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Mon Oct 26, 2009 1:45 am EDT

Sunday's Three Stars: Luongo's 1st blank; Kopitar nets 2

By Greg Wyshynski

No. 1 star: Roberto Luongo(notes), Vancouver Canucks

Last season, Luongo pitched a shutout in his first start. This season, it took him until start No. 11 to whitewash his first opponent: The Edmonton Oilers, in a 27-save effort to backstop the Canucks' 2-0 victory. Michael Grabner(notes) and Henrik Sedin(notes) provided the offense for Luongo, who also started in Saturday night's win over the Toronto Maple Leafs.

No. 2 star: Anze Kopitar(notes), Los Angeles Kings

Kopitar's two goals in a 6-2 victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets increased his lead in the NHL scoring race. He now has 21 points in 12 games to Alexander Ovechkin's 17 in 10 games. Kopitar scored in the slot on a rush in the first period, and his second goal came on a 5-on-3 one-timer in the second period.

No. 3 star: Manny Malhotra(notes), San Jose Sharks

Malhotra's first two goals as a Shark powered San Jose to a big road win at the Philadelphia Flyers. His first was a hard-working effort deep in the offensive zone that resulted in a bank shot off of goalie Brian Boucher's(notes) (24 saves) stick; his second was a wrist shot that ripped past Boucher. San Jose wins, 4-1; let's give Star No. 3a to backup goalie Thomas Greiss(notes), who was fantastic with 37 saves for the Sharks.

Honorable mention: Dany Heatley(notes) scored his eighth for the Sharks to open the scoring, on the power play in the first period. ... Jonathan Quick stopped a Rick Nash(notes) penalty shot among his 24 shots. ... Alex Frolov scored two goals for the Kings, including a power-play tally. ... Kristian Huselius(notes) and Antoine Vermette(notes) were the goal-scorers for Columbus.

Did you know? Luongo's 48th career shutout moved him into a tie with San Jose's Evgeni Nabokov(notes) for third place on the active list, one behind Chris Osgood(notes) and many, many more than one behind Marty Brodeur (102). (AP)

Dishonorable mention: Mike Richards(notes), after escaping suspension for his hit on David Booth(notes) on Saturday night? Minus-2, 6 shots, 2 PIM and zero points. ... Stranger yet for the Flyers were solid defensive duo Kimmo Timonen(notes) and Braydon Coburn(notes) both earning a minus-3 against San Jose. ... The Edmonton Oilers were 0-for-5 with the man advantage. ... Columbus goalie Steve Mason(notes) (19 saves) entered the Kings game with a 4.87 GAA in four road games; he surrendered six against LA. ... Finally, whether it was a misjudged hit or a intentionally dangerous one, the Rob Scuderi hip check on Jason Chimera will certainly be a topic of conversation on Monday morning in NHL circles. Said Chimera: "It was low. It was a dirty hit. I don't care what you call it. I've been hip-checked before, but it's a dirty hit."

Related: 3 Stars

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16 Comments

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  1. jessicak7788
    1. Posted by jessicak7788 Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:08 am EDT

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    I found a great site --** DegreeParents.com **---It’s great!
  2. Guy F
    2. Posted by Guy F Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:13 am EDT

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    No honourable mention for Kesler going "Bo Jackson" on his stick?
    Luongo played very well considering Stortini two-handed him in the back of the head. Zach likes acting tough when Rick Rypien isn't around to treat him like a fugly 220 pound speed bag.
  3. HotStacey
    3. Posted by HotStacey Mon Oct 26, 2009 2:43 am EDT

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    kovalchuck - 9g, 27 shots
    Ov - 9g, SIXTY SEVEN SHOTS. and those are just the ones that HIT the net. what a selfish piece of crap. he'll never win a cup cuz he's not a team player
  4. Mike P
    4. Posted by Mike P Mon Oct 26, 2009 4:00 am EDT

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    Luongo's shutout also moves him past Kirk McLean and into the #1 spot for franchise record most shutouts.
  5. fetus enchiladas
    5. Posted by fetus enchiladas Mon Oct 26, 2009 7:43 am EDT

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    it was only a matter of time before anze really started piling up the points.. he's been developing his game around younger guys up until this year, and now that he's got some experience on his line (smyth and williams) it's all coming in waves right out of the gate. great to see.
  6. Jon A
    6. Posted by Jon A Mon Oct 26, 2009 8:09 am EDT

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    Dishonorable Mention - Puck Daddy for giving Mike Richards a dishonorable mention for a good old fashioned clean, legal, bone-crushing hit.
  7. M
    7. Posted by M Mon Oct 26, 2009 8:14 am EDT

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    Flyers really showed the effects of playing 3 games in 4 nights after playing 1 game in the previous 12 nights. 2 and 1 was even better than I expected. Tomorrow night will show just how much they are behind schedule when they play the caps. As far Richards goes I think he was mentally and physically drained from the night before. You can believe anything you want but hurting a guy like that is never anyone's intention whether you believe the hit was clean or dirty. Most of the NHL players are stand up, good guys by their very nature and if you don't think something like that doesn't way on his mind you are just not being honest with yourself.
  8. Pensfan71
    8. Posted by Pensfan71 Mon Oct 26, 2009 8:54 am EDT

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    @#5 I agree Anze has so much talent, now that he has a team around him its great to see him pile up the points like I though he would coming into the league. I was unsure about the smyth deal at first but man what a pick up for you guys now. @ M your right what is up with that schedule? First month of the season and like 12 days off?
  9. SLBD
    9. Posted by SLBD Mon Oct 26, 2009 8:59 am EDT

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    It was good to see hockey on Sunday night for the first time this season. The CBJ/LAK game was a hard middle bit to chew as it was over pretty early.
    The Richards charging call was crap though he played poorly.
  10. samsam_muel
    10. Posted by samsam_muel Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:59 am EDT

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    It's Martin Brodeur, not Marty. It makes him sound way cooler if you call him Martin, kind of as if he was from the Carribeans. Marty is a bad name. Martin = cool.
  11. Jason
    11. Posted by Jason Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:01 am EDT

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    No honorable mention for Frolov? The "lazy" forward scored more points than any Kings player on the ice, and didn't even get a star of the game.
  12. eva unit zero
    12. Posted by eva unit zero Mon Oct 26, 2009 10:22 am EDT

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    Good to see Kopitar performing as well as I expected of him. In the 2005 draft my top 5 prospects, in order, were:
    1) Crosby
    2) Ryan
    3) Kopitar
    4) Price
    5) Johnson
  13. habs1rule
    13. Posted by habs1rule Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:03 am EDT

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    @3...So you're into "total penetration" and not foreplay!!
  14. Professor Farnsworth
    14. Posted by Professor Farnsworth Mon Oct 26, 2009 11:16 am EDT

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    Dishonorable Mention - Jon A, there comes a point where crying needs to stop, he is unaware of this point.
  15. wtfk
    15. Posted by wtfk Mon Oct 26, 2009 3:07 pm EDT

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    Get a grip, Chimera! It was a low hit. If it was on your knees, they would have buckled like chicken drumsticks. It was on your thighs, which is why you can still skate.
  16. starbartzz
    16. Posted by starbartzz Mon Oct 26, 2009 9:09 pm EDT

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    Steve Ott should be #1 he! he! he!

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