Sunday's Three Stars: The King blanks Boston; Jackets rally
No. 1 Star: Henrik Lundqvist(notes), New York Rangers
King Henrik earned his 150th NHL victory and 21st career shutout in the Rangers' 1-0 victory over the Boston Bruins, stopping 29 shots. He turned aside 14 shots in the third period, including solid work during a four-minute penalty kill for the Rangers.
No. 2 star: Raffi Torres(notes), Columbus Blue Jackets
There were a few heroes for the Jackets in their wild 5-4 OT win at the Washington Capitals, but it was Torres's two third-period goals that earned Columbus the regulation tie. His wraparound at 13:36 beat a stick-less Jose Theodore(notes) (27 saves); after Quintin Laing's(notes) goal gave the Caps the lead again, Torres tapped in a Derick Brassard(notes) feed at 19:37 with Steve Mason(notes) (32 saves) pulled. Oh, and he may have inadvertently knocked Alex Ovechkin(notes) out of the game with an upper body injury, too.
No. 3 star: Mason Raymond(notes), Vancouver Canucks
Getting the first goal against the Colorado Avalanche and Craig Anderson(notes) was important for Vancouver, and Raymond provided it with a rebound tally in the first. In the second, he started the play that led to Ryan Kesler's(notes) fifth of the season. Vancouver won, 3-0, sending Colorado to their first consecutive regulation loses this season.
Honorable mention: The San Jose Sharks prolonged the Carolina Hurricanes' misery, winning 5-1 on five consecutive goals after Brandon Sutter(notes) opened the scoring. Kent Huskins(notes), Brad Staubitz(notes), Douglas Murray(notes), Marc-Edouard Vlasic(notes) and Patrick Marleau(notes) had the tallies. Evgeni Nabokov(notes) had 25 saves. ... Andrew Raycroft(notes) played behind a stout Vancouver defense and was helped by a couple of posts, but earned his first shutout since 2007 with 18 saves. ... Marian Gaborik(notes) scored his 11th for the Rangers' lone goal, returning from injury. ... Nicklas Backstrom(notes) scored for the Capitals on a sick passing play. Teammate Brooks Laich(notes) stepped up with a pair of goals after Ovechkin's injury. ... R.J. Umberger(notes) had two goals, including the OT winner for Columbus.
Did you know?: The Rangers are now 9-3-1 when Gaborik plays, and 6-2-1 when he scores a goal.
Dishonorable mention: "We're all taken aback," said Hurricanes coach Paul Maurice after his team dropped to 2-8-3 on the season. No kidding. ... Boston was 0-for-5 on the power play, and hasn't scored with the man advantage since Oct. 22. ... Finally, Mike Green's(notes) detractors are going to be replaying this Rick Nash(notes) undressing on a continuous loop.
