NHL Three Stars: Smith’s great return; Helm the hero
No. 1 Star: Mike Smith, Arizona Coyotes
Making his first start after a 40-game absence due to injury, Smith recorded his 29th career shutout with a 44-save night as the Coyotes beat the Edmonton Oilers 4-0. Antoine Vermette scored a pair of goals and Alex Tanguay recorded his sixth point in five games since being acquired from Colorado.
No. 2 Star: Darren Helm, Detroit Red Wings
Helm scored twice Saturday afternoon, with the most important goal of the two coming 3:03 into overtime to give Detroit a 3-2 win over the New York Rangers. Petr Mrazek made 23 stops and Danny DeKeyser assisted on both of Helm’s goals.
No. 3 Star: Craig Anderson, Ottawa Senators
Mark Stone and J.G. Pageau had three-point nights while Anderson stopped 29 shots as Ottawa blanked the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-0. The shutout was Anderson’s fourth of the season and 33rd of his career. According to the NHL, the win meant Ottawa swept Toronto in the season series (of three-plus games) for the first time since 2000-01.
Honorable Mention: David Pastrnak snapped a 1-1 tie with nine seconds left in the second period an added another late in the third as the Boston Bruins upended the New York Islanders 3-1. Tuukka Rask made 25 saves and Loui Eriksson recorded a goal and added two assists. Boston has now won five of the their last seven. … Henrik Lundqvist made 40 stops in an outstanding performance … Islanders captain John Tavares became the 11th player in franchise history to reach the 200-goal mark … Drew Stafford and Adam Lowry scored 1:35 apart in the third period to erase a 2-0 deficit and help the Winnipeg Jets down the Colorado Avalanche 3-2. Mark Scheifele notched his 22nd of the season for the Jets and now has 11 points in his last seven games. The win was Winnipeg’s first this season (1-25-3) when trailing after the second period … Sasha Barkov and Nick Bjugstad scored the only goals in the shootout and the Florida Panthers outlasted the Philadelphia Flyers in a wild one 5-4. Reilly Smith scored twice and Jaromir Jagr handed out a pair of assists. One of Jagr’s assists came after a show of strength against Nick Schultz:
Shayne Gostisbehere scored his 15th goal of the year for the Flyers to become the 15th rookie in NHL history to reach the mark … Mikael Granlund potted two goals and Devan Dubnyk stopped 30 shots as the Minnesota Wild got by the Montreal Canadiens 4-1. Nino Niederreiter opened the scoring thanks to an assist from Mike Condon:
John Moore scored his third overtime goal of the season as the New Jersey Devils beat the Los Angeles Kings 2-1:
Brent Burns, Joe Thornton, Brenden Dillon and Joe Pavelski all had two points as the San Jose Sharks defeated the Washington Capitals 5-2. The win moves the Sharks to within a point of the Anaheim Ducks for second in the Pacific Division. Patrick Marleau hit the 20-goal mark for the 13th time in his career … Radim Vrbata, Alex Burrows and Bo Horvat recorded two points apiece as the Vancouver Canucks doubled up the Nashville Predators 4-2. Ryan Miller made 35 saves for his first win in four starts. … Jack Eichel was the hero in a 3-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes by scoring his second of the game with 2.5 seconds to go in overtime:
Kevin Shattenkirk netted two goals and Alex Pietrangelo was the overtime hero as the St. Louis Blues edged the Dallas Stars 5-4. Jake Allen made 34 saves and Paul Stastny chipped in three assists. The win moves the Blues into a tie for the top spot in the Western Conference with Dallas:
Did You Know?
Dishonorable Mention: Niklas Kronwall left the game in the second period with a lower-body injury … The Islanders have lost five straight to the Bruins … Antti Niemi has allowed three or more goals in nine of his last 10 starts … Nashville’s 14-game point streak came to an end.
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