Saturday's Three Stars: Canucks keep rolling; Lupul, Subban scrap
No. 1 Star: Mikael Samuelsson(notes), Vancouver Canucks
The Swede continued his recent scoring tear with two more goals as the Canucks downed the Calgary Flames 4-2. Samuelsson's pair came in a 2:40 span in the second period giving him 12 points during his six-game points streak. Roberto Luongo(notes) won for the sixth straight game after stopping 24 Calgary shots.
No. 2 Star: Carey Price(notes), Montreal Canadiens
Price bounced back from Wednesday's 8-6 loss to Boston by recording his sixth shutout of the season in a 3-0 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Stopping 27 shots, Price helped Montreal end a three-game skid. Benoit Pouliot(notes) and Brian Gionta(notes) scored 1:40 apart in the second period to open the scoring and David Desharnais(notes) recorded two points to give him six in his last three games.
No. 3 Star: Alex Kovalev(notes), Ottawa Senators
Kovalev's name has been in trade rumors recently and his play of late may have increase his value. His two goals and assist gave him eight points in six games as the Senators beat the Edmonton Oilers on "Hockey Day in Canada" 5-3. Rookie Bobby Butler(notes) scored his first NHL goal and Jason Spezza(notes) played in his 500th NHL game as Ottawa snapped an 11-game losing streak.
Honorable mention: Radim Vrbata(notes) scored in regulation for the third straight game and tallied the only goal in the shootout as the Phoenix Coyotes edged the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. Ilya Bryzgalov(notes) made 31 saves as the Coyotes won their fourth in a row to give head coach Dave Tippett his 350th win. Marian Hossa(notes) recorded 800th NHL point in the loss ... Nashville scored three third period goals to come from behind and defeat Colorado 5-3. Martin Erat(notes) had a goal and set up two others as the Predators sent the Avalanche to their seventh straight loss. Shea Weber(notes) scored his 11th goal of the season in the first period to give him 20 points in his last 20 games ... Marc-Andre Bergeron's(notes) overtime goal saved things from being a disaster for the Tampa Bay Lightning after they allowed the Carolina Hurricanes to scored twice in the final minute of regulation to force the extra frame. Dwayne Roloson(notes) made 31 saves and Sean Bergenheim(notes) scored and added an assist in the win ... On "Hockey Day in Minnesota", Cal Clutterbuck(notes) scored his third goal in two games as the Minnesota Wild won for the ninth time in 11 games beating St. Louis 3-1 ... Andrei Loktionov(notes) broke a 1-1 tie early in the third period and the Los Angeles Kings added two more to get by the Washington Capitals 4-1. Michal Handzus(notes) scored a goal and added an assist and Jonathan Bernier(notes) made 22 saves for his first win since Jan. 15th.
Did you know? Roberto Luongo is now 16-0-5 in regulation since Dec 5th. (AP)
Dishonorable mention: Peter Forsberg(notes) was a minus-2 for the second night in a row ... Nikolai Khabibulin(notes) decided to get in on all the fun goaltenders seem to be having these days by going after Chris Neil(notes):
The loss was Calgary's first in regulation (8-1-2) in 11 games ... Joffrey Lupul(notes) wasn't a fan of how P.K. Subban(notes) approached their scrap tonight:
