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Kane scored a goal and added two assists in a 4-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens. With the three points, Kane moved into a tie with Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid for most points in the NHL with 76. The Blackhawks have now won nine of 11 games and are one point ahead of the Minnesota Wild for first place in the Central Division. The Blackhawks have played one more game than Minnesota.*
No. 2 Star: Nicklas Backstrom, Washington Capitals
Backstrom notched three assists in a 4-2 win over the Wild. The victory for Washington broke a four-game losing streak and helped the Caps reach 97 points – two ahead of the Pittsburgh Penguins for first place in the Metropolitan Division. Washington has played one more game than the Pens. Backstrom’s 50 assists rank second in the NHL and his 71 points are sixth.
No. 3 Star:*Thomas Vanek, Florida Panthers
Vanek notched a career-high four assists to help Florida snap a five-game losing streak in a 7-2 drubbing of the Toronto Maple Leafs. Coming into the game, Vanek had just one point in the five games since the trade deadline deal that sent him to Florida from the Detroit Red Wings. Vanek became the first Panthers player to notch four helpers in a game since Brian Campbell on Oct. 17, 2011 at the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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Honorable Mention: Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin scored a goal and added an assist. The goal was Ovechkin’s first in 10 games. This was the longest stretch of his NHL career without a goal. … Washington defenseman John Carlson notched two assists. … Capitals forward Evgeny Kuznetsov scored a goal. … Washington goaltender Braden Holtby stopped 30 of 32 shots on goal. … Wild forward Eric Staal scored his 23rd goal of the season. … Minnesota defenseman Matt Dumba scored his eighth of the year. … Minnesota forward Mikael Granlund notched his 41st assist. … Edmonton Oilers forward Patrick Maroon scored a goal and added an assist in a 7-1 win over the Dallas Stars. … Oilers forwards Milan Lucic, Leon Draisaitl and Zack Kassian each notched two assists. … McDavid scored his 24th goal of he season. … Oilers forward Ryan Nugent-Hopkins scored his 14th goal of*the year. … Florida forwards Aleksander Barkov and Jussi Jokinen along with defenseman Keith Yandle each scored a goal and added an assist. … Panthers forward Jonathan Marchessault scored two goals. He now has 22 on the year. … Florida forwards Reilly Smith and Colton Sceviour each scored a goal. … Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman scored the overtime winner in a 2-1 victory over the Ottawa Senators. … The win was Tampa’s fourth straight and fifth in six games. … Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped 31 of 32 shots on goal. … Tampa forward Brayden Point scored his 12th goal of the season and third in his last two games. … Senators forward Tommy Wingels scored his team’s only goal. … Blackhawks forwards Jonathan Toews and Artemi Panarin each scored a goal. … Chicago defenseman Johnny Oduya scored his first goal since his recent trade back to the Blackhawks. … Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford stopped 40 of 42 shots on goal. … Montreal defenseman Shea Weber scored his 16th goal of the season. … New York Islanders forward John Tavares scored the overtime winner in a 3-2 victory over the Carolina Hurricanes. … Islanders forward Josh Ho-Sang scored a goal and added an assist. … New York forward Jason Chimera also scored a goal. … Islanders goaltender Thomas Greiss stopped 30 of 32 shots on goal. … Hurricanes forwards Elias Lindholm and Joakim Nordstrom each scored a goal. … San Jose Sharks forward Joe Pavelski scored two goals in a 4-1 win over the Buffalo Sabres. Pavelski now has 28 goals on the season. … Sharks forward Logan Couture scored a goal and added an assist. … San Jose goaltender Martin Jones stopped 22 of 23 shots on goal. … Sharks forward Micheal Haley scored a goal. … Buffalo forward Jack Eichel scored a goal. … Arizona Coyotes forward Max Domi scored two goals in a 3-2, 11-round shootout win over the Los Angeles Kings. … Coyotes goaltender Louis Domingue stopped 44 of 46 shots on goal along with all but one Kings shooter in the shootout. … Arizona forwards Shane Doan, Christian Dvorak and Radim Vrbata each notched an assist as did defenseman Jakob Chychrun. … Los Angeles forward Tyler Toffoli scored two goals. … Kings captain Anze Kopitar notched two assists. … Los Angeles goaltender Ben Bishop stopped 30 of 32 shots on goal.
Did you know? The Sharks have 172 wins against the Eastern Conference since 2001-02, the most by any Western Conference team. San Jose’s .649 points percentage against the Eastern Conference during that span is best by any team.
Dishonorable Mention: Dallas goaltender Antti Niemi allowed five goals on 20 shots on goal. … Stars defenseman Jamie Oleksiak was a minus-3. … Maple Leafs forward Nazem Kadri was a minus-5. … Toronto forwards Tyler Bozak and Leo Komarov along with defenseman Nikita Zaitsev were each a minus-4. … Maple Leafs defenseman Morgan Rielly was a minus-3. … Toronto goaltender Frederik Andersen allowed three goals on eight shots on goal before being pulled. … Eichel*scored an own goal.
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