Advertisement

NHL Three Stars: Niemi assists on his shut out; Parise goes hatty in Wild comeback

NHL Three Stars: Niemi assists on his shut out; Parise goes hatty in Wild comeback

No. 1 Star: Antti Niemi, Dallas Stars

The storyline heading into Dallas' game against the Pittsburgh Penguins was the new super duo of Phil Kessel and Sidney Crosby. Niemi crushed that narrative with a beautiful 34-save performance in his first game with the Stars. Dallas defeated the Penguins 3-0. Niemi also had two assists – meaning he was the first player in NHL history to record two assists and a shutout in the same game.

No. 2 Star: Zach Parise, Minnesota Wild

The Wild forward fired a hat trick to help the Wild come from deficits of 3-0 and 4-1 to beat the Colorado Avalanche 5-4. Two of Parise’s goals came in the third period.

No. 3 Star: Alexander Burmistrov, Winnipeg Jets

The former Atlanta Thrashers first-round pick made quite the return from his sabbatical to the Kontinental Hockey League. Burmistrov scored a goal (empty-netter), added an assist and was a plus-4 in the Jets’ 6-2 drubbing over the Boston Bruins.

[Play Yahoo Daily Fantasy and get a 100% deposit bonus with your first deposit]

Honorable Mention: Ottawa Senators coach Dave Cameron won a coach’s challenge on a perceived goal by Evander Kane. Cameron said a play was offsides … Senators forward Kyle Turris fired two goals in a 3-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. His first score came 30 seconds into the game … Sabres rookie forward Jack Eichel scored his first NHL goal … Buffalo fans for voting "Let me Clear My Throat" by DJ Kool as the Sabres new goal song ... Winnipeg Jets forward Drew Stafford scored a goal and added an assist .. Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba was a plus-3 in 21:09 of action … Tampa Bay forward Jonathan Drouin notched two assists in the Lightning's 3-2 overtime win over the Philadelphia Flyers … Lightning defenseman Jason Garrison scored the first 3-on-3 OT winner this season ... Wild forwards Mikael Granlund and Jason Pominville each notched two assists … Dallas Stars forward Ales Hemsky scored a goal and added an assist … Nashville Predators defenseman Seth Jones notched two assists in a 2-1 win over the Carolina Hurricanes ... Colorado defenseman Francois Beauchemin notched three assists in his Avalanche debut … Colorado center Nathan MacKinnon had two assists … St. Louis Blues goaltender Brian Elliott stopped 23 of 24 Edmonton Oilers shots on goal … St.Louis rookie Robby Fabbri fired the game-winner over the Oilers in Connor McDavid’s debut …  Blues sniper Vladimir Tarasenko showed he still has his magic breakaway touch.

[Yahoo Fantasy Hockey: Sign up for a league today]

Did You Know? The Winnipeg Jets/Atlanta Thrashers organization won its first game in Boston since March 31, 2007. Keith Tkachuk was on that team and scored the game-winner.

Dishonorable Mention: Erik Karlsson, for cutting his hair before the start of the regular season ... Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux failed to convert on the season’s first penalty shot. He and Jakub Voracek were held without a point in Philly’s season opener … Bruins defenseman Matt Irwin and forward Ryan Spooner were each a minus-3 … Boston goaltender Tuukka Rask allowed five Jets goals on 31 shots on goal … Colorado forward Matt Duchene was a minus-3 … Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov stopped just 25 of 30 shots on goal in the Avs’ meltdown against Minnesota … Crosby had 0 shots on goal in his first game as Kessel’s center … Kessel fired six shots on goal, but none went in.

MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY