NHL Three Stars: Jackets, Werenski set franchise records; Blues last-second heroics

Posted on by Jen Neale

No. 1 Star: Boone Jenner, Columbus Blue Jackets

We’ll let this game winning goal speak for itself.

No. 2 Star: Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins

In the Sidney Crosby versus Connor McDavid Bowl, Fleury came away as a star. He made 40 saves against the Edmonton Oilers through regulation and overtime. In the shootout he stopped Leon Draisaitl and Mark Letestu. Here he is stoning McDavid on a breakaway in OT.

No. 3 Star: Joel Edmundson, St. Louis Blues

With 20 seconds left a tied game against the Anaheim Ducks, Edmundson scored the game winning goal.

Honorable Mention: Connor McDavid started the game against Pittsburgh kicking in an own goal. He totally redeemed himself at the end of the game … Jimmy Howard returned to the Detroit net for the first time since Dec. 18. He made 24 saves in the win. It looked like it was going to be a long night for when Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin teamed up for an incredible scoring play:

… Eric Staal scored two goals and an assist in the Minnesota Wild’s 7-4 victory over of the Florida Panthers. Don’t let the score be an indication a bad game. The two team traded leads three times because the Wild erupted for four goals in the third period. James Reimer didn’t have a terrible game; he made 39 saves. The Chicago Blackhawks were on an eight game road win streak coming into their final visit to Joe Louis Arena. Tomas Tatar stepped up big for the Red Wings to snap that streak. He assisted on Andreas Athanasiou goal in the first to put Detroit up. He later scored two goals to give the Red Wings the 4-2 win … Who had Evan Rodrigues in the pool to break Sergei Bobrovsky’s shutout streak? The Buffalo Sabres forward scored the first goal of the game to snap Bob’s streak at 182:50. Zach Werenski picked up an assist tonight giving him 40 points on the season – a new rookie scoring record for the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Blue Jackets went 2-for-3 on the power play in the 4-3 win. Columbus picked up their 43rd win, tying a franchise record from 2013-14 … John Gibson started for the first time in 18 games. He made 31 saves in the loss. Vladimir Tarasenko took only 12 seconds in the first period to score his 30th goal of the season.

 Did You Know?

Dishonorable Mention: Justin Abdelkader laid a punishing hit on Brian Campbell that will catch the Department of Player Safety’s eye. Abdelkader received a two minute minor for charging on the play … For what you put in to the stat, Jonathan Marchessault was a minus-6. Devan Dubnyk replaced Darcy Kuemper in the third period with the game tied. Dubnyk’s lone goal allowed was off his blunder: