NHL Three Stars: Perry annoys Dallas (again); Johnny Gaudreau, have mercy; Detroit lights up LA
No. 1 Star: Gustav Nyquist, Detroit Red Wings
Detroit put up four goals on Los Angeles in the first period. Nyquist had two of the goals, both on the power play, and one assist for a three point night. Pavel Datsyuk also had three points.
No. 2 Star: Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames
On Halloween, it's more than appropriate to say, "Heeeere's Johnny", after the evening the kid had. First he shows off his insane puck handling skills. Then he goes on to score the game winning goal on a helluva play.
No. 3 Star: Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks
Dallas, amongst other cities, really don't care for Corey Perry. This won't help. Perry provided the key assist on the Anaheim overtime winner scored by Nate Thompson, but the thing that really pissed Dallas off was the goal Perry scored earlier and the 'shhh' hand gesture he made afterwards.
Honorable Mention: If you didn't see it earlier, fans at The Joe gave Gordie Howe a 'get well soon' tribute ... Alec Martinez scored one of the two goals for LA in a 5-2 losing effort in Detroit, but at least he looked cool flying through the air ...
... Daniel Winnik (playing in his 500th NHL game), Phil Kessel, and Nazem Kadri all stepped up for the Leafs in the wake of the Joffrey Lupul broken hand announcement, and had three points each in Toronto's 4-1 win over a depleted Columbus squad ... One thing going right for the Blue Jackets is Ryan Johansen. The forward has played in 10 games this season and has a point in all 10 of them. QUICK! Someone put him in a protective bubble ... James Neal scored two goals in the Predators 4-3 loss to the Flames ... Antoine Roussel tied the game for Dallas with just under 5:30 to go in the third. Anaheim would win 2-1 in OT ...
Did You Know? A pane of glass came dislodged with 1:52 left in the first period of the Kings/Detroit game. Instead of waiting for it to be fixed, the teams went to the locker room for intermission. The remainder of the period was played at the beginning of the second period, and then a full 20 minutes was put up to play the second. Got all that? It was weird.
Dishonorable Mention: Calgary's Michael Ferland had to leave his first ever NHL game with an 'upper-body injury' after taking this whack to the face from Nashville's Anton Volchenkov. No penalty on the play; however, it looks somewhat similar to the hit that just earned Alexandre Burrows a two game suspension ...
... Columbus's Curtis McElhinney stopped 23 of 27 Toronto shots; he'll be filling in while regular netminder Sergei Bobrovsky is out of the lineup ... Another questionable hit came from the Kings and Red Wings game. Jordan Nolan lined-up Darren Helm and sent him into the glass with his head whipping violently sideways. Helm was okay, but a small riot insued on the ice afterwards ...
