-1. Benn’s 28th of the season came in gorgeous fashion:
Did You Know?
Dishonorable Mention: The Islanders’ streak of 22 consecutive power plays killed off came to an end … Philadelphia has dropped three in a row … The Flames failed on all five of their power play chances … The Wild fell to 1-9 in overtime and shootouts this season … Michael Stone thought he scored the overtime winner for the Coyotes, but the goal was waived off and a review deemed there was “incidental contact” made with Dubnyk:
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