No. 1 Star: Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche
The Avs played well in front of him, but a shutout in Chicago is a shutout in Chicago. Varlamov made 27 saves as Colorado defeated the Chicago Blackhawks, 4-0. T.J. Galiardi had a goal and an assist, while Erik Johnson had two assists.
No. 2 Star: Bobby Ryan, Anaheim Ducks
GM Bob Murray successful lit a fire under this core players,, as Ryan, Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf combined for five points in the Ducks' 4-2 victory over the New York Islanders. Getzlaf had the game-winner; Ryan had two goals including this ridiculous shorty in the second period:
No. 3 Star: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers
The Rangers struggled in the first period, but Lundqvist stopped 10-of-11 shots. He ended the game with 37 saves as New York defeated the Pittsburgh Penguins, 3-1. Brad Richards, Brandon Dubinsky and Derek Stepan had the goals.
Honorable mention: Eric Staal had a goal and two assists in the Carolina Hurricanes' 4-2 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Thomas Vanek scored his 19th in the loss … Patrik Elias scored his 14th in his 100th NHL game, while Adam Henrique, Ilya Kovalchuk (2 goals) and Zach Parise each had a goal for the New Jersey Devils. The Devils defeated the Florida Panthers, 5-2. … Krys Barch scored his first of the season after his one-game suspension for an inappropriate joke. … Ben Lovejoy scored his first goal since last March in the Penguins' loss.
Did you know? According to the Tribune-Review: "The defeat dropped the Penguins to 0-12-2 against the Rangers, Philadelphia Flyers, Boston Bruins and Washington Capitals in a season and a half at their new home."
Dishonorable mention: Nick Leddy was a minus-4 for the Blackhawks. … Joel Quenneville was especially down on the Blachhawks: "Tonight we didn't deserve anything," Quenneville said. "We got what we deserved. I know we didn't give up a lot of chances, but look at what we generated. We didn't generate enough." … Tomas Fleischmann was a minus-3. … Finally, this was a rather bad gaffe by Marc-Andre Fleury that led to the Rangers' third period goal: