NHL Three Stars: Couture scores three; Kincaid plays spoiler
No. 1 Star: Logan Couture, San Jose Sharks
Couture notched a hat trick to lead the Sharks to a 4-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. The win gave the Sharks 92 points, just three behind the Los Angeles Kings for first-place in the Pacific Division. Couture has 13 goals and 32 point in 47 games played this year.
No. 2 Star: Keith Kincaid, New Jersey Devils
The Devils netminder helped his team play spoiler in a 2-1 win over the Boston Bruins with a career-high 39 saves on 40 shots on goal. The Devils kept their distant postseason hopes alive with the win. New Jersey (82 points) is five points back of the Philadelphia Flyers for the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference. The Flyers have two games in hand.
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No. 3 Star: Nazem Kadri, Toronto Maple Leafs
The young forward fired a hat trick in a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers. It was the third hat trick of Kadri’s career. The other two came in 2012-13. With the win, the Maple Leafs moved into a tie with the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers for the fewest points in the NHL with 67.
Honorable Mention: Dallas Stars captain Jamie Benn scored two goals in a 5-2 win over the Nashville Predators. Teammate Alex Goligoski notched two assists and was a plus-5 … Stars forwards Patrick Sharp and Jason Spezza each scored one goal … St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 36th goal of the season in a 3-1 win over the Colorado Avalanche … Blues forward Alex Steen notched two assists and captain David Backes scored his 20th goal of the season … Minnesota Wild forward Nino Niederreiter scored his 20th goal of the season and notched one assist in a 4-1 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Teammate Erik Haula scored one goal and added an assist … Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa scored his 499th goal of his career … Toronto forward Connor Brown notched three assists. Teammate Michael Grabner scored a goal and added an assist … Florida Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau scored his 16th goal of the year … Montreal Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty scored two goals and was a plus-3 in a 4-3 win over the Detroit Red Wings … Forward Alex Galcehnyuk notched two assists for the Habs and Montreal goaltender Mike Condon stopped 39 of 42 shots on goal … Montreal’s Paul Byron and Sven Andrighetto each scored a goal and added an assist … Red Wings forward Pavel Datsyuk notched two assists … Detroit went 3-for-5 on the power play … Pittsburgh Penguins forward Tom Kuhnhacki scored a goal and added an assist in a 5-4 shootout win over the Buffalo Sabres … Pens captain Sidney Crosby notched an assist and teammate Nick Bonino scored a goal … Pittsburgh forward Phil Kessel scored the shootout winner … Sabres forward Ryan O’Reilly scored a goal and added an assist. Teammate Johan Larsson notched two assists … The New York Islanders beat the Carolina Hurricanes in a shootout thanks to a third period goal by Anders Lee and the shootout winner by Kyle Okposo … New York goaltender Thomas Greiss stopped 26 of 27 shots on goal … The Islanders have 91 points, four clear of the Red Wings as the last team out of the playoffs in the Eastern Conference. New York has two games in hand on Detroit … Derek Ryan scored his second goal of the season for Carolina … Devils forward Reid Boucher scored a goal and added an assist in the win over the Bruins … New Jersey forward Travis Zajac scored his 14th goal of the year … Bruins forward Brad Marchand scored his 35th goal of the season … San Jose Sharks captain Joe Pavelski scored his 37th goal of the season a in a 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Teammate Joe Thornton notched his 56th assist of the season … Vancouver forward Chris Higgins scored a goal.
Did You Know? The Wild won all five games against the Blackhawks this season. It is the third time in Chicago’s history that it was swept in a season series of five or more games (Montreal Maroons, six games in 1936-37 and the Boston Bruins, eight, in 1938-39)
Dishonorable Mention: Nashville Predators forward Mike Fisher was a minus-3. Preds defenseman Roman Josi was also a minus-3 … Chicago Blackhawks forwards Artemi Panarin and Patrick Kane were both minus-3 … Panarin has just two points in his last nine games … Detroit’s Petr Mrazek was pulled after allowed two goals on his first seven shots on goal faced … Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask stopped 13 of 15 shots on goal in their loss to New Jersey. Boston has lost six of seven games.
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