NHL Three Stars: Taylor Hall leads Oiler rout; Ryane Clowe finally scores
No. 1 Star: Taylor Hall, Edmonton Oilers
After falling behind 2-0 early in the first period the Oilers powered back. Hall continued his hot run with a goal and four assists as Edmonton scored eight straight in an 8-2 rout of the Calgary Flames. The 21-year old now has 15 points in his last six games, helping the Oilers into the No. 8 seed in the West for the moment. Jordan Eberle and Nail Yakupov each netted a pair and Ryan Nugent-Hopkins chipped in four points. The Oilers scored on three of their five power play chances.
No. 2 Star: Ryane Clowe, New York Rangers
It was quite the debut for the Rangers' trio of acquisitions. At least one of the three had a hand in each of New York's goals in their 6-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins. John Moore had a goal; Derick Brassard had a goal and three assists; and Clowe finally scored this season. Through 28 games with the San Jose, Clowe had a zero in the goal category. In just under 31 minutes as a Ranger, he potted two. Clowe would assist on Ryan McDonagh's goal in the first period as part of a three-point debut. Brian Boyle also recorded four points for the New York.
No. 3 Star: Ryan Getzlaf, Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks captain led the way with a goal and two assists in their 4-2 win over the Dallas Stars. After setting up two of Anaheim's three goals giving them a a 3-0 lead, Getzlaf would quickly return from tweaking his leg to pot his 15th of the season. After the game Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau said Getzlaf should be "OK". Speaking of OK, how about the pass from Corey Perry to set up Getzlaf's goal?
Honorable mention: New York has scored 10 goals in two games after being shutout twice in a row ... Entering the third period down 3-2, Wayne Simmonds and Erik Gustafsson scored 1:30 apart, and Jakub Voracek would add an empty netter as the Philadelphia Flyers beat the Montreal Canadiens 5-3 ... Ryan Whitney picked up a Gordie Howe Hat Trick ... Joe Thornton continued picking up points as his two helped the San Jose Sharks double up the Minnesota Wild 4-2. After the Wild scored twice in 25 seconds in the second period to even things at two, Thornton netted his seventh minutes later and then T.J. Galiardi would put home the eventual winner 6:55 into the third period on the power play. Thornton now has six points in his last four games. Antti Niemi made 32 saves ... You should go check out Dan Boyle's end-to-end goal. Like now.
Did You Know? Lane MacDermid's first NHL goal comes on the 31st anniversary of his dad doing the same as a member of the Hartford Whalers. (Hockey Draft Central)
Dishonorable mention: The Penguins have now allowed 10 goals in two games. They had only allowed 9 in their previous 11 games combined ... Joey MacDonald was in net for all eight Edmonton goals ... Per the AP, Minnesota has now lost consecutive games for the first time since Feb. 12-14 ... Zac Rinaldo left the game with a lower-body injury ... Dany Heatley would skate off after the Wild loss with an upper-body injury suffered during a late-game scrum ... Ilya Bryzgalov demonstrated just how not to stop a shot:
