Thursday, 16 February 2012

Thursday’s Three Stars: Kane powers Jets; Blackhawks end losing streak

No. 1 Star: Evander Kane, Winnipeg Jets

Kane had one point in his last 10 games; he decided to take out his frustrations on the Minnesota Wild. Kane scored two goals (giving him 21 on the season), assisted on Alex Burmistrov's game-tying goal in the third and then ripped a shot past Niklas Backstrom in the shootout to give the Jets a 4-3 victory.

No. 2 Star: Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers

The Flyers were down 2-0 after the first period; they roared back with four goals in the second and three more in the third for a 7-2 victory. Giroux had five assists on the night: Helpers on Wayne Simmonds' two power-play goals to tie and take the lead; and then assists at even strength on goals by Erik Gustafsson (his first in the NHL), Jakub Voracek and Scott Hartnell.

No. 3 Star: Mike Smith, Phoenix Coyotes

The Coyotes netminder made 28 saves for his fourth shutout of the season, letting Radim Vrbata's power-play goal standup and out-dueling Jonathan Quick in their 1-0 victory over the Los Angeles Kings.

Honorable mention: Full marks to Wayne Simmonds of the Flyers, who took a puck to the mouth in warmups, received 25 stitches and played in their game against the Sabres —  scoring two goals in the second period to tie Buffalo. Max Talbot also had two goals. … The Chicago Blackhawks snapped their nine-game losing streak with a 4-2 win over the New York Rangers, scoring four goals in 9:38 in the first period. Jonathan Toews and Marian Hossa both had a goal and an assist; Toews' goal came on a penalty shot. … Wild one in Tampa, as Marty St. Louis scored at 4:27 of overtime on a nice feed from Victor Hedman to give the Lightning a 6-5 win over the San Jose Sharks. Steven Stamkos had two goals and two assists. Hedman had three assists. Logan Couture and Tommy Wingels had a goal and as assist for the Sharks. …  T.J. Oshie had a goal and two assists, while Alex Pietrangelo had three helpers in the St. Louis Blues' 5-1 victory over the New York Islanders. Brian Elliott made 26 saves. Andy McDonald scored his first of the season. … Mike Ribeiro scored a sweet game-winner in OT to give the Dallas Stars a 3-2 win over the Calgary Flames. Michael Cammalleri and Jarome Iginla had the Flames goals' Adam Burish and Steve Ott had the Dallas tallies.

Fight of the Night: This bout between Tanner Glass and Darroll Powe was spirited:

Did you know? Colin White scored his first regular-season goal since Dec. 28, 2009. Alas, he was also a minus-3 for the Sharks.

Dishonorable mention: Jhonas Enroth was pulled after giving up three goals on 18 shots. Ryan Miller then gave up four goals on 17 shots. … Marty Biron gave up four goals on 10 shots in the first. … The Coyotes and Kings had a brutal first period of fights, penalties and a few questionable hits by Martin Hanzal and Raffi Torres. … Finally, here's a little 'head off the stanchion' action between old enemies Pat Kaleta and Danny Briere (via The 700 Level):



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