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NHL Three Stars: Mrazek shuts out Preds; van Riemsdyk brothers win

Jen Neale

No. 1 Star: Petr Mrazek, Detroit Red Wings

It hasn’t been an easy season for the Red Wings. Perhaps a 1-0 win over the Nashville Predators will give them a boost. Petr Mrazek made 42 saves on the Preds to hold on to the shutout. Mike Green scored the lone goal of the game in the first.

No. 2 Star: The van Riemsdyk brothers, Toronto Maple Leafs & Chicago Blackhawks

The two brothers scored the game winning goals for the their respective teams. Pretty cool accomplishment on the same night.

For James van Riemsdyk it was his second of the game and it was yuuuuge. The Leafs blew a 4-1 lead to Boston and were tied when JvR scored at the 1:36 mark of the third to win it.

As for Trevor van Riemsdyk, the defenseman broke the three-all tie with the Dallas Stars with less than five minutes to go. His goal would stand as the game winner.

No. 3 Star: Mike Smith, Arizona Coyotes

It was a good night for Smith against the Pacific Division leading San Jose Sharks. The Sharks put up 40 shots through regulation and OT and Smith stopped 38. In the shootout, he made 2 of 3 saves to give the Coyotes a much needed win.

Honorable Mention: William Nylander earned his first career hat trick for the Leafs. Auston Matthews picked up three assists. Patrice Bergeron, David Pastrnak and Zdeno Chara each had three point nights (and probably saved Claude Julien’s job). Adam McQuaid and Matt Martin THREW DOWN like they used to do back in the day … Corey Crawford and Kari Lehtonen made 31 saves each with Crawford picking up the win … Mikael Granlund earned his first hat trick in the Minnesota Wild’s 6-3 victory against the Vancouver Canucks. Granlund finished the game with four points total.

… Sidney Crosby continues to be magical. He now has 30 goals on the season and is three points away from 1,000 for his career. The Pittsburgh Penguins beat the St. Louis Blues, 4-1 … Cory Schneider had 31 saves against the always dangerous Columbus Blue Jackets. Taylor Hall scored two goals and Seth Helgeson scored his first NHL goal in the New Jersey Devils 5-1 win … The Carolina Hurricanes and New York Islanders were coming back against each other the whole game. In OT, Ron Hainsey scored his second of the game for the win.

… Nikita Kucherov assisted on both goals and scored in the shootout to give the Tampa Bay Lightning the 3-2 win. Brandon Montour scored his first NHL goal in the Anaheim Ducks loss … Robin Lehner blanked his old team, the Ottawa Senators, with 37 saves in the Buffalo Sabres 4-0 victory … The Colorado Avalanche snapped a nine-game losing streak by beating the Winnipeg Jets 5-2. Adam Lowry scored both goals for the Jets. As it seems to happen when his name comes up in trade rumors, Matt Duchene went on a scoring run with three assists … Nick Backstrom, Andre Burakovsky and Jay Beagle scored as the Washington Capitals beat the Montreal Canadiens in Bell Centre … Peter Budaj earned his seventh shutout of the season as the Los Angeles Kings beat the Philadelphia Flyers in overtime. Jeff Carter picked up his 27th goal in OT.

Did You Know?

Dishonorable Mention: It was 4 to 1 for the Leafs against Boston. The game ended 6-5 … Robby Fabbri needed helped getting to the locker room after taking a hit along the boards after 2:05 TOI. Carl Hagelin played only 3:58 for the Pens before leaving the game. For whatever stock you put into it: Jaden Schwartz, Vladimir Tarasenko and Kevin Shattenkirk were all minus-4. HEY Joel Edmundson, not cool.

… In a rare start, J.F. Berube stopped only 20 of 25 in the loss … The Ducks power play was 0-for-5 and the Lightning were 1-for-7 … Mike Condon was pulled after allowing the fourth goal of the game. Andrew Hammond came in and saved the one shot he faced in 9:09.

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Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter!