No. 1 Star:
Kris Versteeg, Florida Panthers
Versteeg tallied his first hat-trick in the NHL during a 4-point night, helping Florida to a 5-2 win at the Winnipeg Jets and first place in the Southeast Division. Versteeg scored twice in the first period and into an empty net to ice the game, giving him eight goals on the season. He also assisted on Jason Garrison's sixth goal of the season. Brian Campbell had three assists on the night.
No. 2 Star: Kyle Quincey, Colorado Avalanche
The defenseman scored a power-play goal at 2:39 of overtime to complete a massive Avs comeback against the New York Islanders, 4-3. The Islanders held a 3-0 lead 28 minutes into the game. Goals by Paul Stastny (assisted by Quincey), Milan Hejduk and Jan Hejda rallied Colorado. Jean-Sebastian Giguere, who called this a must-win, made 30 saves.
No. 3 Star: Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
Is a game that saw summer trading partners meet for the first time this season, it was Sharks veteran Marleau who powered San Jose to a 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Marleau scored twice on the power play in the second period to build a 2-0 lead, and Torrey Mitchell scored his first of the year to make it 3-0. Antti Niemi made 21 saves.
Honorable mention: The Boston Bruins continue to roll, as Brad Marchand scored twice and Milan Lucic scored his eighth in a 6-3 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Joe Corvo had three assists. For the Oil, Ryan Smyth had two goals and The Nuge scored his seventh. … Ben Scrivens was outstanding for the Toronto Maple Leafs, making 38 saves in a 3-2 shootout win over the St. Louis Blues. He made 16 saves during a third-period barrage, finally yielding Patrik Berglund's goal to tie at 18:04. Phil Kessel scored No. 12 and had another goal in the shootout. … Josh Gorges collected a loose puck and fired it past Mike Smith at 1:45 of overtime to give the Montreal Canadiens a 3-2 win at the Phoenix Coyotes. Brian Gionta had a goal and an assist, while Travis Moen scored this fifth. Carey Price made 32 saves. … Jonathan Toews had two goals and an assist as the Chicago Blackhawks topped the terrible Columbus Blue Jackets, 6-3. Chicago's worst-in-the-NHL power play converted twice. Steve Montador picked up the Gordie Howe hat trick, including his first goal as a Blackhawk. Mark Letestu scored his first for the Blue Jackets. … Sami Salo and Andrew Ebbett scored power-play goals in the first period, while Roberto Luongo made 28 saves in the Vancouver Canucks' 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Aaron Rome scored for the second consecutive game, for the first time in his career. … Hell of a save by Scrivens here:
Did you know? Florida forward Jack Skille was booed every time he touched the puck, in response to his hit on Oct. 31 that broke the collarbone of Jets defenseman Tobias Enstrom. (AP)
Dishonorable mention: Devin Dubnyk was on the hook for all six Bruins goals. … Not only did the Islanders surrender a 3-goal lead in Colorado, they surrendered 51 shots. … Dany Heatley, Devin Setoguchi and Martin Havlat were scoreless in their first games against their old teams; Brent Bruns picked up an assist. … The Kings are in a 2-5-2 slide. … Trevor Lewis's elbowing penalty on Kevin Bieksa led to a 5-minute major and two Canucks goals. … The Islanders are in a 1-5-3 tailspin. … Columbus is now 2-12-1.