NHL Three Stars: Anderson's shutout; Backstrom, Lundqvist reach milestones
No. 1 Star: Craig Anderson, Ottawa Senators
In his first start since Dec. 5, Anderson stopped all 33 New York Islanders shots on goal in a 3-0 win. He took a leave of absence shortly after his last start to help his wife Nicholle in her fight against cancer and had been practicing with the team since Jan. 31. Anderson became the second goaltender in franchise history to record four shutouts within his first 20 appearances in a season. Patrick Lalime in 2000-01 was the first to do so and posted four shutouts in 19 games. Saturday was Anderson’s 20th appearance.
No. 2 Star: Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals
The slick center scored a goal and added two assists in a 6-4 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Backstrom notched his 700th point of his NHL career in a first period assist on a goal by forward T.J. Oshie. The 29-year-old Backstrom is the fourth player in franchise history to record 700 points with Washington, joining Alex Ovechkin (1,017 points), Peter Bondra (825 points) and Mike Gartner (789 points). Backstrom leads the NHL with 30 points since Jan. 5 and is tied for second in the NHL with 60 points on the season. Saturday was the 708th game of his NHL career. The Capitals joined the 1970-71 Boston Bruins as the only teams in NHL history to score at least five goals in 11 consecutive home games.
No. 3 Star: Patrik Berglund, St. Louis Blues
Berglund scored his first career NHL hat trick to help the Blues to a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. He became the first Blues player to record three goals against the Canadiens since Brett Hull on Jan. 16, 1992. St. Louis has won four straight games, a stretch where they have outscored their opponent 14-3. The Blues also improved to 5-1-0 since Mike Yeo took over for Ken Hitchcock as head coach. Berglund has six points in his last five games.
[Follow Puck Daddy on social media: Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Tumblr]
Honorable Mention: New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist became the 12th goaltender in NHL history to win 400 career games in a 4-2 victory over the Colorado Avalanche. Lundqvist also became the fastest NHL goaltender to hit the total, doing so in 727 games. Martin Brodeur, who holds the NHL record with 691 wins, was previously the quickest at 735. With the victory, Lundqvist also improved to 8-1-0 in his last nine decisions. He stopped 32 of 34 Avalanche shots on goal in Saturday’s game. … Rangers forward Oscar Lindberg notched two assists. … New York defenseman Kevin Klein scored two goals and was a plus-3. … Rangers forward Rick Nash scored his 16th goal of the season. … Colorado captain Gabriel Landeskog scored a goal. … Avalanche forwards Jarome Iginla and Nathan MacKinnon each notched one assist. … Avalanche forward John Mitchell scored a goal. … Florida Panthers forward Jaromir Jagr scored his 10th goal of the season in a 7-4 win over the Nashville Predators. It was also his 100th goal after his 40th birthday. Gordie Howe holds the record for most goals after 40 with 113. It was Jagr’s 1,899th point of his NHL career. … Florida forward Jonathan Huberdeau scored a goal and added two assists. Huberdeau has five points in three games since he returned from a leg injury he suffered in the preseason. … Panthers forward Vincent Trocheck scored two goals and added an assist. … Florida forwards Nick Bjugstad and Aleksander Barkov each scored a goal. … Nashville forward Viktor Arvidsson notched a hat trick. … Predators defenseman Roman Josi scored a goal and added an assist. … Dallas Stars forward Patrick Eaves scored two goals in a 5-2 win over the Carolina Hurricanes. Eaves now has 21 goals on the season. … Dallas captain Jamie Benn notched two assists. … Stars forward Curtis McKenzie scored a goal and added an assist. … Dallas defenseman Esa Lindell scored a goal and was a plus-3. … Hurricanes rookie Sebastian Aho scored his 17th goal of the season. … Philadelphia Flyers forward Wayne Simmonds scored the overtime winner in a 2-1 victory over the San Jose Sharks. … Philadelphia defenseman Ivan Provorov scored a goal. … Sharks forward Patrick Marleau scored his 20th goal of the season. … Flyers goaltender Michal Neuvirth stopped 23 of 24 shots on goal. … Bruce Cassidy moved to 2-0-0 as head coach of the Boston Bruins in a 4-3 win over the Vancouver Canucks. … Boston forward David Pastrnak scored the game-winner at the 18:00 mark of the third period. … Bruins forward Frank Vatrano scored a goal and added two assists. … Boston forward David Krejci notched two assists. … Bruins backup Anton Khudobin stopped 29 of 32 shots on goal to pick up the win. It was just the second victory by a Bruins