NHL Three Stars: Letang plays forever; Lightning wakeup and win

No. 1 Star: Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins

Letang was a beast for the Penguins in their 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Due to the injury to Olli Maatta in the first period, the defenseman had to take on extra minutes on the ice. Like an insane amount of minutes – 35:22 in total. In that time he was a plus-2 with 6 shots on goal, 4 attempts blocked, and 1 missed shot. He also blocked 5 shots.

No. 2 Star: Tyler Johnson, Tampa Bay Lightning

The forward recorded 2 goals and 1 assist in the Lightning’s 4-1 drubbing of the New York Islanders. The series is now tied at 1-1 as it heads to Brooklyn. 

No. 3 Star: Matt Murray, Pittsburgh Penguins

The goaltender improved his playoff record to 4-1-1 as he held the Capitals to 1 goal on 24 shots. Check out this series of saves he made.

Honorable Mention: Braden Holtby made 33 saves in the loss … Thomas Greiss was 27 of 30 for the Islanders. Victor Hedman scored a goal and an assist. Same for Jonathan Drouin who picked up his first playoff goal:

Did You Know? Nicklas Backstrom won 18 of 20 draws, and was 14-1 against Sidney Crosby.

Dishonorable Mention: Brooks Orpik is definitely going to get suspended for knocking Olli Maatta out of the game for his vicious, very late hit. Penguins power play was 0-for-5. No Pittsburgh center was above a 36% success rate on the dot … Both the Lightning and Islanders power play were 1-for-5. In the final 1:40, both teams started to tussle and took a total of six penalties. All of them minor infractions, but sets up a headed Game 3.

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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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