Lil' Jon cheats on the Thrashers/Jets franchise with the Montreal Canadiens. Not sure what he sees in Montreal, especially since it's clearly tough to find a diamond-encrusted goblet there.
No. 1 Star: Tomas Vokoun, Washington Capitals
Facing his former team in a showdown for first place in the Southeast, Vokoun mustered a fabulous performance, making 42 saves to shut out the Panthers, 4-0. Alex Ovechkin scored twice and Jason Chimera added a goal and an assist in the win.
No. 2 Star: Evgeni Nabokov, New York Islanders
Nabokov sees your 42-save shutout performance and raises. The Islanders' netminder made 45 saves, every one of them absolutely crucial, as the Isles eked out a 1-0 shootout victory over the Philadelphia Flyers. Sure, Ilya Bryzgalov technically registered a shutout too, but he only needed to make 18 saves and he surrendered shootout goals to John Tavares and newly-inked Frans Nielsen, so he is the goat.
No. 3 Star: David Jones, Colorado Avalanche
Jones scored the second and fourth goals in Colorado's 5-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks. He also added an assist on Kyle Quincey's empty-netter as the Avalanche ended a five-game losing skid. Paul Stastny contributed two assists and Gabriel Landeskog scored the game-winner 38 seconds into the third.
Honorable Mention: It took an eight-round shootout, but Carey Price and the Montreal Canadiens held off the Pittsburgh Penguins for the 3-2 win. It was in a losing effort, but Evgeni Malkin's shootout spin-o-rama was money:
Steven Stamkos scored his league-leading 35th goal, but it was for naught as the Tampa Bay Lightning fell to the Los Angeles Kings, 3-1... Bryan Little scored the game-winner in the Winnipeg Jets' 2-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Phil Kessel notched his 30th in the loss... Radim Vrbata had a goal and an assist and Mike Smith made 28 saves as the Phoenix Coyotes knocked off the Dallas Stars, 4-1... Led by the unstoppable and godlike Byron Bitz's one-goal, one-assist performance, the Vancouver Canucks edged the Nashville Predators 4-3 in a shootout. Roberto Luongo was questionable at times, and downright incredible at others, such as on this save of the night candidate:
... David Perron scored twice and Brian Elliott made 28 of 29 saves in his first regular-season game back in Ottawa as the St. Louis Blues topped the Senators, 3-1. The win was the Blues' first in Canada's capital since January 26, 2000... Martin Brodeur registered the fourth shutout of the evening and the 117th shutout of his career in the New Jersey Devils' 1-0 win over the New York Rangers. David Clarkson scored the lone goal... Denis Savard scored the first goal of his career and added an assist in the Columbus Blue Jackets' 3-1 victory over the Minnesota Wild. Jackets coach Todd Richards, formerly of the Wild, probably enjoyed that a little...
Did you know? Dan Hamhuis played his 600th game Tuesday, while defensive partner Kevin Bieksa played his 400th. Milan Michalek, meanwhile, played his 500th.
Dishonorable Mention: At 7-1-2, the Canucks are the league's hottest team over their last 10 games, but ask any Canuck fan -- they've been playing like pure crap... Meanwhile, the Blackhawks are struggling for real. While Colorado ended a five-game losing skid, Chicago extended its to six with the loss... and finally, I think the no-goal call in New York was stupid.