NHL Three Stars: Kunitz, Crosby power Pens; Duchene’s last second OT winner
No. 1 Stars: Chris Kunitz, Sidney Crosby Pittsburgh Penguins
The two top liners for the Penguins exploded offensively during Pittsburgh's 6-1 rout of the New York Islanders. Both finished with five points as Kunitz tallied his fourth career hat trick and added two helpers, while Crosby finished with five assists, tying a career high. Pascal Dupuis chippin in a pair of goals and James Neal scored his 17th of the year, while also recording two assists.
No. 2 Star: Matt Duchene, Colorado Avalanche
It took dramatics for the Avalanche to earn their 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks. After blowing a 2-0 lead, Duchene scored his second of the night with 0.3 seconds remaining in overtime to earn the win:
No. 3 Star: Zach Parise, Minnesota Wild
Parise opened the scoring with his 10th and closed the game out with his 11th as the Wild doubled up the Vancouver Canucks 4-2. Minnesota had built up a 3-0 lead before the Canucks cut the lead to 3-2. That's when Parise put home the insurance marker with 13:31 left in the third period. He would add an assist for a 3-point night. The win puts Minnesota into a tie for first place in the Northwest Division with the Canucks.
Honorable mention: Patrick Marleau scored his 400th career NHL goal in the Sharks loss ... Brian Boyle and Ryan Callahan scored 41 seconds apart midway through the second period to help the New York Rangers trump the Washington Capitals 4-1. Henrik Lundqvist Marty Biron made 28 saves and Ryan McDonagh, Rick Nash and Carl Hagelin each recorded a pair of assists. Caps rookie Steven Olesky scored his first NHL goal ... The Columbus Blue Jackets finished off a home-and-home sweep of the Detroit Red Wings with a 3-2 win in the shootout thanks to this lovely move by Matt Calvert:
Columbus took 9 of 10 points from Detroit this season ... Johan Hedberg made 23 saves in regulation and overtime and all three shots he faced in the shootout as the New Jersey Devils edged the Winnipeg Jets 3-2. Ryan Carter and Stephen Gionta scored 1:25 in the first period and Patrik Elias scored the only goal in the shootout for the Devils ... In the wildest game of the night, the Edmonton Oilers prevented a Chicago Blackhawks comeback with a 6-5 win. The Oilers rushed out to a 4-0 lead after the first period, but the Blackhawks clawed back with four of their own in the second period to cut the deficit to two. Sam Gagner scored twice and Justin Schultz, Ryan Whitney, Ryan Nugent-Hopkins and Taylor each had two points. Edmonton went 3-for-4 on the power play. Patrick Kane had two goals and an assist in the loss ... The Philadelphia Flyers took advantage of special teams during their 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Simon Gagne and Claude Giroux scored on the power play, while Max Talbot capitalized on a shorthanded opportunity for the Flyers. Early in the third period, Brayden Schenn kept the Philadelphia lead safe with this goal-line save:
Corey Perry scored twice and Bobby Ryan chipped in another in the third period for the Anaheim Ducks as they got by the St. Louis Blues 4-2. Francois Beauchemin assisted on all three third period tallies. Jonas Hiller made 29 saves for his fifth win in six starts ... Michael Ryder scored twice on the power play and added an assist as the Montreal Canadiens beat the Florida Panthers 5-2. The goals were his first since the February trade that brought him back to Montreal. P.K. Subban recorded three helpers.
Did you know? Anaheim's win ties a franchise record with their 11th straight home win. (AP)
Dishonorable mention: Alex Ovechkin was called for two penalties on the same shift. The Rangers scored on the delay penalty for the first call, as well as the second one with the Washington captain in the box ... Francis Bouillon's ill-advised clearing attempt in front of the Montreal creased ended up behind Peter Budaj ... Ray Emery was pulled after allowing three goals on nine shots in the opening 9:19 ... Florida has lost 13 of 16 games ... Devan Dubnyk had to leave the game after a collision with Teemu Hartikainen ... Vancouver's power play hasn't scored in its last 20 chances.
