No. 1 star: Jordan Staal, Pittsburgh Penguins

Let's start with an excerpt from the Puck Daddy live blog of Tuesday's Stanley Cup Finals rematch in Detroit:

Is it just me, or am I the only one who thinks Jordan Staal is doing absolutely nothing this year? Five points in 14 games.

It wasn't exactly a dog pile from there – and yes, we're ignoring the redundancy in the poster's question – but nobody came to Staal's defense, either. This isn't 2006-07. Now fast-forward to the third period Tuesday. The Penguins trailed the Red Wings 5-2. Here's all Staal contributed from the 6:57-mark on: scored three goals, the last of which tied the game with 23 seconds remaining; drew a hooking penalty on Brian Rafalski that gave the Pens a power-play that spilled into overtime; picked Pavel Datsyuk's pocket in OT and started an odd-man rush; fed that stolen puck to Ruslan Fedotenko, who one-timed the game-winner past Chris Osgood. Good night. Pens win 7-6. This may be looked upon as a turnaround game for Staal, but the third-year forward actually kicked things up a notch Saturday. In any case, it was a hall of fame effort in a game that won't soon be forgotten by fans of either team.

No. 2 star: Christopher Higgins, Montreal Canadiens

Higgins made headlines for a hockey mom not named Palin, scoring three goals in a 4-0 win over Ottawa, then dedicating his first career hat trick to his mother, Sue. He got the scoring started by gloving down a beautifully lobbed Saku Koivu breakout pass, then converting a partial breakaway by beating Alex Auld stick side for a shorthanded goal. He'd later beat a helpless, diving Auld in the second period before completing the trick with a third-period breakaway to ice it. Coming off back-to-back losses for the first time this season, the Habs needed this one.

No. 3 star: Dan Ellis, Nashville Predators

Desperate for points in the heart of a six-game road trip, the Preds got a superhuman effort from Ellis, who turned aside 54 shots to snap San Jose's nine-game home win streak. To get an idea how substantial the workload was, the Sharks set a franchise record for shots in a home game … and there were still nine minutes remaining in the third period. The game never would have reached overtime had Ellis not stopped a close-in shot from Ryane Clowe in the final seconds and Nashville would have settled for one point, not a 4-3 overtime win, had he not thwarted Patrick Marleau on an OT breakaway.

Honorable mention: Carey Price rebounded from one of his worst efforts of the season to stop 28 shots for his first shutout of the season and fourth of his career. … Detroit's Jiri Hudler had three points in just 8:34 of ice time and Darren McCarty scored his first goal since 2005-06 in a losing effort. … San Jose's Devin Setoguchi had three points and a franchise-record 10 shots on goal. … Dustin Boyd's first-career multi-goal game helped Calgary to a 4-3 win over Toronto.

Dishonorable mention: Philly coach John Stevens said Scott Hartnell "didn't look like he wanted to play" Tuesday, so he benched the forward for the third period. … Islanders forward Doug Weight pinched but failed to keep the puck in the zone during a late power play, resulting in a 2-on-1 that resulted in a Flyers goal. A chance to tie the matinee 1-1 turned into a two-goal deficit. … The Isles finished 0-for-8 on the power play and failed to convert a pair of 5-on-3 chances. … Sharks goalie Brian Boucher was still working on a shutout late in the second period when a puck popped out of his glove and onto Jason Arnott's stick for a Nashville goal.

Related: 3 Stars