Thursday’s Three Stars: Khabibulin stays hot; Jets, Flyers score 17
No. 1 Star:
Nikolai Khabibulin, Edmonton Oilers
The 38-year Russian netminder continued his strong start to the season with a 34-save night in a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Edmonton got power play goals from Taylor Hall and Jordan Eberle to hand the Capitals their first loss of the season. Khabibulin improved to 4-0-2, with a 0.97 goals-against average and .964 save-percentage.
No. 2 Star: Slava Voynov, Los Angeles Kings
While making a case to stay up with the Kings, Voynov scored his first two goals, including the eventual game-winner as Los Angeles got by the Dallas Stars 5-3. Voynov has turned heads since entering the lineup after Drew Doughty went on injured-reserve. Kings captain Dustin Brown scored and had two assists, while Mike Richards added a trio of helpers.
No. 3 Star: Jhonas Enroth, Buffalo Sabres
Enroth has only made 16 NHL starts in three years, but he's made them count. With a 41-save performance during a 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, Enroth improved his career record to 11-3-2. Jason Pominville helped things with two goals and an assist and Thomas Vanek tossed in three assists.
Honorable mention: The wildest game of the night was in Philadelphia as the Winnipeg Jets blew 5-1 and 6-2 leads, but hung on for a 9-8 win over the Flyers. Nik Antropov and Tanner Glass each scored and recorded two assists, while Blake Wheeler added three helpers. Danny Briere (2 goals, 2 assists), Kimmo Timmonen (4 assists) and James van Riemsdyk (2 goals, 1 assist) carried the offensive load for Philadelphia. If you want to watch all 17 goals:
Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf each scored power play goals and Bobby Ryan added one of his own as the Anaheim Ducks edged the Minnesota Wild 3-2. Teemu Selanne assisted on all three Anaheim goals ... With 2.5 seconds left in the third period, Nick Foligno put home the game winner to steal a point from the Florida Panthers with a 4-3 win. The goal came 44 seconds after Kris Versteeg had tied the game for Florida ... The Pittsburgh Penguins scored twice in the third period and Evgeni Malkin put home the only goal in the shootout for a 3-2 win over the New York Islanders. It was Pittsburgh's 12th straight home win against the Islanders. James Neal's tic-tac-toe goal on the power play tied the game early in the third:
Tomas Plekanec goal and Carey Price's 29 saves lifted the Montreal Canadiens over the Boston Bruins 2-1. P.K. Subban and Brad Marchand dropped the gloves in a Boston Marathon of their own ... Jonas Gustavsson made 28 saves and spoiled the New York Rangers home opener as the Toronto Maple Leafs took the two points with a 4-2 win. Mike Brown scored Toronto's four goal and engaged with Kris Newbury in an intense scrap:
Mike Fisher's two goals helped the Nashville Predators out to a 5-2 lead enroute to a 5-3 victory over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Craig Smith and Nick Spaling each recorded two ponts and Pekke Rinne made 29 saves. Lightning forward Teddy Purcell played in his 200th NHL game. Steven Stamkos scored twice for Tampa ... With two goals and an assist in a 5-3 win over the New Jersey Devils, Phoenix Coyotes forward Ray Whitney now has 33 points in his career against them. Keith Yandle, David Schlemko and Radim Vrbata each added two assists, while Mike Smith stopped 31 shots.
Did you know? Columbus is 0-8-2 in their last 10 road games dating back to last season. (AP)
Dishonorable mention? Price and Plekanec are going to want this one back ... After playing all three periods and overtime, Evgeni Nabokov came out of the game because of what he said was a nagging lower-body injury. Rick DiPietro made his season debut and stopped two of Pittsburgh's three shootout attempts ... After he allowed four goals on 10 shots in relief of Sergei Bobrovsky (five goals, 15 shots), Ilya Bryzgalov was very down on himself ... Rangers defensemen Steve Eminger and Tim Erixon finished minus-3 ... Mathieu Garon lasted 32:10 and allowed five goals on 17 shots before being replaced by Dwayne Roloson ... Jonathan Quick's shutout streak ended at 202:11.
