No. 1 Star: Cam Ward, Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes were trailing the Buffalo Sabres in the standings. They were winless in four games. They needed someone to step up, and that someone was Ward, with a 40-save performance in Carolina's 1-0 win. Brandon Sutter had the lone goal.
No. 2 Star: Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks
The Sharks bounced back from their loss to Chicago on Monday night and a 2-goal deficit to the Dallas Stars with a 6-3 win. Pavelski had four assists, including the only helper on Ryane Clowe's key goal 1:51 into the third.
No. 3 Star: Jeff Carter, Philadelphia Flyers
With the Flyers down 2-1 after one period, Carter scored two second-period goals to lead Philadelphia to a 3-2 victory over the Florida Panthers. Carter has 15 goals in his last 23 games.
Honorable mention: Big win for the New York Rangers in the Eastern Conference playoff race, doubling up the New York Islanders, 6-3. Marian Gaborik had two goals, while Ryan Callahan, Erik Christensen and Bryan McCabe each had a goal and an assist. John Tavares had a goal and two assists for the Isles. … After going down 2-0 in the first period, the New Jersey Devils scored four consecutive goals in their 4-2 win. Jacob Josefson had the game-winner, as the Devils moved to 23-3-2 in their last 28 games. … Marcus Johansson scored on the power play in the first and then on a Alex Ovechkin feed in the third to help the Washington Capitals to a 4-2 win at the Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price made 37 saves, but Brandon Holtby's 24 saves were enough to earn him his fifth straight win. … Chris Kunitz had three assists and Jordan Staal had the game-winner in the Pittsburgh Penguins' 5-1 win at the Ottawa Senators. The Pens had 41 shots on goal. … Dustin Brown and Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist each as the Los Angeles Kings defeated the Nashville Predators, 4-2. It was the first four-game sweep of a road trip in Kings franchise history. … Keith Yandle and Michal Rozsival scored 19 seconds apart in the third period to help the Phoenix Coyotes to a 4-3 win over the Calgary Flames. … Finally, Tyler Seguin's shootout goal and Tuukka Rask's 34-save performance were the difference-makers in the Boston Bruins' 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets, but Rich Peverley's brilliant shorthanded goal at 14:24 of the third tied the game just over two minutes after Scottie Upshall gave the Jackets the lead:
Did you know? Kopitar set the franchise record by playing in his 325th consecutive game, topping the mark previously set by Marcel Dionne at 325 between 1978 and 1982. Kopitar's streak started March 21, 2007, in his rookie season. (AP)
Dishonorable mention: Al Montoya was pulled by the Islanders after giving up five goals on 36 shots. … Colin Greening and Erik Karlsson were a minus-3 for Ottawa. … Martin Erat, David Legwand and Shea Weber were minus-3 for the Predators, as Pekka Rinne surrendered three goals on 17 shot. … Robin Reghr was a minus-3 for Calgary. … Dallas's Loui Eriksson was knocked out of the game by Douglas Murray of the Sharks, prompting Steve Ott, who had 17 PIMs, to say after the game: "The Loui Eriksson hit, I think that is prototypical. He's reaching for the hit. The big guy knows what he is doing. He's bearing down and finishing the check. He did it again on [Tomas] Vincour and elbowed him right in the face. My head is killing me from the light right now from Dany Heatley's little cheap shot. If this doesn't get looked at, I don't know." … Brad Marchand's blindside hit on R. J. Umberger may get some NHL scrutiny. … Finally, via Kukla, here's Sean Avery earning a boarding call in the first period; Michael Haley was also whistled for boarding in the first period as well: