NHL Three Stars: Lindholm’s 5 point game; Flames complete 4 goal comeback, fall in shoot-out

Posted on by Jen Neale

No. 1 Star: Elias Lindholm, Carolina Hurricanes

The sophomore center factored in on 5 of 7 Hurricanes goals in the team’s 7-4 comeback victory against the Edmonton Oilers. Of his 5 points, he earned his first ever NHL hat trick.

No. 2 Star: Derick Brassard, New York Rangers

It had been 15 games since Brassard last scored a goal. The goal he scored Sunday night was the only goal in the game between the Rangers and the Blackhawks, and it happened to come 32-seconds into overtime.

No. 3 Star: Kris Russell, Calgary Flames

After 7:10 of the second period, Ottawa had scored 4 goals and Calgary had zero. Karri Ramo was on his way out of the net, and Jonas Hiller replaced him. The third period rolled around and the Flames woke up. Russell scored 2 of 4 Calgary goals in the third period, including the game-tying goal with 2:18 left to play. Ultimately they would fall in a shoot-out, but it was one heck of a game.

Honorable Mention: Boston scored all but one of their goals on special teams in the 5-3 win over Detroit. Daniel Paille netted 2 goals in the second period; the second goal, a short-handed tally, was the best of the game:

… Eric Staal scored 4-points, was a plus-3, and 73% on the face-off dot against Edmonton. Alexander Semin scored a goal from his belly.  In the loss, Jordan Eberle had a 3-point game, and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins had 4-points. RNH earned the rare ‘hat trick in a loss’. It’s his second career hat trick.

… Colorado beat Minnesota 3-2 despite only throwing 21 shots at Devan Dubnyk. The Wild scored 2 goals in the third period, second by Thomas Vanek coming with 19-second remaining, to nearly come all the way back against the Avs. Jonas Brodin assisted on both Minny goals. Gabriel Landeskog had a power play goal and an assist in 19:24 TOI … Prior to puck drop, the Devils honored the 1995 Stanley Cup team. Steve Bernier assisted on 3 of 5 New Jersey goals. Adam Henrique scored 2 goals in the Devils 5-2 win against Philadelphia. Here’s Henrique’s second tally of the game:

… Craig Anderson made his return to the Ottawa net after missing 17 games with an injury. He made 42 saves in regulation and OT and stopped 4 of 6 shooters in the shoot-out … Cam Talbot earned his shutout against the Blackhawks on a 29 save effort. His counterpart, Corey Crawford, made 35 saves in the loss.

Did You Know? The Rangers are 11-2-3 since February 4th when they lost Henrik Lundqvist to injury. Possible goaltending controvery on the horizon?

Dishonorable Mention: Detroit’s Jonas Gustavsson was pulled after giving up 4 goals on 23 shots through 2 periods … The Oilers were up 3-0 with 12:01 left in the second, and they proceeded to give up 6 straight to Carolina before scoring their fourth and final goal in the third period … Before losing to the Devils, the Flyers had earned points in 17 of their last 21 games; they’re behind Boston by 7-points for the last Wild Card slot. Mark Streit was a minus-4 … After a raucous game last week, Minnesota and Colorado met again, this time in Minnesota. Newly acquired Wild player Chris Stewart and the always charming Cody Leod dropped the gloves 43-seconds into the game to get the fight out of the way.

Semyon Varlamov took a Matthew Dumba shot up high early in the second period. He stayed in the game until six minutes left in regulation when Reto Berra took his place. No update on his status.