Hello, this is a feature that will run through the entire season and aims to recap the weekend's events and boils those events down to one admittedly superficial fact or stupid opinion about each team. Feel free to complain about it.

Not that I have to tell you guys this, but on a day that was dominated by talk of a Saints Super Bowl victory and everyone chattering on about advertisements, the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins put on what was the Game of the Week, Month, and probably even Year.

For those that missed yesterday's matinee showdown, well, you missed a beauty. Those that are sick of the hype over Capitals/Penguins games might have once had an argument that these games didn't quite live up to the enormous hype provided by NBC, "The Media" and the NHL itself.

But now? Forget it.

I'm normally loath to use the term "haters" because it, like the use of "fail" as a noun or "epic" to describe anything of even slightly-higher-than-average magnitude, contributes to the degradation of the English language, but if you still can't stand Sid Crosby or Alex Ovechkin or the Pens or Caps or hype after that game, you are clearly drinkin' Haterade, and are worthy of scorn.

This game was everything both hockey purists and the NHL could ever want a regular-season game to be; and that's really difficult to pull off.

(Coming Up: Ovechkin kills goal cam; Toskala finally a Duck; Niclas Wallin is finally a Shark; Flames survive minus Dion, Olli; more Red Wings injuries; Milan Jurcina, goal-scorer; J.P. Dumont answers coach's criticism; clutch college goal of the season; Blake Wheeler vs. Ryan O'Byrne in an anti-fight; and creative ways to get Carey Price out of Montreal.)

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No. 1 Star: Alex Ovechkin(notes), Washington Capitals

The Washington captain knows when the bright lights and national spotlight are on him and he didn't disappoint this afternoon as the Capitals extended their winning streak to 14 games with a 5-4 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. Ovechkin tallied a hat-trick and almost a fourth goal as his shot that led to Mike Knuble's(notes) game-winner in overtime hit the post. (Knuble also stood up for Ovechkin after Craig Adams(notes) boarded him in the first period) Surprisingly, it was Ovechkin's first three goal game of the season and he has now scored eight times in his last five games bringing his season total to 42, three more than Sidney Crosby(notes).

No. 2 Star: Tuukka Rask(notes), Boston Bruins

Rask's 36 saves during Montreal's traditional Super Bowl Sunday matinee helped him record his third shutout of the season as Boston's shutout the Canadiens 3-0 win. It was Rask's first win since a December 30th shutout over Atlanta and snapped a 10-game losing streak for the Bruins. Boston continues their four-game road trip before the Olympic break Tuesday night in Buffalo.

No. 3 Star: Marco Sturm(notes), Boston Bruins

Sturm's 17th and 18th goals of the season were the icing on the cake for the Bruins in their streak-snapping shutout win. Boston also snapped Montreal's three-game winning streak in the process. Sturm's first goal with four seconds to go in the opening period gave the Bruins a 2-0 lead heading into the break and ended a busy first period for Jaroslav Halak(notes) who faced 13 shots.

Honorable mention: Crosby and Jordan Staal's(notes) two goals a piece put Pittsburgh up 4-1 midway through the second period before the Washington comeback ... The Capitals victory also extends a personal winning streak for Jose Theodore(notes) to 10 games. He's also won 11 of his last 12 starts ... Congrats to Boston's Adam McQuaid(notes) who scored his first NHL goal ... Boston's win helps them avoid tying the longest losing streak in team history.

Did you know?: Washington's win streak now ties the 1929-30 Boston Bruins for third longest in NHL history. (AP)

Dishonorable mention: Up 4-1 with 26 minutes to play, Marc-Andre Fleury(notes) and the Penguins defense couldn't hold the lead ... Sadly, Blake Wheeler's(notes) pugilistic skills couldn't match the excitement in Jack Edwards' voice leading up to his "fight" with Ryan O'Byrne(notes):

Here are your Puck Headlines: A glorious collection of news and views collected from the greatest blogosphere in sports and the few, the proud, the mainstream hockey media.

• Hey, here's an incredible crappy idea: Let's complicate the standings even more by making shootout victories worth ... wait for it ... one-and-a-half points. Thanks Scott Howson, GM of the Columbus Blue Jackets; that's a much less confusing idea than three points for a regulation win, two points for an OT win and one point for an OT loss. Or a simple 3-2-1 points allotment for regulation/4-on-4/shootout. No sir, it's all about half-points! [CBC Sports]

• Brian Elliott of the Ottawa Senators, Craig Anderson of the Colorado Avalanche and some dude named Sidney Crosby are your Three Stars for last week. [NHL]

• Ken Campbell wonders about the future of the Atlanta Thrashers, and offers some lockout nostalgia, in tackling the Ilya Kovalchuk contract negotiations. [THN]

• Kevin Paul Dupont believes a Boston Bruins/Thrashers trade for Kovalchuk would have to include "such prized possessions Milan Lucic and David Krejci." So he has his doubts. [Boston Globe]

• The Detroit Red Wings are getting defenseman Niklas Kronwall back on Tuesday; said Dan Cleary, "Words can't describe how important he is to our team." Plus, barring a setback, Andreas Lilja could be on the road back to the lineup, too. Oh, and Holmstrom could be back by the weekend. Detroit is ninth right now in the West. But not for long. [Khan and Freep]

• John Davidson tells the world that St. Louis Blues forward David Backes "isn't going anywhere." Anywhere, in this case, meaning Vancouver. [News-Democrat]

• Seriously, every broadcasting team should revert to using a 6-year-old's pronunciations of player names: "O'Berto La Gwango." [Jewels From The Crown]

• Oh, silly Down Goes Brown, trying to dissect Burkian logic as it pertains to Tomas Kaberle's future with the Toronto Maple Leafs: "If Brian Burke doesn't give out no-trade clauses (except in the case of extraordinary personal circumstances, like Giguere's son), then why would it matter whether potential free agents thought he would honor one?" [DGB]

• Get ready for many, many more appearances from the Flyers and Penguins in NBC, as the ratings were strong on "conference championship Sunday." [Puck The Media]

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