NHL Three Stars: Crosby, McDavid do as Crosby, McDavid do
No. 1 Star: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Sid The Kid had a natural hat trick, upping his tally to 20 goals, plus an assist in the Penguins’ wild 6-5 win over the Ottawa Senators. Crosby scored a pair of power-play goals in the second period, and then added another at even strength at 6:40 of the third period. He assisted on Kris Letang’s first-period goal.
No. 2 Star: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Welcome back, Mr. McDavid. The rookie returned for his first game since Nov. 2, 2015, and scored a goal of the year candidate and had two assists in their 5-1 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.
No. 3 Star: J.F. Berube, New York Islanders
The rookie AHL callup made 40 saves for his first NHL win, as the Islanders defeated the Minnesota Wild, 5-3. John Tavares and Mikhail Grabovski had a goal and an assist.
Honorable Mention: Joseph Blandisi and David Schlemko had third-period goals as the New Jersey Devils rallied in the third period for a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. … P.A. Parenteau scored at 3:06 of overtime to give the Toronto Maple Leafs the 4-3 overtime win over the Boston Bruins – completing an impressive third period rally that saw them score twice in 2:29 on goals from Leo Komarov and Nazem Kadri. … Steve Mason made 30 saves in the Philadelphia Flyers’ 4-2 win over the plummeting Montreal Canadiens. Wayne Simmonds had two goals. … Jonathan Huberdeau had two goals and an assist in the Florida Panthers’ 5-2 win over the Ovechkin-less and Holtby-less Washington Capitals. Al Montoya made 36 saves. … Brian Elliott pitched a 16-save shutout and Troy Brouwer had the lone goal – at 18:55 of the third period! – in the St. Louis Blues’ 1-0 win over the Nashville Predators. … Tyler Seguin had two goals, including a key unassisted power-play tally in the third, as the Dallas Stars defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 5-3. John Klingberg had a goal and an assist and was a plus-4. … Richard Panik and Artemi Panarin scored first-period goals as the Chicago Blackhawks defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 2-1. Corey Crawford made 22 saves. … Dustin Brown scored twice and Vincent Lecavalier closed out the scoring in the third in the Los Angeles Kings’ 6-2 rout of the Arizona Coyotes. They were 3-of-7 on the power play. … Ryan Garbutt had the game-winner for the resurgent Anaheim Ducks, as they defeated the San Jose Sharks, 3-2.
Did You Know? Sometimes the Stars get 3-on-0 breakaways.
Dishonorable Mention: Evgeni Malkin had two assists but managed to be a minus-3. … Mikael Granlund and Jonas Brodin were a minus-3. … Devan Dubnyk was pulled after giving up five goals on 30 shots. … Bryan Little was a minus-3. … Gregory Campbell and Rene Bourque were a minus-3. … Louis Domingue was pulled after giving up five goals in on 25 shots. … Radko Gudas was given a penalty for clipping and a game misconduct for this play:
