No. 1 Star: Jakub Voracek, Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers' 6-5 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins was the game of the night (and arguably the year). Voracek was the star. He scored three times in the final 21 minutes, his hat-trick goal coming just 33 seconds after Pittsburgh had tied the game and with only 90 seconds to go, giving Philly the two points.

No. 2 Star: Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche

The second game of NBC's double-header wasn't quite as offensively-charged as the first. In a game that was still scoreless through 60 minutes, the Avalanche managed to outlast the St. Louis Blues for a 1-0 overtime victory. Varlamov made 33 saves in the win, which came when David Jones scored 17 seconds before the shootout.

Vladimir Tarasenko played 207 KHL games before finally making the jump to the NHL for the 2013 season. He's been excellent through his first 17 games, but he's still adjusting to the NHL ice surface and its comparative lack of room. On Wednesday night, Mark Olver gave him reason to speed that learning curve up a little, catching him with a massive hit midway through the third period:

And that is how quickly an NHL player can close on you. Huge hit.

I don't think it was a dirty hit by Olver, who was rushing in to take the body and didn't leap or rise up, but just happened to get there at the moment Tarasenko moved the puck down the boards and turned in Olver's direction, exposing his head instead of his side.

Still, it led to a very scary scene for a moment, as cameras caught a staggered Tarasenko bleeding from the mouth, his eyes rolled into the back of his head. It's tough to enjoy a big hit in the NHL when it leads to an image like this:

If you thought last year's playoff series between Pittsburgh Penguins and Philadelphia Flyers was just an anomaly, well, you thought wrong. Wednesday night's Battle of Pennsylvania was yet another high-scoring, back-and-forth classic.

The hero of the hour: Jakub Voracek, whose hat-trick goal with 1:31 remaining broke the hearts of a Pittsburgh crowd that had just seen the Penguins score twice in the final ten minutes to tie the game at five and, seemingly, send us into overtime.

But Voracek had no interest in playing more hockey. Thirty-three seconds after Brandon Sutter knotted the game up, Voracek wrapped it up, throwing a puck at the net from below the goal line, only to see it somehow find its way past Tomas Vokoun:

A crazy end to a crazy game.

Three goals in the final ten minutes (four if you include the one that was waved off for a kicking motion). Two goals in the final three, the last one a stunner in a game that had us expecting pretty much anything. And, of course, some pretty dismal goaltending. Never change, Pittsburgh and Philadelphia.

At least, not until after this postseason, when you can give us seven more games exactly like this.

Follow Harrison Mooney on Twitter at @HarrisonMooney

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin of the Pittsburgh Penguins are two of the best offensive players in the world. They love to score goals. One might say they’re addicted to thriving in the offensive end.

That’s sort of what Mike Milbury of NBC Sports Network was getting at about the duo during the Penguins’ game against the Philadelphia Flyers on Wednesday night. Only he was a bit more … specific.

For the video impaired:

“The big guys, Malkin and Crosby. They’re like crack addicts. They can’t get enough of this offensive stuff. They want to go coast to coast and score goals, but it leads to some trouble.”

Like waking up in a flop house or burning their fingers on a makeshift pipe or skeletal weight loss or …

Please don’t file this in the same category as Milbury’s idiotic “Thelma and Louise” comment about the Sedins or his “Eurotrash” comments about foreign-born players. It’s a odd little joke in an awkward venue; and frankly, we’ve called many a general manager a crackhead for being

The trial of Jannik Hansen is over, and the Department of Player Safety has found him guilty, more or less. For his forearm to the back of Marian Hossa's head Tuesday night in Chicago, the Vancouver Canucks' winger has been suspended one game.

Here's Brendan Shanahan to break down the decision:

With the suspension, Hansen forfeits $7,297.30 to the Players' Emergency Assistance Fund.

Simply going by the Department of Player Safety's findings, this suspension isn't going to please either fanbase.

I went on record earlier today as saying that I could understand a one-game suspension to Hansen. In my opinion, Hansen was reaching for the mid-air puck and the shot to the back of Hossa's head was inadvertent. (I still think that happened. I'd argue that slowing it down like this makes it look a lot worse and more deliberate than it is, much like the Matt Cooke/Erik Karlsson hit.) Still, Hansen lacked awareness of Hossa backing into him, and there was enough recklessness there to warrant a one-game suspension, especially with Hossa's apparent injury.

But the DOPS saw things differently. Their findings indicate that they saw malice -- Hansen was initially reaching for the puck, then he changed his position, closed his fist, and drove through the back of Hossa's head.

Here's the issue: if that's what they saw, how in the world is this only one game? That's absurd. If it's their contention that Hansen deliberately put Hossa on the ground and out of the game with this hit, Blackhawks fans have every right to be furious with this decision, because the discipline is far too lenient. Sure, it's mitigated somewhat because he doesn't have a prior history, but even so: one game for what the DOPS believed happened here? On an injurious headshot?

It gives the impression that Shanahan and co. aren't entirely confident in their findings. If they're convinced that Hansen did with deliberately, it deserves more than one game. The lack of conviction suggests uncertainty.

Neither fanbase will be happy about this. That in mind, congratulations to the DOPS for delivering a decision that Chicago and Vancouver fans will agree on. I didn't think it was possible.

Back by popular demand, here are your Puck Previews: Spotlighting the key games in NHL action, news and views as well as general frivolity. Make sure to stop back here for the nightly Three Stars when the games are finished.

Preview: Philadelphia Flyers at Pittsburgh Penguins, 7:30 p.m. ET

It hasn't exactly been a banner road trip for the Flyers, but they put in a great effort in their last outing, beating the Islanders, 7-0. It will take a similar effort to hang with Pittsburgh, who have won 3 straight, and will take over top spot in the East with a win. The key, as usual, will be stopping Sidney Crosby, who has 17 points in February and it's the 20th.

Preview: Los Angeles Kings at Calgary Flames, 10 p.m. ET

The best you can say about the Flames right now is that they've been rebounding nicely from defeats. They've yet to go two games without a point all month! Joey MacDonald gets the start for the Flames. It sounds like Jonathan Bernier might get the chance to win his third straight start for the Kings. Could that start a goalie controversy a-brewing in Los Angeles?

AHLBuffalo Sabres GM Darcy Regier announced on Wednesday night that Rochester Americans coach Ron Rolston will replace veteran head coach Lindy Ruff, becoming the interim head coach of the team with a chance to earn the permanent job.

“He will be the interim for the rest of the season. It will provide him and us an opportunity to get to know each other,” said Regier, who relieved Ruff of his head coaching duties after nearly 16 years at the helm.

Rolston takes over a team that's 6-10-1, and in a 3-7 tailspin.

“I saw his team play in Hamilton the other afternoon. His teams play with structure, discipline. They have a good work ethic," said Regier.

On Ruff's firing, Regier said it was a organizational decision.

“Ultimately it was my decision, but these things are not done in a vacuum,” said Regier, who said president Ted Black and owner Terry Pegula had input on the decision.

So who the heck is 45-year-old Ron Rolston, who will be given a chance to win this job as interim coach for the rest of the season?

Most of the time, when teams try to tell you season tickets, they go out of their way to convince you of the superiority of their team. Our players skate faster! Our players check harder! They're strong and talented and good!

Not so for the USHL's Fargo Force, who instead went with the Sarah McLachlan approach: move you. Bring you to tears. Show you the kind of human misery that no human being could see and ignore. Please, friend, won't you support the Fargo Force? They need an angel.

"For just $269 a year, only 73 cents per day, you can become a season-ticket holder and help rescue these players from the grips of low morale."

This isn't the first time we've seen somebody ape Sarah McLachlan's SPCA ads for some quality hockey comedy. You'll recall the "Sponsor an NHL player" video that popped up during the lockout.

But this one is better, because the players are part of the gag. I can't get enough of the slow-motion shots of Fargo Force players staring up at the camera, all sullen and