NHL Three Stars: ‘Canes crush Sens, Datsyuk-less Detroit beat Buffalo
No. 1 Star: Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes
The 'Canes goalie stopped 35 of 36 shots in Carolina's 4-1 win against Ottawa. The only goal he surrendered was to Jason Spezza just 1:07 in to the first period. From that point on, he was perfect; including a potential Save of the Year.
No. 2 Star: Justin Faulk, Carolina Hurricanes
The defenseman was a plus-3 with two assists. Both assists were on big goals for Carolina: the game tying goal by Patrick Dwyer and a power play goal by rookie Elias Lindholm to ice the game for the 'Canes. On the defensive side, he added three hits and a team-high four blocked shots.
No. 3 Star: Johan Franzen, Detroit Red Wings
Franzen earned a power play goal and an assist on four shots in Detroit's 3-1 victory over the Sabres. The PPG was the game winner and the assist was on Daniel Alfredsson's empty net goal at the end.
Honorable mention: Eric Staal had an empty net goal and two helpers for Carolina... Darren Helm scored a sweet spin-o-ramma-while-falling goal to tie the game... Despite being the losing goalie, Ryan Miller made 31 stops behind a swiss cheese-esque defense... Red Wings goalie Jonas Gustavsson is staring into your soul. Good luck sleeping tonight.
Did you know? Henrik Zetterberg scored his 700th career point on the assist to Johan Franzen's power play goal.
Dishonorable mention: Hurricanes forward Kevin Westgarth boarded Senators defenseman Mark Borowiecki. Borowiecki left the game, and per Ottawa PR tweet, would not return due to a neck strain... Pavel Datsyuk was not in the lineup due to sustaining a head injury the night before against Ottawa... Steve Ott was given a penalty shot off of a weak call on a breakaway, producing perhaps the best-worst penalty shot of the year?
