No. 1 Star: Joey MacDonald, Detroit Red Wings
The backup keeper made 37 saves to backstop the Wings to a 2-0 victory at the Columbus Blue Jackets, including a goal-line glove save on Rick Nash in the third that was held up by video review.
No. 2 Star: Shea Weber, Nashville Predators
Entering Thursday night, the Preds hadn't won a game in overtime. Shea Weber changed that with a blast from the top of the zone, scoring a power-play goal that gave Nashville a critical 4-3 win on home ice against the Boston Bruins. David Legwand scored the game-tying goal in the third and assisted on Weber's winner. Pekka Rinne made 35 saves.
No. 3 Star: Scott Clemmensen, Florida Panthers
Clemmensen's first shutout of the season was the Toronto Maple Leafs' 11th time being shut out this season, as his 24 saves were good enough to backstop the Panthers to a 4-0 win.
Honorable mention: Nigel Dawes and Michael Cammalleri scored in the shootout and Carey Price made 35 saves (and one on a St. Louis 360 in the shootout) in the Montreal Canadiens' 3-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Brian Gionta scored a shorthanded goal; both of the Bolts' goals came on the power play. … The Ottawa Senators dealt another blow to the New Jersey Devils' playoff hopes with a 3-1 victory, behind 33 saves by Curtis McElhinney and two goals by Chris Neil. … Kari Lehtonen made 23 saves and the Dallas Stars provided plenty of help in front of him in a 5-0 shutout of the Chicago Blackhawks. Jamie Benn now has a nine-game point streak with a goal and an assist, as the Stars received goals from five different players. … Jarome Iginla opened and closed the scoring for the Calgary Flames as they defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 5-2. His 5-on-3 power-play goal in the first period was followed by one by Mark Giordano 24 seconds later. Matt Duchene had two assists for the Avs and Mark Oliver scored his first NHL goal. … Ilya Bryzgalov made 35 saves, including 18 in the third period, as the Phoenix Coyotes topped the Edmonton Oilers, 3-1. Ray Whitney and Radim Vrbata each had a goal and an assist. … Matt D'Agostini scored two goals and Jaroslav Halak made 17 saves in the St. Louis Blues' 4-0 shutout of the Los Angeles Kings. … The epitome of the honorable mention played for the Minnesota Wild on Thursday night: Niklas Backstrom, who made 47 saves in a losing effort, as Patrick Marleau's power-play goal stood up in the San Jose Sharks' 3-2 win. … Finally, Blake Wheeler's whiff-turned-goal in the shootout gave the Atlanta Thrashers a 4-3 victory over the Philadelphia Flyers, who earned a charity point on Danny Briere's goal with less than two minutes remaining in regulation. But this Rob Schremp tally in the shootout continued his legacy as a master of he skills competition:
Did you know? Mike Babcock got his 300th win with Detroit. He is the third NHL coach to win 300 games with a team over a six-season span, joining Montreal's Scotty Bowman (321) and Edmonton's Glen Sather (307). (AP)
Dishonorable mention: Ten straight losses for the Avalanche, many of them coming after Coach Joe Sacco was given a vote of confidence by management. … Oilers Coach Tom Renney was rightfully upset with the officials during the loss to Phoenix, as Linus Omark was called for a questionable diving penalty and Whitney's goal, buried in the goalie's pads, was counted by the ref and then stood up after the War Room called the replays inconclusive. … Brian Rafalski injured his knee in the Wings' victory. … J.S. Giguere's first start since Feb. 16 was not a successful one. … From The Tennessean: "With 2:30 left in the first period, Hornqvist came into Bruins forward Tyler Seguin on the boards and appeared to hit him with his shoulder rather than his elbow. The Bruins did not score on the ensuing five-minute power play, but the call left the Predators without their leading scorer." … Jon Quick has seen better nights. ... Finally, Vincent Lecavalier's slash on PK Subban earned him a 5-minute major, a game misconduct and a place on several Christmas card lists for other NHL players:
Said Vinny after the game, to the Tampa Tribune: "I looked at the replay and he slashed me twice on the wrist. So if I was going to get kicked out of the game, he should have, too. ... Just because he stayed on the ice ... obviously he came back on the next shift. He was fine the rest of the game, he was good."