No. 1 Star: Marc-Edouard Vlasic, San Jose Sharks
Vlasis had a career night on the stat sheet with a goal and three assists as the Sharks continued their recent domination of the Detroit Red Wings with a 5-2 victory. Vlasic earned three of his four points during a three-goal second period for the Sharks that blew the game wide open. Antti Niemi made 40 saves in his first start in a week and earned his third straight win.
No. 2 Star: Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild
Backstrom recorded his 24th career shutout with 27 saves in a 1-0 win over the Colorado Avalanche. Devin Setoguchi broke a scoreless tie with 2:31 left in the third period to give Backstrom and the Wild their third consecutive victory.
No. 3 Star: Dwayne Roloson, Tampa Bay Lightning
Roli the Goalie stood on his head stopping 27 shots in the final two periods and 33 overall as the Lightning defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins 4-1. Vincent Lecavalier scored twice and Tampa cashed in on two of their six power play opportunities. The win was Roloson's 220th of his career and fourth in five games.
Honorable mention: Matt Read broke a 1-1 tie with 18.6 seconds to go in the third period and Ilya Bryzgalov made 30 saves against his old team as the Philadelphia Flyers edged the Phoenix Coyotes 2-1 ... Tuukka Rask made 30 saves in regulation and three in the shootout as the Boston Bruins downed the Columbus Blue Jackets 2-1. The win was Boston's seventh in a row ... Curtis Sanford made 26 saves in a strong effort for the Blue Jackets ... The New York Islanders scored three times in the opening nine minutes of the second period and held on for a 4-3 win over the Montreal Canadiens. Matt Moulson tallied the eventual game winner with 1:45 left in the second ... Wild defenseman Nick Schultz, the team's all-time leader in games played, suited up for his 700th NHL contest ... Martin Erat chipped in two goals and Pekka Rinne made 38 saves during the Nashville Predators' 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Sergei Kostitsyn recorded three helpers as Nashville won for the fifth time in seven games ... Early in the third period, Brian McGrattan and Jay Rosehill squared off in a potential "Fight of the Year":
Evander Kane scored a pair followed by power play goals from Kyle Wellwood and Blake Wheeler as the Winnipeg Jets downed the Washington Capitals 4-1. Ondrej Pavelec made 31 saves for his second straight win following a five-game losing streak ... Filling in for Brian Elliott, Jaroslav Halak played solid making 20 saves as the St. Louis Blues beat the Florida Panthers 4-1. David Backes scored twice as the Blues improved to 4-0-1 under Ken Hitchcock ... T.J. Oshie played his 200th NHL game ... With three goals in the first period, the Ottawa Senators set themselves up nicely during a 5-2 win over the Edmonton Oilers. Craig Anderson made 22 saves and Jason Spezza recorded a pair of assists as Ottawa won their third straight ... Anze Kopitar broke a 3-3 deadlock with 3:01 remaining and Mike Richards added his second goal of the night with a shorthanded empty netter as the Los Angeles Kings beat the Anaheim Ducks for the second night in a row 5-3. Jonathan Quick stopped 35 shots and the Kings added one goal on the power play and two shorthanded.
Did you know? Nashville, in its 13th NHL season, hosted Toronto for just the fourth time. (AP)
Dishonorable mention: Jaromir Jagr lasted just 1:22 for the Flyers before leaving the game with a lower-body injury. Sources told CSN Philly that it's a groin injury ... Zac Rinaldo was assessed a 10-minute misconduct for "inciting" ... The loss was Columbus' 13th straight on the road dating back to last season ... Evgeni Nabokov started for the Islanders, but left after 7:55 in the first with a lower-body injury ... Craig Smith is going to want another attempt at this empty net ... Scott Nichol was ejected in the first period for spearing Tomas Kopecky ... James Neal saw his seven-game points streak come to an end ... Pittsburgh's power play went 0-for-5 ... Stephane Da Costa won just one of his 15 faceoffs ... Nikolai Khabibulin was chased after the first period after allowing three goals on seven shots.
Photo credit: AP