In the first 51 minutes of Montreal's 7-3 win over the Winnipeg Jets, Eller doubled his season output of goals. With one goal in the opening period and three in the final frame, Eller's 4-goal night (he added an assist for five points) was the first by a Canadiens player since Jan Bulis (!) in 2006. To punctuate a special night, Eller's fourth came in creative fashion with this spin-o-rama penalty shot (his hat trick was celebrated by a unique item tossed to the ice):
No. 2 Star: Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks
In his 700th NHL game, Luongo posted his 57th career shutout with 28 saves during a 3-0 blanking of the Minnesota Wild. Both of Luongo's shutouts this season have come against the Wild. The Sedins combined for four points and Alex Burrows scored his 15th of the year in the win that puts Vancouver No. 1 overall in the NHL with 53 points.
No. 3 Star: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins
After allowing the first goal early, the Bruins stormed back and answered with six straight as they defeated the New Jersey Devils 6-1 to move to within a point of the New York Rangers atop the Eastern Conference standings. Bergeron scored his eighth and ninth goals of the year as the Bruins took control of the game in the second and third periods. David Krejci chipped in two points and Tim Thomas made 30 saves for his 15th win in 17 starts.
Honorable mention: Brad Winchester and Benn Ferriero gave the San Jose Sharks a 2-0 lead with goals 27 seconds apart in the second period and Joe Pavelski added his 16th in the third period during a 3-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Antti Niemi made 26 saves as the Sharks beat the Ducks for the first time in five games ... Cam Janssen was involved in another lengthy bout, this time with Shawn Thornton:
Did you know? Aleksandro Salei, the son of late former Anaheim defenseman Ruslan Salei, joined the Ducks on the ice before the game with fellow players from a junior hockey program in Aliso Viejo. Ruslan Salei was killed in September in the Lokomotiv Yaroslavl plane crash in Russia. (AP)
Dishonorable mention: Martin Brodeur was in net for all six Boston goals. It was the third time this season he's allowed more than five in a game ... Adam Larsson and Henrik Tallinder were each a minus-4 ... Ryan Getzlaf has not recorded a point in six games, the longest streak of his career ... Minnesota's loss is their 10th in 11 games.
Photo credit: AP
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