No. 1 Star: David Perron(notes), St. Louis Blues
The third-year left wing and former first-round pick seems to be improving with every shift, and he gave us his best game to date here, potting three goals as the Blues rolled past the Vancouver Canucks, 6-1. It's the second straight game he's been a difference-maker; Perron notched two points and had eight shots on goal in Sunday's overtime loss at Atlanta. The Blues have a good thing going with this line of Perron, Andy McDonald(notes) and Brad Boyes; that trio combined for five goals and 10 points on the evening (Boyes 1-3-4, McDonald 1-2-3).

No. 2 Star: Miikka Kiprusoff(notes), Calgary Flames
So much for the October slump – the Calgary netminder has been fantastic in three November victories (just two goals allowed) and the Montreal Canadiens weren't able to beat him in 25 attempts here. Kipper gets the nod over the goaltender below for a few key reasons; he was working on the road, he faced more power-play opportunities, and he had less margin of error to work with (Calgary put just one shot past Jaroslav Halak(notes), who was outstanding in his own right).

No. 3 Star: Tim Thomas(notes), Boston Bruins
His teammates "exploded" for two goals (and eventually a third into an empty net) and Thomas easily made it stand up, stopping 27 shots en route to a 3-0 blanking of the Pittsburgh Penguins. Thomas also had some luck on his side; a crazy carom from the corner boards was headed into a vacated Boston cage, but it glanced against the far post and dribbled untouched through the crease. Give Zdeno Chara(notes) an assist in this shutout; the blueline stud logged 25:09 of ice time (much of it against Pittsburgh's top guys) and was plus-2.

Honorable Mention: Dan Boyle(notes) single-handedly bailed out the Sharks against an upset-minded Nashville club, setting up the tying goal with 6:34 to play, then scoring the game winner with 60 ticks remaining. Sooner or later, there's going to be a Norris Trophy on this guy's mantle. … Niklas Backstrom(notes) couldn't buy a road victory for a while but now he has two in a row. He kicked out 37 of 39 shots at Toronto. … Devin Setoguchi(notes) (leg) returned to the lineup after missing seven games and buried his eighth goal of the year (a lucky deflection off a Nashville stick, but hey, it counts). … Jarome Iginla(notes) had the only tally in the Calgary win; the reigning Player of the Week has five markers in his last four games. … Jonathan Cheechoo(notes) finally found the scoresheet for the Ottawa Senators, a pretty top-shelf job. Jason Spezza(notes) also was heard from, creating plenty of offense during regulation (four shots), then clinching the shootout with a nifty deke. Dustin Penner(notes) had one of the three goals for the scrappy Edmonton Oilers, who won‘t mind grabbing a point on the road. He's up to 11-11-22 for the year.

Phil Kessel(notes) had a goal and five shots, giving him a 2-2-4 line and 21 SOG since he returned four games ago. Boston fans don't want to think about it. … Two more points and five shots for Joe Pavelski(notes); he's got four points since returning two games ago. … Emerging Alexei Ponikarovsky(notes) filled the box score for the Toronto Maple Leafs, potting his seventh goal, collecting five shots and picking up four PIMs. … It's encouraging to see Patrice Bergeron(notes) contributing again. He's had a point in the last three games (that's cause for celebration in The Hub these days), including a 1-1-2 effort against the Penguins. Normally we don't spotlight empty-net tallies, but Bergeron deserves credit for burying his shot from deep in the Boston end. … Underrated Mikko Koivu(notes) had a goal and two helpers at Toronto while Marek Zidlicky(notes) contributed a power-play goal and an assist. … Patric Hornqvist(notes) finally got a break, scoring his fourth of the year on five shots. He's piled up 17 SOG in his last three games.

Did You Know?: Marcel Goc(notes) scored just 20 goals in 265 games with Sharks, but he looked like a sniper in his return to San Jose, burying a wrist shot from the left circle for his first goal of the year. It was his first score in 31 games dating back to last season.

Dishonorable Mention: So much for the Andrew Raycroft(notes) run. The Razor was cut for four goals on 13 shots at St. Louis before the Canucks brought Roberto Luongo(notes) (rib) in for relief. Luongo, making his first appearance since Oct. 27, stopped 15 of 17 shots. … Make it five straight pointless games for Sidney Crosby(notes), and he's minus-6 over that span. … Lee Stempniak(notes) wasn't a factor on offense and finished minus-3 in Toronto. … Shea Weber(notes) (foot) returned for the Predators and didn't look all that bad, but his timing was a little off; he couldn't find the net with any of his booming slap shots. … Tomas Plekanec(notes) didn't have a shot and was held off the sheet for his third straight game. … Kevin Bieksa(notes) got into a third-period scrap with B.J. Crombeen(notes) and didn't do much on the power play (one shot). He's got just one point in his last seven games. A handful of Bieksa's teammates took it on the plus-minus chin; Steve Bernier(notes), Sami Salo(notes) and Alex Burrows(notes) all went minus-3.

Related: David Perron, Patric Hornqvist, Joe Pavelski, Phil Kessel, Kevin Bieksa, Niklas Backstrom, Alex Burrows, Sidney Crosby, Jaroslav Halak, Dustin Penner, Patrice Bergeron, Marek Zidlicky, B.J. Crombeen, Shea Weber, Steve Bernier, Tim Thomas, Tomas Plekanec, Jason Spezza, Marcel Goc, Mikko Koivu, Andrew Raycroft, Andy McDonald, Alexei Ponikarovsky, Miikka Kiprusoff, Jonathan Cheechoo, Dan Boyle, Roberto Luongo, Sami Salo, Zdeno Chara, Jarome Iginla, Boston Bruins, Calgary Flames, Edmonton Oilers, Montreal Canadiens, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, St. Louis Blues, Toronto Maple Leafs, Vancouver Canucks, 3 Stars