NHL Three Stars; Foligno finally breaks out; Scheifele steps up
No. 1 Star: Nick Foligno, Columbus Blue Jackets
Scored a hat trick and added an assist in a 6-1 drubbing over the New Jersey Devils. It was the second hat trick of Foligno’s career. His first one came April 4, 2015 against the Pittsburgh Penguins. With the hat trick, Foligno has nine goals on the year in 53 games played. Last season, Foligno fired 31 goals.
No. 2 Star: Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets
With center Bryan Little out for the rest of the regular season, Scheifele moved into a bigger role. He delivered, scoring one goal and adding three assists in a 6-3 win over the Dallas Stars. The 22-year-old Scheifele tied a career-high with his 15th goal of the season. He has 34 points in 49 games played.
No. 3 Star: Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators
The Nashville Predators netminder continued his hot play, stopping 38 of 39 shots on goal in a 3-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. In his last four games, Rinne has allowed four goals, a stretch where he’s gone 3-0-1. With the win, Nashville moved seven points clear of the Minnesota Wild for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. The Preds are 5-0-3 in their last eight games.
Honorable Mention: Vancouver Canucks defenseman Matt Bartkowski scored two goals and added an assist in a 5-3 win over the Ottawa Senators … Canucks forward Jake Virtanen scored a goal and added an assist. Teammate Emerson Etem scored two goals … New York Islanders forward Josh Bailey fired the overtime winner in his team’s 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames … Isles defenseman Thomas Hickey scored the game-tying goal in the third period … Flames forward Jiri Hudler scored his 10th goal of the year … Jets forward Joel Armia scored two goals and added an assist … Winnipeg forward Nikolaj Ehlers notched two assists … Jets defensemen Jacob Trouba and Tobias Enstrom scored a goal and added an assist … Nashville forward Mike Fisher notched two assists in his team’s win over the Blackhawks. Teammate Calle Jarnkrok scored his 12th goal of the season … Chicago defenseman Brent Seabrook scored his team’s only goal … New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist stopped 35 of 36 shots on goal in a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues. The win was Lundqvist’s 30th of the year. He’s the third goaltender in NHL history, joining Martin Brodeur and Patrick Roy, to post 10-plus 30-win seasons … Chris Kreider and Tanner Glass both scored for the Rangers … Troy Brouwer scored for the Blues … Florida Panthers forward Aleksander Barkov scored two goals in his first game since Feb. 8 in a 3-2 win over the Arizona Coyotes. Barkov had been out with an upper-body injury … Teammate Vincent Trochek fired his 18th goal of the season … Coyotes captain Shane Doan scored his 23rd goal of the season in the loss. He also picked up an assist … Maple Leafs forward Josh Leivo has scored four goals in his last four games played. He picked up another score in a 3-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes … Maple Leafs goaltender Jonathan Bernier stopped 30 of 31 shots on goal in the win … Blue Jackets forward William Karlsson notched three assists and was a plus-3. Teammate Matt Calvert notched three assists and was a plus-4 … Flyers forward Sam Gagner scored a goal in a 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild … Philly defenseman Mark Streit also scored a goal. Pierre-Edouard Bellemare scored the game-winner … Thomas Vanek and Mikael Granlund both scored for the Wild … Kings forwards Dwight King and Jeff Carter each scored a goal and added an assist in a 2-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers … Kings forward Tyler Toffoli notched two assists … Edmonton forward Zack Kassian scored his third goal of the season … Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 26 of 27 shots on goal.
Did You Know? There were reportedly four people from the Montreal Canadiens listed on the press box manifest for the Kings/Oilers game at Staples Center. This included GM Marc Bergevin. They didn’t get to watch Oilers trade targets Teddy Purcell and Justin Schultz, who were healthy scratches.
Dishonorable Mention: Ottawa Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson was a minus-4 … Sens forward Bobby Ryan was a minus-3 … Stars forward Ales Hemsky was a minus-4. Teammates Tyler Seguin and Johnny Oduya were each a minus-3 … Devils forward Joseph Blandisi was a minus-4 in the loss to the Blue Jackets … Devils defensemen Jon Merrill and Damon Severson were each a minus-3 … New Jersey goaltender Cory Schneider was pulled after allowing three goals on 11 shots on goal … The Wild have lost two straight after winning four in a row under interim coach John Torchetti.
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