Thursday, February 16, 2012

Tuesday?s Three Stars: 4-spots for Kovalchuk, Spezza; who throws a strawberry on the ice?

No. 1 Star: Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers

The Rangers' star goalie made 42 saves in posting his NHL-best seventh shutout of the season, leading New York to a 3-0 victory over the Boston Bruins. Ryan Callahan scored for the sixth time in four games, while Ryan McDonagh and Artem Anisimov had the other tallies. As you can see from this save, he was fairly locked in.

No. 2 Star: Jason Spezza, Ottawa Senators

The Senators star had the primary helper on Erik Karlsson's first-period goal and then did the heavy lifting himself: Scoring on the power play, at 5-on-5 and into an empty net for his first hat trick since March 20, 2010. Ottawa and Craig Anderson (28 saves) shut out the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-0.

No. 3 Star: Ilya Kovalchuk, New Jersey Devils

The Devils winger scored a hat trick ? a power-play goal in the first, and then two goals in the third including an empty-netter gift from Zach Parise ? and assisted on Petr Sykora's power play tally. He had seven shots on goal and played 25:04. The Devils defeated the Buffalo Sabres, 4-1, behind 29 saves by Marty Brodeur.

Honorable mention: The Detroit Red Wings defeated the Dallas Stars at home, 3-1, to set a new NHL record for consecutive wins on home ice with 21. Joey MacDonald made 20 saves. Henrik Zetterberg and Brad Stuart scored in a 20-shot barrage in the first period. ? Another loss for the Chicago Blackhawks. Ryan Ellis's deflected but save-able shot beat Ram Emery at 14:18 of the third period, giving the Nashville Predators a 3-2 win over Chicago. Eliis had a 2-point night; Pekka Rinne made 30 saves. Chicago has now lost nine is a row. ? The Anaheim Ducks keep winning. Niklas Hagman and Corey Perry scored in the third period to give Anaheim a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild. The Ducks have earned points in 16 of their last 18 games. ? Miikka Kiprusoff made 41 saves while Alex Tanguay had a goal and two assists in the Calgary Flames' 4-1 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. Jarome Iginla scored goal No. 22. ? Don't look now, but with that Leafs loss the New York Islanders have crept to within six points of a playoff spot with their 3-1 win at the Winnipeg Jets. P.A. Parenteau had a goal and assist in the third period. Evgeni Nabokov made 37 saves. ? The Columbus Blue Jackets defeated the St. Louis Blues, 2-1, in a game that reminded us why we don't bet on hockey. Steve Mason (31 saves) outdueled Jaroslav Halak, while Derek Dorsett scored the game winner at 6:49 in the third. But the game was really decided with 1.8 seconds left, as David Perron was whistled for having "gloved the puck into the net" for the Blues, one of two video reviews that went Columbus's way.

Fight of the Night: Good tussle and a draw between Matt Kassian of the Wild and George Parros of the Ducks:

Did you know? Tuesday's game was the 13th time brothers Mikko and Saku Koivu played against each other. (AP)

Dishonorable mention: P.A. Parenteau had a rare diving minor called against him vs. Winnipeg, and later took a cross-checking penalty. ? Finally, please don't waste a perfectly good chocolate covered strawberry by flinging it on the ice. You're making Darren Pang over-excited.

Other popular content on Yahoo! Sports:
? Dan Wetzel podcast: The impressive rise of Jeremy Lin
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? Video: Who should go No. 1 in your fantasy baseball draft?

Source: http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/tuesday-three-stars-4-spots-kovalchuk-spezza-throws-062838511.html

Jamie McBain Bryan McCabe Ryan McDonagh Dylan McIlrath

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