No. 1 Star: Nathan Horton, Boston Bruins
In one of the wildest,
goalie-fightin' regular-season games in recent memory, Horton had a 5-point
night (1 goal, 4 assists) in helping the Bruins to an 8-6 win over
the Montreal Canadiens. He assisted on both of Milan Lucic's goals as well as on Dennis
Seidenberg's first-period goal and Adam McQuaid's in the second. Horton had a goal of his own in the third.
Lucic and David Krejci were a plus-5, as was Horton.
No. 2 Star: Bobby Ryan, Anaheim Ducks
Ryan scored on a terrific feed from Ryan Getzlaf less than a minute after Brandon McMillan made it 2-0 for Anaheim in the second period. But after Daniel Sedin and Alex Burrows of the Vancouver Canucks scored to cut the lead to one, it was Ryan to the rescue again, scoring his 25th of the season to help the Ducks to a 4-3 victory. Curtis McElhinney made 35 saves. Check out the passing on Ryan's first tally:
No. 3 Star: Radim Vrbata, Phoenix Coyotes
Dallas Stars winger Jamie Langenbrunner's tripping penalty carried over into overtime and Vrbata cashed in on the power play, ripping a shot from between the circles past Kari Lehtonen (32 saves). The 3-2 loss combined with San Jose's win means the Stars and Sharks are tied atop the Pacific, the first time Dallas hasn't had sole possession since November.
Honorable mention: Antti Niemi made 42 saves and Patrick Marleau's 20th of the season at 15:09 completed a San Jose Sharks' rally in their 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Kristian Huselius and Grant Clitsome had power play goals in the loss, only the second time this season they've had two in one game. ... Patrick Kane had two goals and Jonathan Toews had two assists in the Chicago Blackhawks' 4-1 win over the Edmonton Oilers, snapping a two-game losing streak. Patrick Sharp scored his 27th in the win. ... Tim Jackman opened and closed the scoring for the Calgary Flames in their 5-2 victory over the Ottawa Senators. Anton Babchuk had a 3-point night (1 goal, 2 assists) as the Flames went 3-for-5 on the power play. ... Sergei Kostitsyn had a goal and an assist and Pekka Rinne made 34 saves as the Nashville Predators topped the Detroit Red Wings, 4-1, scoring the game's first four goals. ... John Madden's second-period goal ended up as the game-winner for the Minnesota Wild, who got 23 saves from Niklas Backstrom and defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 3-2. David Jones had both Colorado goals. ... Brian Gionta scored his 20th in the Habs loss. ... Daniel Sedin (29) and Ryan Kesler (32) scored in the Canucks loss. ... Goalie fights are fun:
Did you know? Andrew Brunette was given a watch, a commemorative silver stick and a $15,000 check for his hometown youth hockey association in Ontario in honor of reaching 1,000 career games last week. Brunette's brother and his golden retriever led the crowd in the traditional "Let's Play Hockey!" chant before the puck drop. (AP)
Dishonorable mention: Wow, where to start in that fight fest between the Habs and the Bruins? Carey Price had a .765 save percentage in giving up 8 goals. ... Tim Thomas had a .818 save percentage. ... The teams combined for 192 minutes in penalties and 14 fighting majors. ... Scott Gomez, Andre Kostitsyn and Lars Eller were all minus-4 and rode the pine in the third period. ... Detroit's Jimmy Howard was pulled by Detroit after giving up 4 goals on 16 shots. ... Craig Anderson was pulled after giving up 3 goals on 17 shots for the Avs. He's lost six straight. ... Jamie Langenbrunner took two tripping penalties in the third period, the second resulting in that Vrbata power-play game winner. ... Mason Raymond was a minus-3 for the Canucks. ... Finally, this Getzlaf hit caused some controversy.