NHL Three Stars: Nielsen leads Islanders rally; Jagr, Larsson win in OT
No. 1 Star: Frans Nielsen, New York Islanders
Nielsen’s three third-period goals surged the Islanders past the Dallas Stars in a wild 7-5 game. The center scored the first two goals of the period to give New York the lead, and closed out the scoring with an empty netter with a second left in the game. Or so we were led to believe.
No. 2 Star: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins
Sid opened the scoring and picked up assists on two third-period power-play goals as the Penguins blanked the Nashville Predators, 3-0. Marc-Andre Fleury had 25 saves.
No. 3 Star: Jaromir Jagr, New Jersey Devils
Jagr’s clutch overtime, power-play goal gave the Devils a 3-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. It was his 19th career overtime game-winner.
Honorable Mention: Michal Neuvirth made 30 saves and Cody Hodgson and Nicolas Deslauriers had third-period goals as the Buffalo Sabres shocked the San Jose Sharks, 2-1. … Dougie Hamilton had a goal and two assists as the Boston Bruins defeated the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1. Tuukka Rask made 32 saves. … Max Pacioretty had a goal and an assist while Carey Price made 34 saves in the Montreal Canadiens’ 3-1 win over the New York Rangers. … Michael Raffl had two goals and an assist as the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the Detroit Red Wings. They tallied three times in the third, while Ray Emery had 35 stops. … Ryan Reaves and Dmitrij Jaskin – you know, household names – scored second-period goals in the St. Louis Blues’ 3-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. … The Minnesota Wild got two goals from Jason Zucker and one goal from five other players in the 7-2. … Joel Ward’s two goals were enough for Braden Holtby (20 saves) as the Washington Capitals defeated the Calgary Flames, 3-1. … Oliver Ekman-Larsson’s power-play goal in overtime gave the Arizona Coyotes a 2-1 win over the Florida Panthers. Mike Smith reversed his fortunes with 23 saves. … Tyler Seguin scored his sixth.
Did You Know? Canadian fans are awesome.
Dishonorable Mention: Brayden Schenn was called for embellishment. … Brandon Saad was a minus-3. … Andrej Sustr was a minus-4; Eric Brewer was a minus-3. … Evgeni Nabokov gave up four goals on eight shots before departing the game for Tampa. … Jamie Benn and Jason Spezza were a minus-4. … James Neal didn’t tally a point against the Penguins. … The Rangers someone managed to give up a 2-on-0 shorthanded breakaway goal.