Wednesday 30 January 2013

NHL Three Stars: Wild end Chicago’s undefeated streak; more Yakupov drama

No. 1 Star: Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota Wild

After the Wild pulled Josh Harding, Backstrom shut the door on the undefeated Chicago Blackhawks, Make that the now-defeated Blackhawks: Backstrom stopped 28 shots and another one in the shootout for the 3-2 victory.

No. 2 Star: Nail Yakupov, Edmonton Oilers

The Oilers rookie scored a power-play goal at 3:52 of overtime, batting the puck out of the air past Craig Johnson, to give Edmonton a 2-1 victory – after giving up a tying goal with 19 seconds left. Check out the subdued celebration:

No. 3 Star: Craig Anderson, Ottawa Senators

Anderson was given plenty of offensive support in the 5-1 Ottawa win, but he also shut down the Montreal Canadiens in the third period in a 3-1 save effort. It was Anderson’s 300th NHL game.

Honorable Mention: Roberto Luongo made 24 saves and life a little more interesting for Cory Schneider, as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 3-0. Jason Garrison scored his first as a Canuck; Zack Kassian scored his fifth. … Nick Johnson tied the game for Phoenix. … Cal Clutterbuck tied the game with this first of the season for the Wild; Jonathan Toews had a goal and a shootout goal, but Zach Parise and Matt Cullen scored in the shootout for Minnesota. … Mika Zibanejad scored his first NHL goal, while Daniel Alfredsson scored his 417th goal for Ottawa. … Tomas Plekanec scored goal No. 4 for the Habs.

Did You Know? Sam Gagner had an assist on Petrell's goal, extending his points streak to six games. (AP)

Dishonorable Mention: Ryan White took a roughing and unsportsmanlike conduct penalty (for yapping at the ref); Ottawa cashed in twice on the power play to make him pay. … Josh Harding was pulled after two goals on four shots. ... Brandon Prust and Chris Neil threw down; at the final buzzer, Prust was also given a 5-minute major for spearing.



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