NHL Three Stars: McDavid the hero, Lehtonen survives Weber shot
No. 1 Star: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers
Tuesday night was the first of many showdowns between McDavid and Jack Eichel. The Oilers forward came out on top in this particular meeting. He scored one goal within 22 seconds of puck drop. His second goal of the game came off of a failed Eichel attempt in overtime.
No. 2 Star: Jean-Gabriel Pageau, Ottawa Senators
In the final three minutes of the third period, the forward scored two goals to tie the game against St. Louis. His second goal came with 0.1-seconds left on the clock. The Sens would drop the game in the 11 round of the shootout.
No. 3 Star: Kari Lehtonen, Dallas Stars
This has nothing to do with how he played. He took a Shea Weber shot to the groin and lived to tell about it. He needed a little time to collect himself but he stayed in the game.
Honorable Mention: Congrats to Derek Ryan of the Carolina Hurricanes. Playing in his first NHL game at 29-years-old, he scored the first goal of his career on the power play to tie the game for the ‘Canes. They went on to beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2.
… Jyrki Jokipakka picked up an assist in his first game with the Calgary Flames. Lee Stempniak and John-Michael Liles made their debuts for the Boston Bruins since being acquired at the deadline. They were held without a shot and even on the night. Landon Ferraro and Patrice Bergeron scored in Boston’s 2-1 victory … Robin Lehner made 39 of 41 saves in the loss to Edmonton. Watch Sam Reinhart’s incredible spin-o-rama backhand pass to Cal O’Reilly for the goal:
… Vladimir Tarasenko picked up his 30 goal of the season against the Senators. Jaden Schwartz had a goal and two assists. Patrik Berglund ended the shootout in the 11 round to give the Blues the win … Braden Holtby earned win No. 40 of the season against the Pittsburgh Penguins. Matt Niskanen netted the eventual game winner on the power play against his old team. Evgeni Malkin scored on helluva goal to open the game:
… Reilly Smith scored two goals for the Florida Panthers in their 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. Vincent Trochek assisted on both of Smith’s goals. Jaromir Jagr’s 21 goal of the season was the game winner. Roberto Luongo improved to 27-15-6 on the season with 30 saves … Minnesota went up 3-1 after one period against Colorado. The Avs came back to tie the game in the second. It was all Wild in the third period with two goals from Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter’s second tally for the 6-3 Wild win … Pekka Rinne made 35 saves in the Nashville Predators 5-3 triumph over the Stars. Shea Weber had 3 points in 26:46 TOI. Calle Jarnkrok tallied Nashville’s second goal of the game on a sweet deflection:
… Thomas Hickey had 2 points in the New York Islanders 3-2 win. Johnny Boychuk was credited with 7 shots on goal. He came back on the ice after taking a puck to the mouth to finish out the game. Thomas Greiss made 30 saves and picked up his 17 win of the season.
Did You Know?
Dishonorable Mention: Dougie Hamilton returned to Boston for the first time as a member of the Calgary Flames. He was booed every time he touched the puck … Craig Anderson left the game against St. Louis after appearing to tweak something in his lower body in the second period … Semyon Varlamov played only one period for the Colorado Avalanche after giving up 3 Minnesota Wild goals on 12 shots … Antti Niemi was chased after allowing 4 goals on 18 shots. Patrick Sharp played only 11:11 before leaving the game with an injury he suffered in the previous game … Poor Dan Hamhuis. As if this week couldn’t get worse. First he doesn’t get traded. Then he redirected a puck into his own net.
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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at [email protected] or follow her on Twitter! Follow @MsJenNeale_PD.
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