NHL Three Stars: Silfverberg's four-point night; Staal burns Pens again
No. 1 Star: Jakob Silfverberg, Anaheim Ducks
Silfverberg factored into all four Anaheim goals during a 4-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. The Ducks forward scored twice in the second period three minutes apart and picked up secondary assists on both of Ryan Kesler’s goals. Ryan Getzlaf recorded an assist on one of Kesler’s goals to move past Teemu Selanne as the franchise leader in assists.
No. 2 Star: Eric Staal, Minnesota Wild
Staal continued his Penguin-killing ways as he picked up his fifth goal of the season and assisted on two others as the Wild beat Pittsburgh 4-2. Charlie Coyle and Nino Niederreiter each recorded a goal and an assist, while Devan Dubnyk was fantastic in making 39 saves. Staal now has 51 points in 50 career game against the Penguins.
No. 3 Star: Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars
Benn’s second goal of the night broke a 2-2 third period tie and helped the Dallas Stars get by the Calgary Flames 4-2. Antoine Roussel put home a late empty netter to lock up the Gordie Howe Hat Trick. Benn snapped a 10-game goal drought and now has four on the season.
Honorable Mention: Matt Beleskey notched his first of the season and David Backes, David Krejci, and Austin Czarniak picked up two points a piece as the Boston Bruins downed the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-2. The Bruins has now won five of their last seven games … Carey Price made 23 saves and the Montreal Canadiens received goals from Alex Galchenyuk, Paul Byron, Daniel Carr and Phillip Danault to down the Los Angeles Kings 4-1. The Habs improved to 9-0-0 at Bell Centre this season, tying a franchise record for most consecutive home wins to start a season. Price was his usual spectacular self in net:
Steven Stamkos had a goal and two assists and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 31 saves as the Tampa Bay Lightning defeated the New York Islanders 4-1. Stamkos now has 111 career power play goals, one shy of Vincent Lecavalier’s franchise record. Victor Hedman recorded his 188th career assist to become the franchise’s leader in that category among defensemen … James Neal and Calle Jarnkrok scored 66 seconds apart early in the third period to snap a 1-1 tie and lead the Nashville Predators to a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues. Jarnkrok’s third period goal was also his second of the evening. Pekke Rinne made 23 stops … The San Jose Sharks scored four unanswered goals after falling behind 2-0 en route to a 4-2 win over the Florida Panthers. Brent Burns and Joe Pavelski helped San Jose even the score heading into the third period, setting up Tommy Wingels to snap the tie 8:53 in … Blake Wheeler broke a 1-1 tie in the second period and Nik Ehlers took advantage of an Oliver Ekman-Larsson turnover as the Winnipeg Jets beat the Arizona Coyotes 3-2. Connor Hellebuyck made 23 saves …The Detroit Red Wings downed the Vancouver Canucks 3-1 as Jimmy Howard stopped 36 shots to win his second straight start. Dylan Larkin, Steve Ott and Brendan Smith provided the goals for Detroit … Check this diving glove save by Ryan Miller on Henrik Zetterberg.
Did You Know? The Canadiens and Kings honored Rogie Vachon ahead of his induction into the Hockey Hall of Fame on Monday:
Dishonorable Mention: Pittsburgh’s loss was their first in regulation in eight games and first in regulation at home this season … The Canucks are 1-9-1 in their last 11 games … Sergei Bobrovsky was pulled after allowing four goals on nine shots. He’s 0-4-2 against the Bruins in his career … Colin Miller’s going to want a second crack at this one:
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
