NHL Three Stars: Habs power play beats CBJ; Holtby shut-out; Perry hat-trick
No. 1 Star: Max Pacioretty, Montreal Canadiens
Coming into the third period, the Habs were down 1-0 to Columbus, and 0-for-4 on the power play. After Ryan Johansen scored to put 'Lumbus up by two, Montreal decided they should do something with special teams opportunities. They went on to score 3-straight power play goals to beat the Jackets 3-2. Pacioretty was credited with 2 of the 3 PPGs.
No. 2 Star: Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals
Holtby is a new man this season, and the Caps are benefiting from it. The netminder stopped all 21 shots in Washington's defeat of the Philadelphia Flyers.
No. 3 Star: Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks
It appears Perry is getting back to his old ways after his most recent stint on the IR. The Ducks forward notched his third hat-trick of the season. Ryan Getzlaf assisted on 2 of 3 Perry goals, including this stretch pass that banked off Cody Franson to a streaking Perry:
Honorable Mention: Andre Markov assisted on 2 of 3 power play goals for the Habs ... Despite taking the loss, Flyers goalie Rob Zepp had a pretty good game. He only allowed 1 goal on 26 shots by the Caps. He made an incredible save on Eric Fehr at the end of the second period:
... The Ducks scored twice in one shift against the Leafs ... Cory Schneider and the Devils brought a 5-1 lead into the third period, and the Kings made things interesting late in the game, as they are inclined to do lately; however, it wasn't enough and a Jagr-less New Jersey won 5-3; Steve Bernier scored 2 goals. At one point, NJD scored 3 goals in 1:08 ... LA lost, but Drew Doughty was still who we thought he was as he assisted on this Dustin Brown goal:
Did You Know? It's been one month since the Ducks last won a game with a goal differential greater than one goal.
Dishonorable Mention: Columbus threw only 16 shots at Carey Price and he stopped 14 of them ... Matt Niskanen destroyed Scott Laughton with an open ice hit, and the Flyers forward did not return:
... Toronto is still looking for a goal in California after being shut-out by the Kings and Ducks. David Booth left the game after taking an accidental elbow to the face by Anaheim's Sami Vatanen ... LA's goaltending was less than stellar against New Jersey. Martin Jones started and was pulled after giving up 3 goals on 8 shots. Jonathan Quick came in and allowed 2 more goals on 7 shots. Jones returned to the net to start the third stopped all 5 shots he faced.
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Jen Neale is a staff writer for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter!
