No. 1 Star: Jonathan Bernier, Anaheim Ducks
Most Ducks fans will tell you their faith in Bernier to be a steady anchor for the team while John Gibson heals up is … limited. He’s managed to string together the Ducks first back-to-back wins since Jan. 17-19. He made 43 saves to shut out the Chicago Blackhawks in Anaheim’s 1-0 win.
No. 2 Star: Jarome Iginla, Los Angeles Kings (that’s weird to type)
Iggy scored his first goal as a member of the Los Angeles Kings on the power play in the second period to tie the game. He followed it up with another power play goal, this time in overtime to give the Kings the win over the Nashville Predators.
No. 3 Star: Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks
The gentle giant recorded three assists to give him 70 points on the season. He’s tied with Sidney Crosby, Brad Marchand, Evgeni Malkin and Patrick Kane for second place after Connor McDavid at 74 and is the highest scoring defenseman in the NHL. He assisted on two of Logan Couture’s power play goals as the Sharks beat the Washington Capitals, 4-2.
Honorable Mention: The Calgary Flames won their eighth straight game by beating the Montreal Canadiens, 5-0. Brian Elliott made 24 saves for his first shutout of the season. Johnny Gaudreau factored in to four of the five goals by Calgary with a goal and three assists … Corey Perry finally scored his 12th goal of the season … The LA Kings power play was 3-for-3 against Nashville … With 19.3 seconds remaining in the game, Troy Stecher tied it at 3-3. It took 1:33 into overtime for Andrew Ladd to end it for his 19th goal of the season. Josh Bailey recorded three assists for the New York Islanders. Thomas Greiss earned his 23rd win making 36 saves on the Vancouver Canucks … Good night for power plays (or bad night for penalty kills) in the New York Rangers and Carolina Hurricanes game. The Rangers were 3-for-6 and the Hurricanes were 2-for-4. Mika Zibanejad scored two power play goals and it was followed by two power play goals by Sebastian Aho. Carolina beat the Rangers, 4-3. Enjoy this fancy goal by Jeff Skinner:
… The Toronto Maple Leafs were 2-for-2 on the power play with goals by William Nylander and Mitch Marner in the 4-2 win against the Philadelphia Flyers. Frederik Andersen made 36 saves to improve his record to 26-14-13. Shayne Gostisbehere had a goal and an assist for Philly … Nikita Kucherov scored two goals to give him 30 on the year. Andrei Vasilevskiy earned his 15th win of the season as the Lightning beat the Minnesota Wild, 4-1 … Hey! The Colorado Avalanche won. They beat the New Jersey Devils, 3-2 … Erik Karlsson was the hero in the Ottawa Senators overtime win against the Arizona Coyotes. Karlsson tied the game in the third period and won it in OT.
Did You Know? Brent Burns is first NHL defenseman to reach the 70-point mark in consecutive seasons since Mike Green (2008-09, 2009-10), per Elias.
Dishonorable Mention: Despite getting the win, the Ducks were out-shot in the first period 19-2 … The Caps power play was 0-for-5 against San Jose … Henrik Lundqvist, Michael Grabner and Rick Nash were all out of the Rangers’ lineup … Horrible luck for the Tampa Bay Lightning. They lost Vladislav Namestnikov, Tyler Johnson and Cedric Paquette all in one game to injury … Poor Al Montoya. He got shelled by the Flames allowing 5 goals on 38 shots and there was no chance Claude Julien was going to replace him with Carey Price.