No. 1 Star: Jose Theodore, Minnesota Wild
Theodore returned to the arena he dominates in and made 40 saves as the Wild sunk the New York Rangers, 3-1. Casey Wellman scored his first NHL goal and Kyle Brodziak and Pierre-Marc Bouchard each had a goal and an assist. With the win, Theodore improved to 9-0-1 all-time at Madison Square Garden. One of Theodore's 40 saves included this rob job of Ryan Callahan:
No. 2 Star: Dany Heatley, San Jose Sharks
Heatley recorded his fourth multi-goal game of the season as the Sharks beat the Detroit Red Wings 3-1. A power-play goal 3:54 into the second period by Heatley put the Sharks up for good. Antti Niemi stopped 26 shots for his eighth straight win. The red-hot Niemi has won 16 of his last 20 appearances for San Jose.
No. 3 Star: Craig Anderson, Ottawa Senators
Making 42 saves in Ottawa's 4-1 win over the Atlanta Thrashers, Anderson won for thr fourth time as a Senator. It was the second time he's faced 40-plus shots since being acquired by Ottawa on Feb. 18. Rookie Colin Greening scored his first NHL goal and Bobby Butler notched his sixth in the win.
Honorable mention: Carey Price recorded his seventh shutout of the season after making 30 saves as the Montreal Canadiens blanked the Florida Panthers 4-0. Lars Eller scored a goal and added an assist and Hal Gill tallied his first goal in 100 games. ... Jamie McBain needed just 26 seconds overtime to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. The win puts the Canes in seventh place in the East and three points now ahead of the Sabres ... Taylor Hall earned his first Gordie Howe Hat Trick and Devan Dubnyk made 26 saves as the Edmonton Oilers downed the Columbus Blue Jackets 4-2. One of Dubnyk's saves included denying R.J. Umberger on a penalty shot ... Milan Lucic's goal with 3:42 to go broke a 1-1 tie and gave the Boston Bruins a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tim Thomas made 27 saves as the Bruins won their seventh straight ... Jason Arnott picked a good time to score his first goal as a Washington Capital. He beat Ty Conklin with 5:19 to go in the third period to give the Caps a 3-2 win over the St. Louis Blues. Scott Hannan scored his first goal in 118 games and Michal Neuvirth set a Washington franchise rookie record with his 21st win. Matt Bradley had your "KO of the Night" against Tyson Strachan:
While Nicklas Backstrom scored a pretty goal with a baseball swing:
Jarret Stoll's 18th of the season was the only goal as the Los Angeles Kings shutout the Phoenix Coyotes 1-0. Jonathan Bernier earned his second shutout of the year with 25 saves ... Blake Geoffrion scored for the second straight game and Pekke Rinne recorded his fifth shutout of the season as Nashville beat the Vancouver Canucks 3-0 ... James Reimer's glove save with under a minute to go preserved a 3-2 Toronto victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Darryl Boyce's goal with 4:30 remaining in the third gave the Leafs the lead for good. Nikolai Kulemin and Dion Phaneuf each had a goal and an assist as Toronto has earned points in each of their last nine games. Keith Aulie won runner-up honors for "KO of the Night" against Scott Hartnell:
Did you know? "Atlanta dropped to 2-5-2 this season when getting off 40 shots." (AP)
Dishonorable mention: The Rangers' playoff hopes keep sliding as the loss to Minnesota puts them 4-10-1 in their last 15 games ... Hall earned the Howe Trick by fighting Derek Dorsett, but in the process injured his ankle and left the game ... Vancouver has alternated wins and losses over their past 12 games ... Tomas Vokoun was pulled after allowing two goals on the first three shots he faced ... Philadelphia has lost back-to-back games for the first time since Dec. 20-28 ... After winning eight straight, the Coyotes have now lost five in a row ... After scoring five times against the Senators last month, Johan Franzen is in the midst of a 14-game goal drought.