No. 1 star: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers

Mired in a losing streak and coming off a series of team meetings, the Ottawa Senators weren't going to be an easy out at MSG. Lundqvist made some key stops throughout the game against players like Dany Heatley and Antoine Vermette, and then made Nikolai Zherdev's shootout goal stand up to give the Rangers a 2-1 victory. His save on Vermette in the third, on a shorthanded breakaway, was a game-changer. King Henrik leads the NHL with 12 wins.

No. 2 star: Tim Thomas, Boston Bruins

Getting the nod over Ontario native Manny Fernandez, Thomas was again the difference for the Bruins in their 3-2 win at the Toronto Maple Leafs. On a night in which Vesa Toskala was shaky on the other end of the ice, he made 28 saves and some big stops in the second period and during some fanatic moments late in the third.

No. 3 star: Joey MacDonald, New York Islanders

MacDonald has now gone from "Who? to "Wade who?" to, based on his recent play, "Rick who?" The Islanders goalie overcame a Pavol Demitra goal just 49 seconds into the game to pitch a shutout the rest of the way in a 31-save effort. Then, in the shootout, MacDonald outplayed Roberto Luongo, giving the Islanders the 2-1 victory with a decisive poke-check on Alex Burrows during Vancouver's final chance.

Honorable Mention: The strong netminding continued in Detroit, where ConkBlock followed the birth of his third child with his first shutout as a Red Wing, 4-0 over the imploding Edmonton Oilers; Niklas Kronwall had a goal and a helper for the Wings. ...  Devin Setoguchi scored his 11th goal and Brian Boucher (32 saves) bounced back for the Sharks in a 4-1 win at the Nashville Predators. ... The Colorado Avalanche didn't play, but they did ink Paul Stastny to a five-year, $33-million contract extension. ... Finally, good job by Darren McCarty in his attempt to get as many punches in before Zack Stortini could smother him with his special brand of love:

Dishonorable Mention: Forget Dustin Penner: Shawn Horcoff of the Oilers now has one goal in his last 12 games. ... Finally, two unfortunate injuries last night: Fernando Pisani of Edmonton (as if he hasn't been through enough) slid into the end boards and badly broke his foot in Detroit. Predators captain Jason Arnott was stretchered out of his game against San Jose after falling head-first into the net, but Coach Barry Trotz said it's a neck strain and that Arnott should be back by the Preds' next tilt.

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