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Sun Feb 03, 2008 2:33 am EST

Saturday's three stars: Stanley Cup champs knuckle under Knuble

By Ross McKeon

No. 1 star: Mike Knuble, Philadelphia Flyers – The veteran right wing waited 707 NHL games and more than 10 years to collect his first career hat trick. The natural hat trick, no less, was all the offense the Atlantic Division leaders would get and need against the floundering Anaheim Ducks. Knuble's memorable night improved Philly's record to 13-3-1 since Christmas and sent the Stanley Cup champs to a second shutout loss on the road in as many nights.

No. 2 star: Kari Lehtonen, Atlanta Thrashers – The young goaltender stopped all 36 shots he faced for a third career shutout as he led an Atlanta team that played the night before to a 2-0 win in Washington that snapped the rested Capitals' streak of five straight wins on home ice. Lehtonen denied Alexander Ovechkin on his game-high seven shots on goal en route to a 10th career shutout.

No. 3 star: T.J. Hensick, Colorado Avalanche – The 22-year-old rookie center picked up the slack for a Colorado team missing its top three offensive stars – Joe Sakic, Paul Stastny and Ryan Smyth – by enjoying the first multi-goal game of his career during a 6-4 win in St. Louis. Hensick scored two goals, was a plus-2 and put three shots on goal while winning four of five faceoffs during an economical 10:42 of ice time. Hensick had just one career goal in 21 games before Saturday.

Honorable mention: Tomas Vokoun, Florida Panthers (44 saves during road win); Marian Gaborik, Minnesota Wild (sixth multi-goal game in road win); Martin Biron, Philadelphia Flyers (27 saves for 21st career shutout); Jason Blake, Toronto Maple Leafs (one goal, two points, seven shots in win over Ottawa).

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13 Comments

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  1. C A
    1. Posted by C A Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:44 pm EDT

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    This is the beginning of the end for Anaheim.
  2. MaTt
    2. Posted by MaTt Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:11 pm EDT

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    wohooo knubles first career hatrick, im ipressed, especially since he had that collision with shanahan last year..isnt he supposed to be dead or something haha... ducks rule son, if it werent for that stupid salary cap they would of repeated for sure
  3. Kenneth S
    3. Posted by Kenneth S Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:49 pm EDT

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    Not to sure about the salary cap arguement they had a salary cap last year, and now they are pretty close tot he same team aren't they ?
  4. Villain85
    4. Posted by Villain85 Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:41 pm EDT

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    Nice one for Knuble - hope his year picks up, he's a good player, and not a dirty player like a small handful of his teammates.
    Ottawa rules - their entire first line would have seen the All-Star game if Heater wasn't out with a shoulder injury. They will make multiple cup runs in the years to come, especially if they sort their goalies out and their defense has a couple more years experience.
    Ducks rule too, but seriously, salary cap? Ducks would be on the wrong end of a giant Detroit shaft if there was no salary cap.
    As for the Sens and the playoffs - Ducks total appearances in the last decade: 5. Ottawa: 10.
  5. Poop Turtle$
    5. Posted by Poop Turtle$ Thu Sep 03, 2009 3:51 pm EDT

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    Just because the Flyers hit hard makes them dirty? Its called hockey not tickle fight
  6. NathanM
    6. Posted by NathanM Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:25 pm EDT

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    Looks like the Avs have another secret weapon now to follow Svatos and Wolski. Now they just need some better play from them in the defensive zone.
  7. sam
    7. Posted by sam Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:50 pm EDT

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    buddy with the salary cap arugement is an idiot. anaheim will have the same team as last year once selanne is back. the only difference is they have replaced a powerforward in penner with another powerforward in bertuzzi who i would rather have because of experience, they also have schneider who is a good addition. dont make excuses for the ducks. The ducks are a good team still, but not a stanley cup team this year when u have teams like detroit and philly once forsberg comes back.
    lets go flyers
  8. K-Mart
    8. Posted by K-Mart Thu Sep 03, 2009 8:49 pm EDT

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    #6 i'm a flyers fan and i still think that downie is a dirty player, he hasn't found the line between hard nosed and dirty yet, but hopefully he's learning. as for the rest of the team, some players have their dirty moments, but they're not dirty as a whole.
  9. Gyeah Boy!
    9. Posted by Gyeah Boy! Thu Sep 03, 2009 2:45 pm EDT

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    philly dirty? hardly...they just hit incredibly hard, skate even harder and score like its goin out of style...unless new jersey's in town...then they have problems...
    anaheim is trash with or without the salary cap.
  10. Blitzburg's Back
    10. Posted by Blitzburg's Back Thu Sep 03, 2009 10:56 pm EDT

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    Don't count out the Pens who are playing very well without arguably the best player in the NHL - Crosby. It's a blessing in disguise that they know they can win without Sid. Plus Crosby will be rested for the final 10 or so games of the regular season and playoffs. Crosby was dead tired, and had a broken foot at the end of last year and the playoffs where the were summarily dismissed in 5 games in an embarrassingly fashion by Ottawa.
    Malkin has stepped right in and assumed a leadership role and has 5 Gs and 4 As in the 6 games (3 W, 2 L, 1 OTL) since Sid has been out.
    Conklin looks for real: 12 W, 3 L, 2 OTL w/ a 2.07 GAA. The Pens as a team have a 2.55 GAA which is unheard of for the Pens. They are showing a true commitment to playing team defense which will bode well for them in the playoffs.
    GO PENS!
  11. mxpxpunk021
    11. Posted by mxpxpunk021 Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:31 pm EDT

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    blizburg's back, thats pretty sad that the penguins count on one person to make them win. yeah yeah, i heard wat u said about malkin, even so thats 2 players, i hardly see how you can call them a "team" if they rely on two players to make them win. we (philadelphia flyers) will take you on with or without crosby and malkin and beat you every time, (4-0)
  12. Michael L
    12. Posted by Michael L Thu Sep 03, 2009 7:30 pm EDT

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    Hey MaT.........Stupid salary cap?? The Ducks would never win a game w/o it. They'd be out spent every year. you obviously watched your first hockey game the year The might Dusks movie came out.
  13. knucklehead
    13. Posted by knucklehead Thu Sep 03, 2009 4:37 pm EDT

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    Atta boy Mike! Jenison MI

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