Thursday’s Three Stars: Perfect Mason; Canucks clinch Presidents’ Trophy
No. 1 Star: Chris Mason, Atlanta Thrashers
With their slim playoff lives on the line, the Thrashers stayed alive with a 1-0 shutout of the Philadelphia Flyers thanks to Mason's 43-save night and Nik Antropov's goal midway through the third period. The shutout was the 21st of Mason's career and boosted the Thrashers to 7-4-1 in their last 12 games and 3-1 against the Flyers this season.
No. 2 Star: Joffrey Lupul, Toronto Maple Leafs
Another team with their playoff aspirations hanging by the thread, the Maple Leafs beat the Boston Bruins 4-3 to win in a shootout as Lupul contributed two tying goals on the night and added an assist. Nazem Kadri scored the only goal in the shootout as Toronto sits five points behind the New York Rangers and Buffalo Sabres for the eighth spot with four games to play.
No. 3 Star: Colin Greening, Ottawa Senators
Recording his first multi-goal game, Greening's pair helped the Senators sweep their season series with Florida in a 4-1 victory and send the Panthers to their seventh straight defeat. Greening came close to notching a hat trick, but he shanked a feed from Jason Spezza in the second period and was later denied by Scott Clemmensen in the third. He also led all players in shots with five.
Honorable mention: After finding themselves down 1-0 after the first period, the New York Islanders scored six straight goals en route to a 6-2 win over the Rangers. P.A. Parenteau, Radek Martinek and Matt Moulson each scored a goal and an assist, while Al Montoya made 25 saves in the win. Dylan Reese recorded a career-high three assists ... Martin St. Louis hit the 30-goal mark for the sixth time in his career as Tampa Bay slipped by the Penguins 2-1 and clinched a playoff spot for the first time since the 2006-07 season ... Niklas Backstrom made 33 saves and snapped a personal six-game losing streak as Minnesota downed Edmonton 4-2 ... Tom Gilbert's goal was his 500th NHL point ... Your "Fight of the Night" goes to Jay Rosehill and Milan Lucic for this intense scrap that turned into a boxing match:
Jason Chimera's doorstep goal put the Capitals past the Columbus 4-3 in overtime. The win puts Washington over 100 points for the third straight season and places them one point behind the Flyers for tops in the Eastern Conference ... Craig Anderson improved to 9-4-1 since being acquired by Ottawa ... The Senators have killed 79 of their last 82 penalties ... Nick Foligno's 13th goal was also his 100th NHL point ... Martin Erat's goal held up as the game-winner as Nashville beat Colorado 3-2. Pekka Rinne won his 31st game after making 27 stops ... Vancouver won their first Presidents' Trophy in franchise history after a 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Daniel Sedin continued to get closer to his first Art Ross Trophy with a goal and an assist and now leads St. Louis by eight points. Sedin's assist made him the first player to reach the 100-point mark this season ... San Jose improved to 28-4-4 over their last 36 games and clinched a playoff berth with a 6-0 rout of the Dallas Stars. Patrick Marleau scored his 34th and 35th goals and Antti Niemi recorded his sixth shutout of the season with 29 saves. "Goal of the Night" honors go to Ben Eager, who pulled this move for the Sharks' final goal of the evening:
Did you know? Niklas Backstrom is 14-0-0 lifetime against the Edmonton Oilers.
Dishonorable mention: Before their game, the Capitals learned they will be without defenseman Dennis Wideman for an uncertain amount of time after he was diagnosed with a hematoma in his leg after taking a hit against Carolina ... The Oilers dropped to 0-8-3 in their last 11 ... Ottawa lost defenseman Erik Karlsson in the first period after he took a skate to the right thigh. After the game, Cory Clouston said Karlsson needed about 25 stitches ... Colorado is 3-22-2 in their last 27 games ... Finally, two questionable hits this evening. First, Kyle Clifford received five minutes for checking from behind and a game misconduct for a hit on Chris Tanev of the Vancouver Canucks ... Next, Marian Gaborik hit Frans Nielsen into the boards, causing the Islanders centerman's head to bounce off the glass and force him from the game. Gaborik was given two minutes for boarding and two minutes for roughing after the ensuing scrum:
