No. 1 Star: Cody Eakin, Dallas Stars
Eakin earned his first multi-goal game of his career thanks to his play on specialty teams. The Stars center put his team ahead of Chicago by two goals while short-handed, and scored what would end up being the game winner on the power play:
No. 2 Star: Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
Detroit was down 3-0 to Buffalo by 13:37 of the first period. Leave it to the captain to lead the charge for the comeback. Zetterberg’s 4-point night included an assist Gustav Nyquist’s power play goal to get the Red Wings rolling and a hat trick for good measure.
No. 3 Star: Rick Nash, New York Rangers
Nash, a plus-3, scored 26-seconds into the game against Pittsburgh to put the Rangers up 1-0. His second goal in the game was credited as the game winner despite it being more-or-less an own goal by the Penguins.
Honorable Mention: Five different New York Rangers had 2-point games against the Penguins. David Perron is enjoying his new life in Pittsburgh. Here he splits the Rangers defense to score on Henrik Lundqvist:
… Kari Lehtonen made 38 saves for Dallas in the 6-3 win over Chicago. Jamie Benn helped his team’s cause with 3-points (all assists). Tyler Seguin scored a goal to put him in a tie with Rick Nash for the NHL’s goal scoring crown at 28. Brandon Saad and Marian Hossa combined for 14 of the Blackhawks 34 shots; by the 6:30 mark of the first period, Chicago had already registered 11 SOG. Speaking of Saad, everyone loves a spin-o-rama goal:
… The ‘Yotes trailed from the early second period on until Lauri Korpikoski brought them within one by converting on the power play. Playing in place of an injured Mikkel Boedker, Tobias Reider tied the game with 3:50 remaining on the clock. Yet, Winnipeg would come out on top in the shoot-out with Bryan Little scoring the only goal. Little scored on Mike Smith, who stoned him earlier in the game:
… Detroit’s Thomas McCollum came in relief of starter Petr Mrazek when his team was down 3-0. After a 6-3 comeback by the Red Wings, he ended up with his first NHL win in his second NHL appearance. The last time he played in an NHL game was for Detroit the 2010-2011 season.
Did You Know? With the loss to Detroit, Buffalo is now on a 11-game losing streak.
Dishonorable Mention: Marc-Andre Fleury was replaced with Thomas Greiss after giving up 4 goals. Kris Letang and Nick Spaling were both a minus-3 …Andrew Shaw was a minus-3 for Chicago. Doesn’t Shawn Horcoff know he’s not supposed to hit Patrick Sharp in the face?! Jordie Benn got a penalty for this (via Hockey Reddit):
… With 1:35 left in a tied game, Dustin Byfuglien received an unsportsman like conduct minor penalty for acting like a baby and pushing the puck away from the linesman when he went to pick it up; luckily Arizona was unable to convert. When playing Coyotes, make sure Mike Smith always handles the puck behind his net; good things happen – for the other team:
… With Jimmy Howard out, Petr Mrazek got the nod in net for Detroit. He was pulled after giving up 3 goals on 7 shots in 13:36 TOI. Should this Gustav Nyquist power play goal have counted, or at least, should play have been whistled dead? Watch the front of the net, Tyson Strachan takes a puck to the face, is down on the ice bleeding, and Detroit ends up scoring.
Jen Neale 