No. 1 Star: Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings
Howard earned his third straight win with his second shutout in three games in a 3-0 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Howard made 24 saves while the Red Wings received goals from Drew Miller, Niklas Kronwall and Valtteri Filppula. The shutout was Howard's eight of his career and third this season, tying him for the NHL lead with Jonathan Quick and Pekka Rinne.
No. 2 Star: James Neal, Pittsburgh Penguins
Twice the Penguins had goals waved off and both times James Neal scored on the power play to help Pittsburgh to a 3-1 victory over the Dallas Stars. Neal moved up to second on the NHL's goal scoring list with his 10th and 11 tallies of the year. Putting the game away was Matt Cooke who scored on a penalty shot 2:09 after Neal's second:
No. 3 Star: Derek Roy, Buffalo Sabres
Roy led the Sabres with a goal and two assists during their 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. It was the second straight 3-point night for Roy and he now has 8 points in his last four games. Jhonas Enroth remained undefeated stopping 36 shots to improve to 5-0-0. Drew Stafford chipped in three assists
Honorable mention: Behind Tomas Vokoun's 32 saves and a lovely tie-breaking shorthanded goal by Jason Chimera early in the third period, the Washington Capitals downed the New Jersey Devils 3-1. Alex Ovechkin scored his seventh of the season to get the Capitals on the board in the second period ... Devils rookie Adam Larsson scored his first NHL goal in the loss ... The New York Rangers got 2-point nights from Ryan Callahan, Brandon Dubinsky and Brad Richards during a 5-1 rout of the Carolina Hurricanes. Henrik Lundqvist stopped 34 shots as the Rangers were boosted by a 4-goal third period. Sean Avery opened the scoring with this nice finish:
Shawn Horcoff played in his 700th NHL game and Henrik Zetterberg his 600th ... Eric Nystrom scored his fifth goal in 10 games since joining the Stars off a sweet no-look feed from Radek Dvorak. He's scored in four straight games ... Ray Emery stayed undefeated in regulation stopping 24 saves in a 4-1 Chicago win over the Calgary Flames. Duncan Keith, Brent Seabrook, Patrick Kane, and Viktor Stalberg all scored for the Blackhawks ... Patrick Sharp recorded three assists, while Marian Hossa and Dan Carcillo each chipped in a pair ... Keith was playing in his 500th NHL game ... The Anaheim Ducks scored four time in the second period and hung off after Vancouver made it close with three of their own in the third to win 4-3 and snap a six-game losing streak. Andrew Cogliano scored a goal and added an assist, while rookie Peter Holland's first NHL tally ended up the game-winner. Jonas Hiller made 19 of his 38 saves in the final period. Vancouver outshot Anaheim 22-2 in the third period.
Did you know? "The Stars haven't won in Pittsburgh since Dec. 23, 2000." (AP)
Dishonorable mention: Craig Anderson was pulled 2:25 into the game after allowing two goals on six shots ... Stars defenseman Alex Goligoski hurt his hand in the first period and did not return to the game. According to Head Coach Glen Gulutzan, he's going to be "out for a little bit" ... Jason Spezza won just six of his 19 faceoffs ... For his fight with Justin Abdelkader, Edmonton's Lennart Petrell was given five for fighting, two for instigating, two for instigating with a visor and a 10-minute misconduct:
Mike Green returned to the Capitals lineup only to leave it in the first period after a hit from Ryan Carter. After the game, Bruce Boudreau said it wasn't Green's ankle and that he doesn't expect him to be out long ... Canucks defenseman Aaron Rome was ejected for a hit on Devante Smith-Pelly of the Ducks ... Finally, Rangers captain Ryan Callahan got stiffed by the kid who dropped the ceremonial puck: