No. 1 Star: Matt Puempel, New York Rangers
The Rangers snagged him off the scrap heap when the Ottawa Senators waived him. He now has five goals in 12 games after a hat trick in their 6-3 win over the Arizona Coyotes.*
No. 2 Star: Keith Kincaid, New Jersey Devils
The Devils’ backup was stellar against the Washington Capitals in their 2-1 shootout win, making 43 saves and stopping T.J. Oshie and Evgeny Kuznetsov in the shootout.
No. 3 Star: Ryan Spooner, Boston Bruins
The Bruins forward scored two goals in the third period – a rifle shot with 3:53 left in the third period, and nifty empty netter – to put away the Buffalo Sabres, 4-2.
Honorable Mention: Jakob Silfverberg and Rickard Rakell scored in the third period to complete an Anaheim Ducks rally, 3-1, over the Calgary Flames. … Phillip Danault scored 39 seconds into overtime and Al Montoya made 31 saves in the Montreal Canadiens’ 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers. Max Pacioretty scored No. 15 and assisted on game-winner. … Nazem Kadri had the OT game-winner at 3:37 to give the Toronto Maple Leafs their fourth straight win, 3-2 over the Tampa Bay Lightning. Auston Matthews scored goal No. 18. … The Minnesota Wild won their 12th straight game, 6-4, over the New York Islanders. That included three goals in 1:20 during the second period, and Erik Haula’s game-winner at 10:30 of the third. … Brock Nelson had two goals in 42 seconds for the Islanders. … Patrick Kane assisted on Jonathan Toews’s game-tying goal and scored an unassisted game-winner in the third period against the Nashville Predators, propelling the Chicago Blackhawks to a 3-2 win. … Nick Foligno had three points and Alexander Wennberg had two goals as the Columbus Blue Jackets extended their winning streak to 14 games, 5-3 over the Winnipeg Jets. … Anthony Mantha scored the game-winner at 1:07 of overtime as the Detroit Red Wings defeated the Ottawa Senators, 3-2. Jared Coreau made 26 saves. … Tyler Seguin had two goals and an assist, while Jamie Benn had three helpers in their 4-2 win over the Colorado Avalanche. … Eric Gryba scored his 1st career game-winning goal (236 games played) as the Edmonton Oilers defeated the Los Angeles Kings, 3-1.

Did You Know? Daniel Alfredsson had his No. 11 retired in Ottawa.
Dishonorable Mention: Evander Kane was a minus-3. … Jaroslav Halak was pulled in the second period after giving up four goals on 24 shots. … Josh Bailey, Anders Lee and Nick Leddy were minus-3. … Mathieu Perreault, Bryan Little and Blake Wheeler were all minus-3. … David Backes was knocked out of the Bruins’ win after a high hit from William Carrier.*… Corey Crawford and Craig Smith are both sneaky.
Corey Crawford steps out into Craig Smith… takes a dive. #Preds #CHIvsNSH pic.twitter.com/Xa9J7sC8jS

— Thomas Willis (@TomAWillis) December 30, 2016
RIP Mike Smith’s stick.
Pump with the hat trick, Mike Smith with the stick break. Classic #nhl #nyr #Coyotes pic.twitter.com/sEEYgtOliQ
— Blueshirtsnation.com (@NYRangerFanclub) December 30, 2016
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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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