Sunday 18 March 2012

Sunday’s Three Stars: Hartnell helps slow streaking Penguins; Staal powers Canes past Jets

Zac Rinaldo's mouth, meet Scott Hartnell's hockey stick. Ouch.

No. 1 Star: Scott Hartnell, Philadelphia Flyers

Hartnell was a pain in the side of the Penguins all afternoon getting into separate scrums with Kris Letang and Chris Kunitz before scoring the game-tying goal in the third period and the overtime winner with 1.9 seconds to go in the extra frame. His pair of goals bring his season total to 35 on the year. Ilya Bryzgalov made 38 saves for his eighth win in nine starts. Pittsburgh's winning streak ends at 11 games. You'll recall the Flyers snapped a 12-game winning streak from the Penguins last season.

No. 2 Star: Eric Staal, Carolina Hurricanes

The Winnipeg crowd chanted "Jordan's better!" at Staal, but that didn't do enough to knock him off his game as the Hurricanes scored twice in the final 9:36 of the third period to come from behind and defeat the Winnipeg Jets 4-3. Staal scored twice, including the tying goal, and added an assist before Chad LaRose put Carolina ahead for good with 1:22 remaining. Jussi Jokinien also chipped in three points and Cam Ward made 30 stops as the Hurricanes won their third in a row. Check out Illegal Curve for postgame audio of Staal as his teammates ribbed him with "Jordan's better!" chants in the locker room.

No. 3 Star: Anders Lindback, Nashville Predators

After allowing a first period goal, Lindback stood tall as the Predators scored three time in the third to grab a 3-1 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. Lindback made 30 saves for his first win since Dec. 5. Patric Hornqvist, Mike Fisher and David Legwand each scored for Nashville in the third period.

Honorable mention: Despite the loss, Evgeni Malkin scored his 41st of the year and increased his Art Ross Trophy lead over Steven Stamkos to four points ... Ray Whitney scored in regulation and put home the shootout winner as the Phoenix Coyotes edged the Edmonton Oilers 3-2. Mike Smith stopped 36 shots for his 32nd win of the year. The win was Dave Tippett's 400th of his NHL head coaching career ... Steve Mason stopped 28 of 29 shots he faced in relief of Curtis Sanford who left with an injury late in the first period, and Cam Atkinson scored the only goal in the shootout as the Columbus Blue Jackets got by the Calgary Flames 2-1 ... Bryan Bickell and Andrew Shaw each contributed three points and Corey Crawford made 16 saves as the Chicago Blackhawks downed the Washington Capitals 5-2. The only highlight for the Caps was this vintage Alex Ovechkin goal:

NHL linesman Dan Schachte worked his 2,009th and final game on Sunday night. No other American official in NHL history has appeared in more games. His very first was Oct. 6, 1982 at Chicago Stadium:

Did you know? "This was the first season in which Anaheim failed to beat the Predators since the NHL expanded to Nashville in 1998-99." (AP)

Dishonorable mention: Curtis Sanford suffered a quadricep injury and have an MRI on Monday, according to Shawn Mitchell of the Dispatch ... Zach Bogosian was given five minutes for charging and a game misconduct after this thunderous hit on Andreas Nodl:



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