APNo. 1 Star: Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
Ho-hum … another day, another 5-point night for Evgeni Malkin. The Penguins star had a goal and four assists in notching this third 5-spot of the season, leading Pittsburgh to an 8-5 win over the Winnipeg Jets. Malkin rallied the Penguins from down two goals in the first, assisting on James Neal's goal to tie it. He then assisted on goals by Chris Kunitz and Kris Letang, while scoring a breakaway goal of this own, in the second. Malkin closed out his day with an assist on Letang's power-play goal late in the third.
No. 2 Star: Ryan Callahan, New York Rangers
Callahan notched a hat trick in the Rangers' 5-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers. He opened the scoring on the power play, broke a 2-2 tie in the second on the power play and then finished the scoring with his 21st of the season midway through the third. Henrik Lundqvist made 31 saves, and Marian Gaborik scored for the Rangers. Claude Giroux and Wayne Simmonds had the Flyers goals.
No. 3 Star: Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens
Carey Price, party pooper. On the night Mats Sundin's number was honored by the Toronto Maple Leafs, Price made 14 first-period saves and before the Canadiens gave him a 4-goal cushion in the second period. Price made 32 saves overall in the Habs' 5-0 win at the Leafs.
Honorable mention: Ex-Devil Scott Clemmensen outdueled Marty Brodeur with 27 saves, making Kris Versteeg's second-period goal stand up in a 3-1 victory for the Florida Panthers over the New Jersey Devils. … Patrice Bergeron and Tyler Seguin scored in the shootout, and Tim Thomas made 19 saves, as the Boston Bruins defeated the Nashville Predators, 4-3. Bergeron had a shorthanded goal to kick off the scoring; Milan Lucic scored a power-play goal, with 1:07 left in regulation and with Sergei Kostitsyn in the box on a tripping minor, to send it to OT. … Mike Smith made 38 saves, and first-period goals by Radim Vrbata (26) and Boyd Gordon propelled the Phoenix Coyotes to a 3-0 win over the spiraling Chicago Blackhawks. … Steven Stamkos scored goal No. 37 and assisted on Steve Downie's goal in the Tampa Bay Lightning's 2-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. The Bolts are on a 7-1-2 roll, moving eight points out of the No. 8 seed. … Taylor Hall scored the game-winning goal at 17 seconds of overtime to give the Edmonton Oilers a 4-3 win at the Ottawa Senators. Magnus Paajarvi scored his first of the season in the win. Daniel Alfredsson, Milan Michalek and Erik Karlsson scored for the Sens. Here's the Hall goal, as the Oilers star stuck with it:
Earlier in the game, however, Craig Anderson made the save of the night on Jordan Eberle:
Carlo Colaiacovo scored a deflection goal at 3:18 of overtime to give the St. Louis Blues a 3-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche. David Perron's two power-play goals provided the other offense. Erik Johnson scored a power-play goal against his old team. Semyon Varlamov made 41 saves in the loss. … R.J. Umberger had two goals and James Wisniewski had a goal and an assist in his first game since Dec. 29, as the Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the Minnesota Wild, 3-2. Steve Mason made 34 saves. … Olli Jokinen and Jarome Iginla scored in the shootout as the Calgary Flames and Miikka Kiprusoff (29 saves) defeated the Vancouver Canucks, 3-2. David Booth tied the game in the third period for Vancouver. … Mark Streit's overtime goal at 1:36 gave the New York Islanders a 2-1 victory over the Los Angeles Kings. Evgeni Nabokov made 34 saves in a trade audition, er, strong effort for the Isles. Andrei Loktionov scored his first of the season for the Kings. ... Jeremy Roenick's number was retired in Phoenix.
Fight of the Night: Tim Jackman with the win against Andrew Alberts, but a good tilt:
Did you know? Richard Park notched his 100th career NHL goal for Pittsburgh. Eat your heart out, Jeremy Lin.
Dishonorable mention: The Blackhawks have lost eight in a row and 10 in a row on the road. Goalie Ray Emery hasn't won a start since Jan. 20. … Vinny Lecavalier was dominated on faceoffs, winning just 5 of 21. … Darroll Powe took three minor penalties for the Wild. … Andrew Alberts earned 11 penalty minutes — a major and three minors — for the Canucks. … Cal Clutterbuck left the Wild's game after a Fedor Tyutin hit and didn't return. … Dustin Byfuglien was a minus-3. … Among the penalty leaders in the rough and tumble Rangers/Flyers game: Tom Sestito (24 minutes), Zac Rinaldo (19), Stu Bickel (12), Danny Briere (12) and Brandon Prust (10). … James Reimer was pulled after giving up four goals on 15 shots.
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