Saturday’s Three Stars: Ovechkin’s trick, Koivu’s homecoming
No. 1 Star: Alex Ovechkin(notes), Washington Capitals
Ovechkin's first hat trick of the season and 10th of his career powered the Capitals to a 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs. He crashed the crease to deflect a Jeff Schultz(notes) shot for his first goal. His second was scored from the slot. His third was an empty netter, giving him 19 goals on the season. Watch his trick here.
No. 2 Star: Brad Marchand(notes), Boston Bruins
Marchand ended the game with an empty netter and the first 4-point effort of his NHL career (2 goals, 2 assists), as the Boston Bruins topped the Colorado Avalanche, 6-2. One of his goals was Mark Recchi(notes) has a goal and two assists and Milan Lucic(notes) had two goals.
No. 3 Star: Bobby Ryan(notes), Anaheim Ducks
Bobby Ryan scored his 22nd in regulation and the lone goal in the shootout as Anaheim rallied around Saku Koivu's(notes) return to Montreal with a 4-3 win over the Canadiens. Jonas Hiller(notes) made 37 saves on 40 shots and stopped all three shootout chances. Mathieu Darche(notes) and Max Pacioretty(notes) (2 goals) rallied the Habs for the tie in the third, with Pacioretty tying the game with 13 seconds left.
Honorable mention: The Pittsburgh Penguins held off a late rally by the Carolina Hurricanes for a 3-2 victory. Mark Letestu(notes) and Pascal Dupuis(notes) scored third-period power-play goals. Eric Staal(notes) had his 23rd for the Canes. Marc-Andre Fleury(notes) made 24 saves and skated out wearing a Steelers helmet (again) during three stars. ... Tremendous rally from the Columbus Blue Jackets, as they scored five unanswered goals and three in the third period to beat the St. Louis Blues, 5-2. Andre Murray, Rick Nash(notes) and Fedor Tyutin(notes) had the third-period tallies. ... Tomas Kopecky(notes) scored twice for the Chicago Blackhawks and Corey Crawford(notes) made 36 saves in their 4-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. Cory Emmerton(notes) scored his first NHL goal for the Wings. ... Devin Setoguchi(notes) scored two goals, his first tallies since Jan. 1, as the San Jose Sharks topped the Minnesota Wild, 4-3. ... Patrik Elias(notes) scored two goals and Johan Hedberg(notes) was outstanding in the New Jersey Devils' 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. .... ... Brian Boyle's(notes) third-period goal sent the game to overtime and Mats Zuccarello(notes) (video) had the lone goal in the shootout to give the New York Rangers a 3-2 win at the Atlanta Thrashers. ... Alex Tanguay's(notes) wild shootout goal gave the Calgary Flames a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Tim Jackman(notes) had a goal and assist; Alex Edler had two goals for the Canucks. ... Jarret Stoll(notes) scored a hard-working goal at 4:57 of the third period to break a tie and give the Los Angeles Kings a 4-3 win over the Phoenix Coyotes. Lee Stempniak(notes) had two goals for the ‘Yotes. ... They couldn't get him No. 1 star, but Canadiens fans gave former captain Saku Koivu a very warm reception. ... Matt Hendricks'(notes) breakaway goal for the Washington Capitals was deke-tastic:
Did you know? The Sharks posted a team-record 25 shots in the second period for the second straight game. (AP)
Dishonorable mention: Erik Johnson(notes) of the Blues had 14 penalty minutes, including a third-period misconduct. ... Craig Anderson(notes) was pulled after two periods for the Avs. ... Chris Summers(notes) was a minus-3 for Phoenix. ... Finally, tough to watch this one: Bruins center Marc Savard(notes), who suffered a devastating concussion last season, was hit into the glass by former teammate Matt Hunwick(notes) early in the second period. He left for the dressing room and will have receive a medical evaluation back in Boston soon.