goaltender this season not named Tuukka Rask. … Vancouver forwards Bo Horvat and Alex Burrows each scored a goal and added an assist. … Canucks forward Jannik Hansen notched two assists. … Vancouver forward Markus Granlund scored a goal. … Senators forward Mark Stone scored his 20th goal of the season. … Senators forward Zack Smith scored his 13th goal of the season. … Ottawa defensemen Erik Karlsson and Dion Phaneuf and forward Kyle Turris each notched one assist. … Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky stopped 35 of 36 shots on goal in a 2-1 win over the Detroit Red Wings. … Columbus forward Cam Atkinson scored the game-winner. It was his 27th goal of the season and came at the 11:27 mark of the second period. … Blue Jackets forward Boone Jenner scored a goal and added an assist. … Columbus forward Brandon Dubinsky notched two assists. … Detroit forward Thomas Vanek scored his 14th goal of the season. … Red Wings goaltender Petr Mrazek made 37 saves in the loss. … Arizona Coyotes defenseman Connor Murphy scored the game-winner in a 4-3 overtime victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. … Arizona forward Martin Hanzal scored two goals. … Coyotes defenseman Oliver Ekman-Larsson notched two assists. … Arizona forward Tobias Rieder scored a goal. … Pittsburgh forward Josh Archibald scored his first goal of his NHL career and added another tally later in the game. … Penguins forward Phil Kessel scored his 19th goal of the season. … Oshie scored his 23rd goal of the season and added an assist. … Caps forwards Daniel Winnik and Marcus Johansson each scored a goal and added an assist. … Washington forward Alex Ovechkin notched an assist. … Anaheim forward Ryan Getzlaf scored a goal and added two assists. … Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg scored his 17th goal of the season. … Anaheim forward Ryan Kesler scored his 19th goal of the year. … Ducks defenseman Cam Fowler notched two assists. … Blues forward David Perron scored a goal and added an assist. … St. Louis forward Jaden Schwartz and Blues captain Alex Pietrangelo each notched two assists. … Canadiens forward Max Pacioretty scored his 28th goal of the season and added an assist. … Montreal defenseman Shea Weber scored his 13th goal of the season. This snapped a six-game pointless stretch for Weber. … Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel notched three assists in a 3-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. … Sabres forward Evander Kane scored two goals. He now has 18 on the season. … Buffalo forward Sam Reinhart scored a goal and added an assist. … Sabres goaltender Robin Lehner stopped 43 of 44 Maple Leafs shots on goal. … Maple Leafs forward Mitch Marner scored his team’s only goal. … Tampa Bay Lightning forwards Ondrej Palat and Brayden Point and defenseman Victor Hedman each scored a goal and added an assist in their team’s 4-1 win over the Winnipeg Jets. … Tampa forward Jonathan Drouin notched a gorgeous assist. … Lightning goaltender Ben Bishop stopped 32 of 33 shots on goal. … Tampa forward Brian Boyle scored his 13th goal of the season. … Winnipeg defenseman Jacob Trouba scored a goal. … Chicago Blackhawks forward Richard Panik scored two goals and added an assist in a 5-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers. …Blackhawks forward Patrick Kane scored a goal and added two assists. … Chicago captain Jonathan Toews notched two assists. He now has seven points in his last five games. … Blackhawks goaltender Scott Darling stopped 30 of 31 shots on goal. …Oilers forward Patrick Maroon scored his 19th goal of the season. … Edmonton captain Connor McDavid notched an assist.
Did you know? With Marner’s goal, the Maple Leafs set a franchise record for most points by rookies in a season with 208. Rookie defenseman Nikita Zaitsev picked up an assist on the play.
[Newsletter: Get 5 great stories from the Yahoo Sports blogs in your inbox every morning!]
Dishonorable Mention: Nashville goaltender Pekka Rinne was pulled after allowing four goals on 16 shots on goal. … Carolina forwards Lee Stempniak, Victor Rask and Jeff Skinner were each a minus-3. … Hurricanes goaltender Cam Ward allowed five goals on 27 shots on goal. … Penguins captain Sidney Crosby was held pointless against the Coyotes and remained stuck on 998 points for his career. Crosby has been held without a point in consecutive games for the first time in 68 contests. … Pittsburgh goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury allowed four goals on 25 shots on goal. … Jets forward Mark Scheifele was a minus-4. … Oilers goaltender Cam Talbot was yanked after allowing four goals on 20 shots on goal. …Since Nov. 13, the Canadiens have held the 23rd best points percentage in the NHL at .512.
MORE FROM YAHOO SPORTS
