NHL Three Stars: Toews stars at Soldier Field; Monahan leads Flames
Love this photo from Brian Babineau of Getty Images. It's like if Monet painted a hockey game.
No. 1 Star: Jonathan Toews, Chicago Blackhawks
Some guys had trouble managing the puck in the snowy conditions at Soldier Field. Not Toews, who scored twice, including a beautiful solo effort, and added an assist in the Blackhawks' 5-1 rout of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
No. 2 Star: Sean Monahan, Calgary Flames
The Flames rookie scored both goals for his team in a 2-1 overtime win over the Edmonton Oilers.
No. 3 Star: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
Ovechkin scored his 42nd and 43rd of the season, on power plays, naturally, as the Capitals beat the Boston Bruins by a score of 4-2. He also had a game-high 9 shots on goal. Dude may be somewhat one-dimensional, but at least he specializes in a pretty important dimension. The second goal was his 800th career point.
Honorable mention: The Winnipeg Jets were outshot 40-20 by the Nashville Predators, but Ondrej Pavelec made 39 saves to help the Jets to a 3-1 win... Justin Williams had a goal and an assist as the Los Angeles Kings won their fourth in a row, 3-1, over the Carolina Hurricanes... P.K. Subban scored the game-tying goal midway through the third, then picked up an assist on Max Pacioretty's OT winner as the Montreal Canadiens edged the Toronto Maple Leafs 4-3. Here's the winner:
... Jaromir Jagr scored his 700th career goal in the New Jersey Devils' 6-1 rout of the New York Islanders... Wayne Simmonds' 19th was the game-winner in a 4-2 Philadelphia Flyers win over the New York Rangers... Jack Johnson had 3 assists as Columbus Blue Jackets' doubled up on the Florida Panthers, 6-3... St. Louis scored twice in the Lightning's 4-3 win over the Dallas Stars. His second would stand up as the game-winner as the Lightning managed to hold on, thanks largely to Ben Bishop making 39 saves in a game where his club was outshot by a 2 to 1 ratio.
Did You Know? Kris Versteeg's goal was the 100th of his career. Not impressed, Kris. Do that 6 more times, like Jagr did. Although that's not to say it wasn't impressive. Check out Patrick Kane's patience and passing on this one:
Dishonorable mention: Evgeni Nabokov surrendered 5 goals on just 19 shots...
