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NHL Three Stars: Abdelkader dominates 3rd for Wings; Smith powers Preds

NHL Three Stars: Abdelkader dominates 3rd for Wings; Smith powers Preds

No. 1 Star: Justin Abdelkader, Detroit Red Wings 

The Red Wings forward was an offensive force in their 4-2 win over the Washington Capitals, scoring the game-tying and game-winning goals and assisting on Gustav Nyquist’s opening goal. That included this awesome individual effort in the third:

No. 2 Star: Craig Smith, Nashville Predators

Smith opened and closed the scoring for the Preds in their 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Roman Josi assisted on both goals.

No. 3 Star: Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators

Rinne shut the door against the Oilers with 26 saves and his sixth win of the season, although the crossbar bailed him out at least once.

Honorable Mention: Taylor Beck and Shea Weber had the other Predators goals. … Taylor Hall scored his sixth for the Oilers. … Pavel Datsyuk scored the clincher for the Red Wings. … Evgeni Kuznetsov scored a slick goal for this first of the season. … Henrik Zetterberg was a plus-3.

Did You Know? Alex Ovechkin didn’t have a point for his fifth straight game, the longest drought of this NHL career.

Dishonorable Mention: Smith had a goal at 1:35 of the first period waved off as the referees claimed the whistle was in the process of being blown. … Jeff Petry was a minus-2. … Alex Ovechkin, Nick Backstrom and Brooks Oprik were a minus-2.