NHL Three Stars: Forsberg's natural hat trick; Kalinin's 'Gordie Howe' hatty
No. 1 Star: Filip Forsberg, Nashville Predators
Forsberg scored a natural hat trick in a 3-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. It was the first regular season hat trick of his NHL career. Forsberg has 11 goals in his last nine games for 23 overall. With the victory, the Predators pushed their points streak to seven straight games. Nashville is now five points clear of the Minnesota Wild for the final Wild Card spot in the Western Conference.
No. 2 Star: John Klingberg, Dallas Stars
The second-year defenseman notched three assists to help his Dallas Stars move back into first place in the Central Division with a 5-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets. With 51 points in 61 games, Klingberg ranks second in defenseman scoring in the NHL.
No. 3 Star: Sergey Kalinin, New Jersey Devils
The 24-year-old Devils forward scored a goal, added an assist and was cut in a fight with New York Rangers forward J.T. Miller in the Devils’ 5-2 win over the New York Rangers. The win moved New Jersey to within one point of the final Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
Honorable Mention: Stars forward Jamie Benn scored two goals. Teammate Tyler Seguin notched an assist… Jets forward Andrew Ladd scored a goal. Teammate Alexander Burmistrov also scored a goal … New York Islanders captain John Tavares scored one goal and added an assist in a 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild … Isles forward Frans Nielsen scored two goals … Islanders goaltender Jaroslav Halak stopped 30 of 31 shots on goal … Tampa Bay Lightning captain Steven Stamkos scored his 26th goal of the season in a 2-1 win over the Arizona Coyotes. Teammate Cedric Paquette also scored a goal … Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 29 of 30 shots on goal in the victory … Detroit Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek stopped 28 of 29 shots on goal in a 2-1 shootout win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. This broke a four-game losing streak for the Wings … Detroit forward Riley Sheahan scored a goal and fired a score in the shootout … Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner scored his 22nd goal of the season … Nashville Predators defenseman Roman Josi notched two assists in the win over Toronto … Preds backup goaltender Carter Hutton stopped 25 of 27 shots on goal … Maple Leafs forward Peter Holland notched two assists … Carolina Hurricanes forwards Eric and Jordan Staal each scored goals in a 3-1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers … Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward stopped 36 of 37 shots on goal in the win … Flyers forward Scott Laughton scored his team’s only goal in the loss … New Jersey Devils forward Kyle Palmieri scored his 23rd goal of the season … Devils rookie Joseph Blandisi notched two assists … New Jersey defenseman Adam Larsson scored a goal, added an assist and was a plus-3 … Rangers forwards Dominic Moore and Kevin Hayes each scored one goal … Ottawa Senators forwards Zack Smith and Mark Stone each scored one goal and added an assist … Sens goaltender Craig Anderson stopped 31 of 32 Oilers shots on goal … Los Angeles Kings center Anze Kopitar scored a goal in a 2-1 win over the Calgary Flames … LA goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 22 of 23 shots on goal … Sean Monahan scored for the Flames.
Did You Know? With their win over the Oilers, the Senators improved to 7-1-0 in their last eight road games against Edmonton, dating to Jan. 14, 2006.
Dishonorable Mention: Shayne Gostisbehere's defenseman rookie record 15-game point streak was snapped in Philly's loss to Carolina ... The Wild lost their first game under interim coach John Torchetti. Minnesota is now 4-1-0 under Torchetti … the Arizona Coyotes fell to 3-7-1 in the month of February … Rangers defenseman Dan Boyle was a minus-3. His team fired just 19 shots on goal … Oilers defenseman Justin Schultz was a minus-3
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