No. 1 Star: Curtis McElhinney, Anaheim Ducks
The Ducks were gassed, playing for the second time in two nights and the fifth time in a week. So full marks to McElhinney, whose 27 saves earned Anaheim a 1-0 victory over the New York Islanders and earned the goalie his first NHL shutout. Saku Koivu had the lone goal in the game. The Ducks have won five straight; the Islanders have lost eight in a row.
No. 2 Star: Derick Brassard, Columbus Blue Jackets
Condolences to anyone who saw the St. Louis Blues, saw the Jackets and bet the under before the game. Columbus exploded for an 8-1 rout of the Blues, and Brassard had an assist on three of the first four goals, which chased Jaroslav Halak (15 shots, 11 saves). It was the first 3-point game of his NHL career. The Jackets received goals from Jakub Voracek (2), Jared Boll, Rick Nash, Chris Clark (2), R.J. Umberger and Antoine Vermette.
No. 3 Star: Shawn Thornton, Boston Bruins
After one goal in 74 games last season, Thornton now has 3 in 12 games after his critical goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins. His blast past Brent Johnson (26 saves on 32 shots) at 12:40 of the third period broke a 4-4 tie and sparked a 7-4 victory for the Bruins. He also injected some energy into the team with a healthy scrap against Eric Godard.
Honorable mention: Mark Recchi, Brad Marchand, Nathan Horton, Zdeno Chara, Blake Wheeler and Milan Lucic had the other Bruins goals; Arron Asham, Brooks Orpik, Chris Kunitz and Sidney Crosby scored for the Pens. Tim Thomas made 42 saves. ... Derek Roy scored the winning goal in the shootout and scored in regulation to help the Buffalo Sabres to a 5-4 win at the Brodeur-less New Jersey Devils. Tyler Myers had a goal and two assists; Jason Arnott had two goals for the Devils. ... The Florida Panthers built a 4-0 lead before defeating the Toronto Maple Leafs, 4-1. Bryan Allen, Steven Reinprecht, Shawn Matthias and Michael Frolik had the goals, and Tomas Vokoun made 32 saves. Mikhail Grabovski broke the shutout in the third. ... Jason LaBarbera made 35 saves and improved to 4-0 against the Chicago Blackhawks in his career, winning in the Windy City, 2-1. Kyle Turris and Eric Belanger scored 35 seconds apart in the second; Bryan Bickell had the lone goal for the slumping Blackhawks. ... Anton Stralman was a plus-4 for Columbus.
Did you know? The Panthers honored former goalie John Vanbiesbrouck before the game. (AP)
Dishonorable mention: Doesn't get much more dishonorable than Ilya Kovalchuk's shootout fail. ... The Devils are 0-5-2 at home. ... Phil Kessel is scoreless in his last seven games. ... Duncan Keith rode the pine for the Blackhawks. ... Minus-3s for the Penguins: Mark Letestu, Eric Godard, and Ben Lovejoy. ... Zenon Konopka had 22 penalty minutes for the Islanders, including a minor for kneeing and a game misconduct after a spat with the officials. ... Halak was pulled in the second, and Ty Conklin then gave up four more goals to the Jackets. ... All the Blues were minus for the night, with Eric Brewer, Erik Johnson, Andy McDonald and Alex Pietrangelo were all minus-3. ... Injury to insult: T.J. Oshie, the Blues' leading scorer, broke his left ankle during this altercation and is out indefinitely.
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