NHL Three Stars: Neal tricks Blackhawks; Quick sets record
The word is "ouch."
No. 1 Star: James Neal, Nashville Predators
Looks like James Neal is doing just fine without Evgeni Malkin as his center. The winger had a hat trick against the Chicago Blackhawks, giving the Predators all three of their goals in their 3-2 win. He now has five on the season. Pekka Rinne made 32 saves in the win.
No. 2 Star: Jonathan Quick, Los Angeles Kings
Quick posted his 33rd career shutout to earn the Kings’ franchise record over Rogie Vachon, as L.A. shut out the Buffalo Sabres, 2-0. Jeff Carter and Anze Kopitar had the goals.
No. 3 Star: Henrik Zetterberg, Detroit Red Wings
The captain was awesome in the third period: Scoring his third of the season; working hard to set up Pavel Datsyuk, who set up Niklas Kronwall for the game-tying goal; and forcing a turnover that led to Justin Abdelkader's game-winner against the Pittsburgh Penguins, 4-3.
Honorable Mention: Darcy Kuemper made 21 saves for his third shutout in four starts, as the Minnesota Wild defeated the Arizona Coyotes, 2-0. Jared Spurgeon had two assists. … Jonas Hiller made 16 saves and Sean Monahan had two goals as the Calgary Flames blasted the Carolina Hurricanes, 5-0. … Crazy game between the Columbus Blue Jackets and San Jose Sharks, as an apparent goal by Ryan Johansen – which would have given him a hat trick – was waved off for goalie interference, and Mark Letestu scored his second of the game with 21 seconds left to give the Jackets a 5-4 win. Joe Pavelski scored twice for the Sharks. … Ryan Miller made 31 saves against his former team as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the St. Louis Blues, 4-1. Nick Bonino had a goal and an assist. … The New York Islanders used second-period goals by Kyle Okposo and Cal Clutterbuck, as well as a strong third period from goalie Chad Johnson against his former team, beating the Boston Bruins by a 3-2 score.
Did You Know? Neither the Sabres nor the Wild have scored on the power play this season.
Dishonorable Mention: Drew Stafford earned an instigator penalty for taking on Brayden McNabb. … Andrej Sekera, Elias Lindholm, Justin Faulk and Jeff Skinner were all a minus-3. … Zdeno Chara was limited to 4:13 of ice time after injuring his knee. He’ll miss up to six weeks.