NHL Three Stars: Lightning down Islanders in OT; Blues crush Stars
No. 1 Star: Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay Lightning
Hedman was an all-around force for the Lightning in their 5-4 overtime win over the New York Islanders. He scored a goal, notched two assists and played 30:15 total. Hedman had the secondary helper on Nikita Kucherov’s game-tying goal that sent the game to OT and the primary assist on Brian Boyle’s game-winner. The Lightning lead the series 2-1.
No. 2 Star: David Backes, St. Louis Blues
Backes continued his strong postseason with two goals (including the game-winner) to lead the Blues to a 6-1 drubbing over the Dallas Stars in Game 3 of their series. He also won 72 percent of his faceoffs. Backes is tied for first on the team with five goals in 10 games played. He now has three game-winning goals in this postseason, which tied the Blues’ franchise record. With the victory, St. Louis took a 2-1 series lead.
No. 3 Star: Shea Weber, Nashville Predators
Nashville’s captain fired the game-winning goal and added an assist in his team’s 4-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks in Game 3. The goal was his 13th in his postseason career, which tied David Legwand’s franchise mark. Weber also played 24:02, which included 5:23 on the penalty kill. The Predators held the powerful Sharks power play to an 0-for-4 showing. San Jose came into the game 3-for-5 with the man-advantage in the series. The Sharks lead the Predators 2-1.
Honorable Mention: Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko scored a goal and added two assists. They were Tarasenko’s first points in his last three games played. Teammate Alexander Steen scored two goals … Blues forward Troy Brouwer scored a goal and added an assist … St. Louis defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk notched an assist and played a team-high 25:29 … Blues goaltender Brian Elliott stopped 25 of 26 shots on goal … The Predators were 2-for-5 on the power play. It was the first time all playoffs they scored more than one power play goal in a game … Nashville defenseman Roman Josi notched one assist and played 23:00 … Predators forward Colin Wilson scored his third goal of the playoffs. He has eight points in 10 postseason games … Nashville forward James Neal scored his third goal of the playoffs … Tampa forward Jonathan Drouin notched one assist after taking a big hit from Islanders defenseman Thomas Hickey. The helper was on the game-tying goal that sent the contest to overtime … Boyle scored the OT winner … Lightning forward Alex Killorn notched two assists as did teammate Valtteri Filppula … Tampa forward Ryan Callahan scored a goal and added an assist … Islanders forward Josh Bailey scored two goals. Teammate Cal Clutterbuck scored a goal and added an assist … Islanders defenseman Nick Leddy scored a goal … San Jose’s lone goal was scored by Patrick Marleau.
Did You Know? The Predators are 4-0 in Game 3 after losing the first two games of a series.
Dishonorable Mention: Stars defenseman John Klingberg was a minus-3 … Dallas goaltender Antti Niemi allowed three goals on nine shots on goal before getting yanked after 22:34. Teammate Kari Lehtonen made 24 saves on 27 shots on goal … Sharks goaltender Martin Jones suffered his worst defeat this postseason, allowing four goals on 25 shots on goal … Predators center Mike Ribeiro was a healthy scratch. He has one point in nine postseason games this year.
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