No. 1 Star: Brian Elliott, St. Louis Blues
The Blues goalie won his 100th game with the franchise in impressive fashion, stopping 37 shots to defeat the San Jose Sharks, 1-0. That included 15 shots in the third period.*Robby Fabbri had the game’s lone goal.
No. 2 Star: Ondrej Pavelec, Winnipeg Jets
Pavelec outdueled Jacob Markstrom (47 saves) in a 28-save shutout of the Vancouver Canucks, holding the fort until Adam Lowry and Mark Scheifele scored in the third period.
No. 3 Star: Vernon Fiddler, Dallas Stars
With Tyler Seguin out, someone had to pick up the slack. Fiddler scored two first-period goals, including a back-breaking shorthanded tally at 18:43, to help the Stars to their 6-2 humbling of the Chicago Blackhawks. The Stars clinched a playoff spot.
Honorable Mention: Mike Smith made 27 saves, continued his mastery over the Edmonton Oilers and celebrated his birthday in a 4-2 win over the Oil. Martin Hanzal had a goal and an assist. … With two assists, Connor McDavid moves to 1.08 points per game, third best in the NHL this season. … Evander Kane scored goal No. 20 and Johan Larsson had the game-winner in the Buffalo Sabres’ third-period rally, 3-2, over the Carolina Hurricanes. … Devan Dubnyk was terrific in making 38 saves, and goals by Erik Haula and Mikko Koivu powered the Minnesota Wild to a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Dubnyk improved to 8-1-1 in his last 10 decisions. The Wild jumped back into the last wild card with the win. … Alex Ovechkin scored goal No. 43 as the Washington Capitals defeated the Ottawa Senators, 4-2, to clinch the Eastern Conference’s top seed. … Erik Condra scored two goals and Steven Stamkos added his 34th in the Tampa Bay Lightning’s big 6-2 win over the Detroit Red Wings. …* Mike Brown had a goal and an assist while Mike Condon made 32 saves in the Montreal Canadiens’ 4-3 in over the Anaheim Ducks. Lucas Lessio’s first goal in 11 games with the Habs was the difference in the third. … Jakob Silfverberg had two goals in the loss. ... Tough loss for the Philadelphia Flyers, but an impressive win for the Columbus Blue Jackets: Scoring two goals in the last 1:04 of the game, including one shorthanded, to send the game to overtime before winning in the shootout, 3-2. Boone Jenner and Cam Atkinson led the rally in the third. Steve Mason had 51 saves in the loss.*
Did You Know? Michael Leighton made 16 saves in his first NHL appearance since Jan. 27, 2013, for Philadelphia at Tampa Bay. (AP)
Dishonorable Mention: Jeff Skinner had a critical turnover on the Sabres’ game-winner. … Carolina lost its fifth straight. … Ottawa’s power play is in a 10-game spiral, going 0-for-27. … Tomas Fleischmann, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith were all a minus-3. … Scott Darling was chased after the first period … Jonathan Ericsson was a minus-4, and Niklas Kronwall was a minus-3. … Jamie McGinn was a minus-3. ... Jared Boll might have a hearing after a game misconduct for a blind-side hit on Pierre-Edouard Bellemare:

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Greg Wyshynski*is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at*[email protected]*or*find him on Twitter.*His book,*TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is*available on Amazon*and wherever books are sold.
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