NHL Three Stars: Purcell powers Oilers; Niemi to rescue
No. 1 Star: Teddy Purcell, Edmonton Oilers
Purcell had two goals in the first period just 1:44 apart and then assisted on Justin Schultz’s goal as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Winnipeg Jets, 3-1.
No. 2 Star: Antti Niemi, Dallas Stars
Kari Lehtonen started for the Stars, and gave up two goals on four shots in 8:16. Niemi came on and stopped 30 of 31 shots to help the Stars rally for a 6-3 win over the Minnesota Wild. Tyler Seguin scored his 19th. Vernon Fiddler had two goals.
No. 3 Star: Tyler Bozak, Toronto Maple Leafs
Bozak notched a hat trick (including an empty netter) as the Toronto Maple Leafs routed the Colorado Avalanche. 7-4. Jake Gardiner had four points, while James van Riemsdyk and Leo Komorov had three points.
Honorable Mention: Phil Kessel was one of the players coach Mike Sullivan challenged to be better, and he responded with two goals just under 12 minutes apart in the second period to lead the Penguins to a 5-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Evgeni Malkin also had two goals. … Wayne Simmonds scored a critical second period goal to continue a Flyers’ rally from a 3-0 hole, and then tied the game on the power play 51 seconds into the third period. Evgeny Medvedev would give the Flyers the impressive 4-3 comeback over the St. Louis Blues. … Jack Skille had two goals for the Avs. … Josh Bailey and Matt Martin scored in the third period to put away the Anaheim Ducks, as the New York Islanders topped them 5-2. … Phillipp Grubauer made 31 saves and the Washington Capitals defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1. … Roman Josi and Shea Weber opened the scoring and Pekka Rinne didn’t look back with 35 saves in the Nashville Predators’ 5-1 win over the Montreal Canadiens.
Kris Versteeg scored a nifty goal in defeat:
Did You Know? Philadelphia is 8-2-2 in its past 12 games and has moved within two points of the Ottawa Senators for the second wild-card spot
Dishonorable Mention: Cam Fowler and Shawn Horcoff were a minus-3. … Freddie Andersen was pulled after giving up three goals on 11 shots. … David Backes was a minus-3. … Dalton Prout when cross-check crazy on Sergei Plotnikov. … Boone Jenner went knee-on-knee with Malkin. … Montreal has lost eight of its past nine games. … Mikko Koivu, Zach Parise, Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville were a minus-3.
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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.
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