NHL Three Stars: Panthers win 12 straight; Ovi’s milestone; Reinhart’s hatty

Posted on by Jen Neale

No. 1 Star: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

It was a good night for No. 8. The enigmatic forward scored milestone goal number 500 and followed it up by burning past Erik Karlsson for goal number 501.

No. 2 Star: Sam Reinhart, Buffalo Sabres

In a game that was all about Evander Kane’s return to Winnipeg, Reinhart shined scoring the first hat trick of his career in the 4-2 win. The win was the first for Buffalo in January dating back to last year. Reinhart’s third goal, an empty netter, came on a pass from Kane, who could have scored to give a big F-YOU to the Jets faithful. It was a selfless act. 

No. 3 Star: Al Montoya, Florida Panthers

The netminder held the Edmonton Oilers to only 1 goal on 35 shots against. Jaromir Jagr and Jonathan Huberdeau scored for the Panthers to give the team their 12 straight win.

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Honorable Mention: Linus Ullmark had 42 saves against for the Sabres … Jason Chimera and Nicklas Backstrom contributed  3 assists each in the Capitals 7-1 thumping of the Ottawa Senators. Philipp Grubauer made 32 saves … Jonathan Toews picked up a goal and 2 assists in the Chicago Blackhawks 6-3 victory against the Colorado Avalanche. After having not scored in over a month, Marian Hossa netted 2 goals. Matt Duchene had 2 goals for the Avs … Cory Schneider improved to 18-13-5 in the win over the Minnesota Wild … Watch Jaromir Jagr do his magic against the Oilers:

Did You Know? Wow.

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Dishonorable Mention: Mark Scheifele was a late scratch after taking warmups, out with a lower-body injury … Semyon Varlamov was pulled after allowing 4 goals on 20 shots. His replacement, Calvin Pickard, was scored on 2 more times after coming in … The Wild/Devils game combined for 35 total shots on goal … It was not a good night for Ryan Getzlaf. He was on the ice for both Detroit goals against in the Ducks 2-1 loss. The first was 16 seconds into the game and the last came on the stick of Riley Sheahan as a direct result of a Getzlaf turnover.

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