No. 1 Star: John Tavares, New York Islanders
Tavares recorded his second consecutive 4-point night, with this one including his third career hat trick as the Islanders downed the New York Rangers 4-2. Tavares has five goals and three assists in his last two games. P.A. Parenteau recorded three assists and Evgeni Nabokov made 29 saves for his first NHL win since April 10, 2010.
No. 2 Star: Phil Kessel, Toronto Maple Leafs
Right behind Tavares is Kessel, who netted two goals and recorded an assist as the Maple Leafs came back from a 2-0 first period deficit to beat the Calgary Flames 3-2. Kessel has five goals and two assists in his last two games. James Reimer made 32 saves as Toronto improved to 3-0-0.
No. 3 Star: David Jones, Colorado Avalanche
Jones scored two of Colorado's three second period goals and added an assist as the Avalanche slipped by the Montreal Canadiens 6-5 in the shootout. Milan Hejduk and Matt Duchene scored the only shootout goals for Colorado as the Avs won their fourth straight. They've also won 13 of their last 14 shootouts.
Honorable Mention: Nathan Gerbe and Luke Adam each notched a goal and assist, while Jhonas Enroth spelled Ryan Miller and made 29 saves as the Buffalo Sabres downed the Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 ... Tomas Vokoun won his third straight game as he stopped 33 shots during a 2-1 Washington win over Ottawa. Capitals defenseman Roman Hamrlik played in his 1,315th NHL game, most among Czech players ... Ilya Kovalchuk scored in regulation and in the shootout as the New Jersey Devils fought back from a 2-0 deficit to beat the Nashville Predators 3-2 in the shootout. Johan Hedberg made 29 saves in the win ... In his return to Philadelphia, Mike Richards set up Jack Johnson's overtime winner as the Los Angeles Kings edged the Flyers 3-2. Justin Williams added two goals and Jonathan Quick made 32 saves. During the game, Flyers fans gave Richards a standing ovation as a "thank you" message was displayed on the Jumbotron:
Despite two goals from Marc-Andre Bergeron, the Florida Panthers capitalized on two power plays to force a shootout before Marcel Goc put home the winner to down the Tampa Bay Lightning 3-2 ... Sheldon Souray and Michael Ryder scord their first goals as Dallas Stars during their 4-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Mike Ribeiro chipped in with three helpers. The Stars improved to 4-0-0 at American Airlines Center this season ... Oliver Ekman-Larsson scored a pair of goals and Mike Smith made 18 saves as the former Winnipeg Jets, the Phoenix Coyotes, beat the new Winnipeg Jets 4-1 ... The Detroit Red Wings scored in the final two periods and Johan Franzen's goal in overtime capped off a come-from-behind 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild. Jimmy Howard stopped just 12 shots to improve to 7-0-1 in his last eight games against the Wild. Detroit is 4-0-0 for the first time since the 1997-98 season ... Nathan Horton scored his first of the season Tyler Seguin scored the only goal in the shootout as the Boston Bruins beat the Chicago Blackhawks 3-2 to give head coach Claude Julien his 300th NHL victory ... Behind a three-goal third period, the St. Louis Blues rallied to beat the San Jose Sharks 4-2. Brian Elliott made 34 saves including this glove save robbery on Dan Boyle:
Ryan Nugent-Hopkins recorded what's being called his first NHL hat trick in just his third game as the Oilers fell to the Vancouver Canucks 4-3. Nugent-Hopkins' third goal was still under review as it looked on replays that Taylor Hall got the last touch on it. Sami Salo scored twice, including the winner in the third period for the Canucks. Edmonton has scored six goals so far this season with the rookie potting four of them.
Did you know? "The Winnipeg-Atlanta franchise is 1-13-1 against the Coyotes, 0-8-1 in Arizona." (AP)
Dishonorable mention: Just 20 seconds in the game, Drew Doughty took a hit from Zac Rinaldo and did not return to the game. Early word is that he'll be out the next 7-10 days ... Carey Price has allowed nine goals in his last two starts.
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