NHL Three Stars: Ducks, Lightning extend win streaks; King Henrik mad
No. 1 Star: Calvin Pickard, Colorado Avalanche
The 23-year-old netminder improved his record to 6-4-1 on the back of a 38 save effort against the always dangerous Florida Panthers. He faced 24 shots in the third period alone. The Avs won 3-2.
No. 2 Star: Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
Down 1-0 with less than five minutes to go in the second, the Penguins scored 3 goals in 1:38 on the New York Rangers. Malkin netted the second and assisted on the third goal in that stretch. He added an assist on a Phil Kessel empty net goal for a three point contest.
No. 3 Star: Ben Bishop, Tampa Bay Lightning
The goaltender allowed only 1 goal against on 34 shots he faced. His performance in net led the Lightning to their eighth straight win of the season.
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Honorable Mention: Marcus Foligno recorded a 3 point night with a short handed goal and 2 assists in the Buffalo Sabres 6-3 win against Calgary. Evander Kane, Brian Gionta, and Zach Bogosian earned 2 points each … Tomas Fleischmann picked up his first goal as a member of the Chicago Blackhawks in the 4-2 loss to the Boston Bruins. After this snipe, Brad Marchand has 33 goals. That’s third in the NHL.
… Cam Talbot posted 35 saves as the Edmonton Oilers shut out the Philadelphia Flyers 4-0. Patrick Maroon scored a goal in his debut with the Oilers. Adam Pardy had an assist and a was a plus-3 … Scott Gomez made his debut for the Ottawa Senators … The Minnesota Wild scored both goals on the power play against the Toronto Marlies — err — Toronto Maple Leafs … Good night for the power play (or bad night for the penalty kill?) as the New Jersey Devils went 3-for-3 and the Nashville Predators were 2-for-2. Mike Fisher played in NHL game No. 1000. Devante Smith Pelly scored his first goal as a member of the Devils. Adam Henrique’s first goal of the night tied the game with 40-seconds to go. His second won the game in overtime:
… Congrats to Jaromir Jagr for tying Gordie Howe on the all time point scoring list at 1850. Matt Duchene netted goal No. 27 of the year that would stand as the game winner over Florida … The Anaheim Ducks earned their 10 straight win in a 5-1 dousing of the Arizona Coyotes. The Ducks power play went 3-for-7. Corey Perry had 3 points while the newest Duck, Jamie McGinn had 2 points … Nick Leddy tied the game versus the Winnipeg Jets with 28.3 seconds remaining. Kyle Okposo finished the job in overtime. Only downside, the puck deflected off Nikolaj Ehlers face and to Okposo who batted it in:
… San Jose Sharks scored three straight goals between the second and third period to beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-2. Martin Jones earned his 32 win of the season. Montreal’s woes continue as they drop a 3-2 game to the Los Angeles Kings. Dwight King scored an unassisted goal took the puck from P.K. Subban who was laying on the ice:
Did You Know? Claude Julien recorded win No. 387 behind the Bruins bench tonight. He ties Art Ross for the most wins with the franchise.
Dishonorable Mention: Kevin Porter collided with Viktor Stalberg in the first period and did not return due to a lower-body injury. Henrik Lundqvist was replaced by Antti Raanta for the third period versus the Penguins. He had a mini-meltdown during the game when he didn’t get a whistle he wanted:
… Mike Babcock received a bench minor after he yelled at the refs a little too much. This led directly to Mikael Granlund’s game winning goal on a two-man advantage … The Calgary Flames did not register their first shot on goal until 2:56 of the first period … Mark Borowiecki played 56 seconds of the game before leaving due to an injury sustained on a check he threw on Matt Carle. He is considered week-to-week.
… Ducks played without Ryan Getzlaf who was a late scratch with a lower body injury. Niklas Treutle made his NHL debut against Anaheim. He allowed 5 goals on 16 shots and was replaced by Louis Domingue for the third period. The final five minutes of the game saw Arizona and Anaheim each take 26 minutes in penalties. Max Domi received an instigator in that time period after Ryan Garbutt legally checked Oliver Ekman-Larsson … Want a metaphor of the Habs season? Max Pacioretty’s skate falls apart on the ice, the ref helps him to the bench and the Kings score.
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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!
