Not sure what's better about Don Cherry's ensemble: The frilly, foppish neckwear or the mosquito trapped in amber on his shoulder. (via NYR34)
No. 1 Star: Lee Stempniak, Calgary Flames
Stempniak's second career hat trick (in 505 career games) came at the expense of the Edmonton Oilers, as he scored a goal in each period and added an assist on a Mikael Backlund goal. The Flames defeated their rivals, 6-2. Stempniak was a plus-5 on the night. Olli Jokinen, Chris Butler and Blake Comeau were plus-4. Continuing the theme of inexplicable performances, Jay Bouwmeester had a 3-point game — his 3-point game since tallying four against the Capitals in Jan. 2006.
No. 2 Star: David Backes, St. Louis Blues
The captain had a hand in all four of the Blues' goals, as St. Louis defeated the visiting Buffalo Sabres, 4-2. Backes assisted on goals by B.J. Crombeen and David Perron in the second period to answer Mike Weber's first-period goal. He then scored twice in the third, including an empty-netter to ice it.
No. 3 Star: John Tavares, New York Islanders
Tavares scored both of the Islanders' goals, including a nifty OT game-winner, as New York defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 2-1. Tavares has a 12-game points streak.
Honorable mention: Big win for the Vancouver Canucks in their Western Conference showdown with the San Jose Sharks. Cody Hodgson had two goals, including the game winner to cap a wild sequence in the third in which the teams traded leads in 1:32, as the Canucks defeated the Sharks, 4-3. Logan Couture had two goals for San Jose. … The Anaheim Ducks continue to roll, moving to 7-0-1 in their last eight with a 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. Jonas Hiller made 31 saves; Corey Perry and Lubomir Visnovsky had the goals. … Game of the day between the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins. Marian Gaborik's power-play goal with 3.6 seconds left in OT gave the Rangers a 3-2 win over the B's, as Gaborik tallied twice in the game. Andrew Ference, whose ejection gave the Rangers that power play, had a goal and an assist for the Bruins. Henrik Lundqvist made 32 saves. … Scott Hartnell had two goals, Wayne Simmonds had three points and Ilya Bryzgalov made 30 saves as the Philadelphia Flyers defeated the New Jersey Devils, 4-1. Alexei Ponikarovsky scored in his Devils' debut. … Pretty spectacular save here from Marty Brodeur:
Valtteri Filppula scored in the shootout, and Jimmy Howard stopped Ryan Johansen to give the Detroit Red Wings their 16th-straight home win, 3-2 over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Nicklas Lidstrom's power-play goal in the third tied the game. … The Florida Panthers won a seven-round shootout against the Winnipeg Jets on a Mikael Samuelsson goal, 4-3. Kris Versteeg and Nik Antropov scored two goals each. Scott Clemmensen made 41 saves. … Raphael Diaz broke a tie in the third period and Lars Eller scored the insurance goal, as the Montreal Canadiens and Carey Price (32 saves) topped the Toronto Maple Leafs, 3-1. … Kevin Klein, Colin Wilson and Sergei Kostitsyn scored in the second period to power the Nashville Predators to a 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Marian Hossa scored two goals for Chicago. … The Tampa Bay Lightning won their third straight, 4-3 over the Phoenix Coyotes. Steven Stamkos scored goal No. 32. Dwayne Roloson made 32 saves. … Chad Rau scored his first NHL goal to break a 2-2 tie in the third period, as the Minnesota Wild beat the Dallas Stars, 5-2. Dany Heatley had a goal and two assists. … Peter Mueller's deflection goal broke a tie, and Gabriel Landeskog's third-period power-play goal iced it in the Colorado Avalanche's 3-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Anze Kopitar scored No. 15 in the loss. Jean-Sebastien Giguere made 25 saves.
Did you know? Wild D Marek Zidlicky was a healthy scratch for the first time since being acquired by Minnesota before the 2008-09 season. (AP)
Fight of the Night: Eric Boulton of the Devils gets the win over Jody Shelley of the Flyers in a heavyweight tussle.
Dishonorable mention: Eric Belanger and Jordan Eberle were minus-3. … Jonathan Toews left midway through the second period with an upper-body injury. He's day-to-day. … Danny Briere suffered a concussion against the Devils. Jaromir Jagr is out with a lower body injury. … Kari Lehtonen was lifted after giving up four goal on 19 shots in 39:44. ... Henrik Zetterberg earned his first game misconduct in the NHL with a hit from behind on Nikita Nikitin. … Ference has a phone hearing with the NHL for this hit on Ryan McDonagh. … Did Steve Ott's fight hurt Dallas? … Finally, oopsie No. 1, as Erik Karlsson knocks the puck into his own net:
And then the worst goal of the night, surrendered by Corey Crawford to Kevin Klein. Crawford was pulled after giving up four goals on 17 shots.