Monday’s Three Stars: Panthers’ Goc, Kings’ Clifford unlikely heroes

No. 1 Star: Marcel Goc, Florida Panthers

The forward's power-play goal in the second period broke a 1-1 tie and provided the margin of victory in the Panthers' 2-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. He poked the puck past Roberto Luongo during a flurry of shots. Said Goc after the game to the AP: "It wasn't a pretty one. It wasn't anything fancy, but it worked." Goc also assisted on the game-tying goal by Dmitry Kulikov about five minutes earlier in the second period.

No. 2 Star: Kyle Clifford, Los Angeles Kings

The Kings have been struggling scoring goals lately. Where else would they turn for offensive support than Clifford, who hadn't scored a goal since Oct. 20? He tied the game at 1-1 in the first period with his second of the season, and then had the primary assist on Jack Johnson's insurance goal in the second period to help the Kings to a 5-2 win over the Washington Capitals. Clifford finished at a plus-2.

No. 3 Star: Marcus Johansson, Washington Capitals

One of the lone bright spots for the Caps, Johansson scored 1:34 into the first period and then had a layup off a Kings' defensive breakdown in the third period to give him nine goals on the season.

Honorable mention: Anze Kopitar, Jarret Stoll and Justin Williams had the other goals for the Kings. Jonathan Bernier made 20 saves. … Dale Weise opened the scoring for the Canucks in the first. … Scott Clemmensen made 25 saves.

Did you know? Jack Johnson honored a certain Denver quarterback after his goal. No, not Jake Plummer, the other guy.

Dishonorable mention: Tomas Vokoun was yanked for the third period after giving up four goals on 27 shots. … The Caps and Canucks were 0-3 on the power play. … Alex Burrows took an interference penalty with 29 seconds left in the game to give Florida a power play. … Brooks Laich was a minus-2 and gave away a goal to the Kings with a turnover in his own zone.