NHL Three Stars: Varlamov blanks Ducks; Gaudreau scores twice
No. 1 Star: Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche
Varlamov backstopped the Avalanche to a 3-0 shutout of the Anaheim Ducks with a 37-save performance. Nathan MacKinnon, Andreas Martinsen and Shawn Matthias all scored as Varlamov recorded his 20th career shutout.
No. 2 Star: Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
Mikael Backlund was the hero in overtime, but Gaudreau scored twice in a 10-second span as the Flames beat the Nashville Predators 3-2.
No. 3 Star: Jeff Carter, Los Angeles Kings
LA blew a 3-0 third period lead, but Carter saved the day in overtime with his 18th of the year. Carter, Milan Lucic and Tanner Pearson all recorded two points. Jonathan Quick made 29 stops.
Honorable Mention: Nikita Soshnikov scored the only goal in the shootout as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the New York Islanders 4-3 to end a six-game skid. Zach Hyman scored for the second game in a row and fellow rookie William Nylander sent the game to overtime with a power play goal with 1:13 left in the third period … Long Island’s own Anthony Bitetto scored his first NHL goal for the Predators … Morgan Rielly scored on his 22nd birthday:
The Predators extended their franchise record point streak to 14 games in the OT loss … Mikael Granlund was the hero in overtime as the Vancouver Canucks beat the Arizona Coyotes 3-2. After Arizona took a 2-0 lead in the second period, Radim Vrbata and Lucas Sbisa scored six minutes apart to even the game.
Troy Brouwer scored a power play tally in the third period and a goal in the shootout as the St. Louis Blues edged the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. Both of St. Louis’ goals came via third period power play goals. Brouwer and Kevin Shattenkirk scored back-to-back in the shootout to give the Blues the extra point. Jake Allen made 33 saves for his fourth straight win … Heckuva goal by Dmitry Orlov to tie the game late in LA:
Mike Richards and Justin Williams both received tributes in their first game back in Los Angeles:
Did You Know?
Dishonorable Mention: New York snapped its four-game winning streak … Nashville fell to 1-12 in overtime … Anaheim’s 14-game point streak came to an end and they’ve now lost consecutive games for the first time since December … Should Ryan Reaves have been ejected for this hit on Christian Ehrhoff?
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