NHL Three Stars: Kadri, Parise have big nights in wins

No. 1 Star: Nazem Kadri, Toronto Maple Leafs 

Wait … it’s March 24 and a Leafs player is the first star? What the what?! Yes, in fact Kadri is the No. 1 star, thanks to a four-point night (2 goals, 2 assists) that included the overtime game-winner in Toronto’s 6-5 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Tyler Bozak also had two goals. The Ducks did clinch a playoff spot.

No. 2 Star: Zach Parise, Minnesota Wild

Parise had a first-period hat trick and assisted on a big Jared Spurgeon goal in the second period in the Wild’s 6-2 win over the Calgary Flames. He now has 22 goals on the season.

No. 3 Star: Kyle Palmieri, New Jersey Devils

The Devils’ forward scored two first-period goals, giving him 29 on the season, and Scott Wedgewood made 39 saves for the shutout in Jersey’s 3-0 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Honorable Mention: Vincent Trocheck and Jussi Jokinen had a goal and an assist while Roberto Luongo made 34 saves in the Florida Panthers’ big 4-1 win over the Boston Bruins. … Victor Rask, Chris Terry and Elias Lindholm all scored in the first 2:30 of the third period to give the Carolina Hurricanes a 3-2 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. … Riley Sheahan had two goals and the Detroit Red Wings survived a 3-goal Montreal Canadiens’ rally for a crucial 4-3 win. … Craig Smith and Ryan Johansen had shootout goals as the Nashville Predators rallied for a 3-2 win. James Neal and Filip Forsberg scored in the third to send the game to OT. … The Winnipeg Jets sent the Los Angeles Kings to their third loss in a row, 4-1. Third-period goals by Dustin Byuglien, Paul Postma and Drew Stafford blew it open. … Martin Hanzel scored the go-ahead goal and a key shorthanded goal in the third period to power the Arizona Coyotes over the Dallas Stars, 3-1. … Third-period goals by Radko Gudas and Claude Giroux rallied the Philadelphia Flyers over the Colorado Avalanche, 4-2. … Taylor Hall had two goals and Patrick Maroon had a goal and two assists in the Edmonton Oilers’ 6-3 win over the San Jose Sharks.

Did You Know? Henrik Sedin passes Maurice 'Rocket' Richard for 88th on the NHL's all-time scoring list.

Dishonorable Mention: David Krejci, Torey Krug and Brad Marchand were a minus-3. … This somehow wasn’t a goal for the Bruins. …  Jake Gardiner was a minus-3. … Niklas Kronwall was a minus-3. … Brandon Bollig played 9:08 and managed to take two penalties in the third period. … Jake Muzzin was a minus-3. … Joel Ward was a minus-5 (!!!), while Patrick Marleau and Brent Burns were a minus-4. … Zack Kassian was given a misconduct on top of his boarding major for punching the penalty box glass:

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Greg Wyshynski is a writer for Yahoo Sports. Contact him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or find him on Twitter. His book, TAKE YOUR EYE OFF THE PUCK, is available on Amazon and wherever books are sold.