NHL Three Stars: Crosby offers assistance; Brent burns Dallas

No. 1 Star: Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins

It was a five-point night for Sidney Crosby, as he assisted on the Penguins’ first five goals of their 6-1 win at the Buffalo Sabres. Kris Letang had two goals and two assists.

No. 2 Star: Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks

Brent Burns scored two critical third-period goals in the Sharks’ 5-3 win over the Dallas Stars, tying the game and then notching the eventual game-winner.

No. 3 Star: Jaroslav Halak, New York Islanders

Halak made 19 saves in shutting out the Arizona Coyotes, 1-0, thanks to a third-period Frans Nielsen goal.

Honorable Mention: Jonas Hiller was 9-for-9 in relief of a pulled Kari Ramo, as the Calgary Flames rallied twice to defeat the Florida Panthers, 6-4. Mark Giordanio had a goal and two assists. … … Fan favorite Leo Komarov scored the game-winner at 14:26 of the third period, as the Toronto Maple Leafs topped the New York Rangers, 5-4. Rick Nash scored his 11th. … Jiri Sekac and Lars Eller had a goal and an assist while Carey Price stopped 30 shots in the Montreal Canadiens’ 4-1 win over the Minnesota Wild. …  Mathieu Perreault scored in the sixth round of the shootout and Ondrej Pavelec was good again in the Winnipeg Jets’ 2-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. … Tyler Johnson had two of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s seven goals in a 7-4 plastering of the Columbus Blue Jackets, scoring four first-period goals. Ryan Callahan had a goal and two assists. … Nicklas Backstrom had the OT game-winner on a rebound from Anton Khudobin, as the Washington Capitals defeated the Carolina Hurricanes, 4-3. … Nashville gutted out a 2-1 win over the St. Louis Blues, as Filip Forsberg and James Neal rallied them. Pekka Rinne made 28 saves. The Blues played their fourth game in six days. … Marian Gaborik and Anze Kopitar had a goal and an assist while Tyler Toffoli and Alec Martinez had 3-point nights in the Los Angeles Kings’ 5-1 romp over the Vancouver Canucks. … Claude Giroux had two goals and an assist within the Philadelphia Flyers’ first three goals, as they defeated the Colorado Avalanche, 4-3. … Tyler Seguin had a hat-trick in the Stars’ loss.

Did You Know? Colorado had killed 30 of 31 penalties over the past eight games entering Saturday, where they gave up three power-play goals to the Flyers.

Dishonorable Mention: Sven Baertschi and Brian Campbell were minus-3. … Josh Gorges was a minus-3. … Charlie Coyle was a minus-3. … Fedor Tyutin and David Savard were minus-3. … Anton Forsbrg was chased after giving up four goals on 15 shots. … Carolina was outshot 18-3 in the first period. …  Ryan Miller was pulled after giving up four goals on 22 shots. … Alex Edler was a minus-3. … Antoine Roussel was given a misconduct for this collision with Alex Stalock. … Nathan McKinnon was given a game-changing 5-minute major on a questionable boarding call.