Sunday's Three Stars: Callahan's high 5; Iginla makes history
No. 1 Star: Ryan Callahan(notes), New York Rangers
Callahan's first NHL hat trick later became his first NHL 4-goal game, as the Rangers forward led them to a 7-0 thumping of the Philadelphia Flyers. Callahan scored twice in the first period (once on the power play); an unassisted goal in the second; and then another power play goal in the third, along with an assist on Artem Anisimov's(notes) goal. Never a bad time to post a 5-point game when you're on national television:
No. 2 Star: Cory Schneider(notes), Vancouver Canucks
The Canucks backup made 26 saves for his first NHL shutout, as Vancouver topped the Anaheim Ducks, 3-0. Manny Malhotra(notes) scored twice. Said Schneider: "It's a good feeling to finally get this out of the way, but the team is more important. I've never really been a shutout guy."
No. 3 Star: Drew Stafford(notes), Buffalo Sabres
Were the season to end right now, the Buffalo Sabres would be a playoff team. That's because Drew Stafford scored 46 seconds into overtime at the Minnesota Wild, on a great individual effort, giving the Sabres two points and a 3-2 victory. Jason Pominville(notes) and Rob Niedermayer(notes) had the other tallies while Jhonas Enroth(notes) made 24 saves. Here's the Stafford goal:
Honorable mention: Alex Semin's one-timer on a feed from Marcus Johansson(notes) gave the Washington Capitals a 3-2 OT win at the Florida Panthers. David Booth(notes) forced the extra session with a power-play goal at 17:24 of the third. ... Brian Rolston's(notes) shootout goal improved the New Jersey Devils to 20-2-2 in their last 24 games, giving them a 3-2 victory over the New York Islanders. Martin Brodeur(notes) made 20 saves and Ilya Kovalchuk(notes) scored his 24th and again in the shootout. Blake Comeau(notes) forced OT with an unassisted goal at 16:18 of the third. ... The Calgary Flames defeated the Nashville Predators, 3-2, as Curtis Glencross(notes) had the game winner. But the most significant goal of the game was this one by Jarome Iginla(notes): a penalty shot against Pekka Rinne(notes) (33 saves) that made him the 10th NHL player to reach 30 goals in 10 straight seasons.
Did you know? The Sabres are 6-0-1 in their last seven road games, the first time they've earned points in seven straight road games since opening the 2006-07 season by winning an NHL-record 10 straight away from home. (AP)
Dishonorable mention: Where to start with the Flyers? Brian Boucher(notes) was pulled after giving up four goals on 18 shots. Braydon Coburn(notes) was a minus-4. It was their fourth loss in a row, and Chris Pronger(notes) said it's now a "test of our character." ... Ryan Getzlaf(notes) fired 11 shots without a point. ... Martin Havlat(notes) and Nick Schultz(notes) were a minus-3 for the Wild.
