Saturday's Three Stars: Bertuzzi does the job for Wings
No. 1 Star: Todd Bertuzzi(notes), Detroit Red Wings
There were some groans coming from the Motor City when GM Ken Holland brought back Bertuzzi, but he's providing solid offense while the Red Wings nurse some of their stars back from injury. "Big Bert" scored twice in Detroit's 2-1 win over Columbus, ending a three-game losing streak in the process. On pace for his best season since 2005-06, Bertuzzi now has eight goals this month, all coming within Detroit's last eight games.
No. 2 Star: Jaroslav Halak(notes), Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens netminder was under fire all night against Toronto who hit double digits in shots all three periods. Halak made 47 saves as Andrei Kostitsyn(notes) saved Montreal's blushes with an overtime winner after the team blew a 2-0 lead. He's now won his last four starts, stopping 180 of 186 shots during that streak.
No. 3 Star: Patrick Marleau(notes), San Jose Sharks
Scoring twice in the first period, Marleau led the way for the Sharks who lit up J.S. Giguere in a 5-2 win. Marleau's two goals to open the scoring tied him for second with the Alex Ovechkin(notes) for the NHL's overall lead. The "C"-less Marleau is enjoying not having the pressure on him and it's showing on the ice. Now at 41 points on the season, Marleau is on his way to a career season in production thanks to a support system that includes Joe Thornton(notes) and Dany Heatley(notes). San Jose's win is their fourth in a row.
Honorable mention:Jimmy Howard(notes) broke a two-game skid with a solid, 28 save performance against the Blue Jackets. Nicklas Lidstrom(notes) assisted on both of Bertuzzi's goals ... Andrei Markov's(notes) two assists against Toronto give him six points in four games since returning from injury. Tomas Plekanec(notes) scored a goal giving him 10 points in his last four games ... Alex Ovechkin and Nicklas Backstrom(notes) both scored a goal, had two helpers and finished a plus-3 in Washington's 4-1 win over New Jersey. Backstrom reached the 200-point plateau in his 202nd NHL game ... Playing for the third time in 10 days, the New York Islanders and New York Rangers went to overtime after
Brandon Dubinsky's(notes) goal with 47 seconds left in the third period tied the game. Dubinsky scored the Rangers first goal early in the third period. In the extra session, Kyle Okposo(notes) added a goal to his two assists to give the Isles the win. Dwayne Roloson(notes) made 36 stops in the victory ... Tampa Bay captain Vincent Lecavalier(notes) set up three of the Lightning's four goals, including Mike Lundin's(notes) first NHL goal in 111 career games ... Guillaume Latendresse(notes) scored first for Minnesota and added the eventual game-winner with under minutes remaining to give the Wild a 4-3 win over St. Louis. Enjoying his new scenery, Latendresse has four goals in his last four games. Marek Zidlicky(notes) assisted on both of Latendresse's goals ... After going down 3-0, Carolina clawed back thanks to Jussi Jokinen's(notes) two third period goals, but fell 4-3 in a shootout to Philadelphia. Brandon Sutter(notes) and Jokinen each scored within 49 seconds late in the third period to tie the game, but Danny Briere(notes) and Mike Richard converted in the shootout for the extra point. Hurricanes defenseman Niclas Wallin(notes) played in his 500th NHL game ... Ryan Miller's(notes) first period was a busy. The soon-to-be announced No. 1 goaltender for Team USA stopped 19 Ottawa shots and made 38 saves in a 3-2 shootout loss to the Senators. His Buffalo teammates were too busy trying to stop Ottawa, they could only manage one first period shot on Pascal Leclaire(notes) ... Chris Durno(notes) of the Colorado Avalanche scored his first NHL goal while Chris Stewart(notes) continued his sensational sophomore campaign with two more goals against Dallas ... Cristobal Huet(notes) stopped 25 Nashville shots for his 17th win of the season and third in his last four starts ... Roberto Luongo(notes) made a last-ditch effort to prove himself as Canada's No. 1 goaltender with a 24-save performance over the Edmonton Oilers in a 4-1 victory. The Sedin twins were all over the scoresheet with Daniel scoring a goal and two assists while Henrik added a goal and an assist ... Joe Thornton assisted on three of San Jose's five goals and Dany Heatley scored a goal and added two assists in the win.
Did you know?: Dallas leads the NHL with 11 shootout/overtime losses. (AP)
Dishonorable mention: With their loss to the Red Wings, Columbus has now dropped nine in a row, tying a franchise record and 11 straight on the road ... Having a tough time on the ice tonight was St. Louis forward T.J. Oshie(notes) who finished a minus-four while inside the faceoff dot the Blues were a miserable 18-for-53 ... In their 4-1 loss to Colorado, Dallas forwards James Neal(notes), Loui Eriksson(notes) and Brad Richards(notes) were a combined minus-10 ... J.S. Giguere allowed five goals on 25 shots in a 5-2 loss to San Jose. Giguere has just one win in his last seven starts and allowed 10 goals in his previous three appearances.
