NHL Three Stars: Datsyuk dazzles against Stars; Pacioretty punches Blue Jackets
No. 1 Star: Pavel Datsyuk, Detroit Red Wings
Scored two goals and added two assists and was a plus-3 in Detroit’s 7-6 barn burner win over the Dallas Stars. Detroit came from two goals down twice in the third period to pick up the win. Said Datsyuk after the game: "We did not play great today ... They played better than us. We were lucky to win."
No. 2 Star: Max Pacioretty, Montreal Canadiens
The Canadiens sniper scored two goals in a 3-1 win over Columbus. The goal was Pacioretty’s 29th of the season. He’s a plus-33 for Atlantic Division leading Montreal.
No. 3. Star: Marian Gaborik, Los Angeles Kings
Scored the game-winning goal against the Sharks in the NHL’s Stadium Series game at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. The victory was the seventh in a row for Los Angeles, and tied the Kings for the final Western Conference playoff spot with San Jose. The Kings have three games in hand.
Honorable Mention: Wayne Simmonds scored a goal for the Flyers in their 3-2 shootout win over the Nashville Predators … Ryan White also scored for Philly … Evgeny Kuznetsov fired the shootout winner for Washington in a 3-2 victory over the Islanders … Matt Niskanen and Eric Fehr also scored for the Caps, who have won four games in a row … Islanders forward Anders Lee picked up an assist and was a plus-2 … Maple Leafs forward Daniel Winnik scored one goal and added one assist in a 4-3 win over Winnipeg as did teammate Nazem Kadri … Canadiens goaltender Carey Price stopped 31 of 32 shots on goal … Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno scored a goal … Ottawa forward Kyle Turris scored a goal and added two assists in a 4-1 win over Florida … Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson scored a goal in 27:27 of ice-time … New Jersey defenseman Adam Larsson notched an assist and was a plus-3 in a 3-1 win over Carolina. Fellow Devils blueliner Andy Greene scored a goal and also was plus-3 … Anaheim goaltender John Gibson stopped 26 of 27 Edmonton shots on goal in a 2-1 win … Ducks forward Kyle Palmieri notched two assists … With an assist, Nail Yakupov notched his eighth point in his last eight games … The Penguins broke a three-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over St. Louis. Blake Comeau scored two goals and added an assist for the Pens … Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang notched an assist in 29:00 minutes of action … Detroit’s Tomas Tatar picked up two assists and Jakub Kindl scored two goals … Dallas captain Jamie Benn scored a goal and added an assist as did forward Erik Cole … Tampa’s Ondrej Palat scored two goals in a 4-2 win over Arizona … Lightning defenseman Anton Stralman notched two assists and goaltender Ben Bishop stopped 22 of 24 Coyotes shots on goal … Kings goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 31 of 32 San Jose shots on goal … Anze Kopitar was plus-2 and won 59 percent of his face offs.
Did You Know?: With a goal Saturday, Francois Beauchemin (171 points) moved past Oleg Tverdovsky for second all-time in points amongst Ducks defensemen.
Dishonorable Mention: The Jets blew a third period lead to lose to Toronto in overtime … The Panthers allowed 39 Ottawa shots on goal in the loss to the injury depleted Senators … Carolina goaltender Anton Khudobin allowed three goals on 19 Devils shots on goal … Dallas goaltender Kari Lehtonen allowed seven goals to Detroit … San Jose forward Patrick Marleau was held pointless against Los Angeles and was a minus-2. He has two points in his last five games.
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