Monday's Three Stars: Hossa chases Blues away

No. 1 star: Marian Hossa, Detroit Red Wings

Hossa scored two goals in regulation, took a break to get stitches, then provided the deciding shootout goal as Detroit snapped a five-game losing skid with a 4-3 win over St. Louis. This one featured a lackluster first period (combined five shots), some simply horrible goaltending (see below) and was Zetterberg-less, so it wasn't the prettiest thing to look at. But it goes in the win column all the same, and Hossa with 26 goals now sits just three behind his total from a season ago. His second goal Monday chased Manny Legace and his wrister past Chris Mason in the shootout was a thing of beauty.

No. 2 star: Marek Svatos, Colorado Avalanche

Svatos out-muscled none other than Dion Phaneuf for position before redirecting a puck past Miikka Kiprusoff for a second-period goal that held up as the winner in Colorado's 4-3 win over Calgary. Like Hossa, he scored two goals and like tonight's No. 1 star, he helped his team snap a losing streak. Colorado had lost four straight going in. Svatos added an assist and two hits while making the most of his 15:19 on the ice.

No. 3 star: Kris Draper, Detroit Red Wings

Hockey's everyman hit the 1,000-game milestone Monday, taking the opening faceoff in the starting lineup before settling into a Draper-like support role, picking up an assist and winning 11 of 16 faceoffs in 12:50 of ice time. Good health permitting he'll make it 1,000 games in a Detroit uniform later this season.

Honorable mention: Chris Mason has stopped 97 of the last 99 shots faced. … Calgary's Rene Bourque scored his 17th goal of the season to establish a new career-high. … Anaheim's power-play continued to sizzle, with Chris Kunitz and Corey Perry each scoring with the man-advantage in a 3-2 win over Buffalo. … Craig Rivet scored for Buffalo to snap a 65-game drought. We're not big on research during these late-night Three Stars shifts, but we're guessing he's the first player in NHL history to snap a 60-plus game goal drought and receive two fighting majors on the same night. … Sabres goalie Patrick Lalime stopped 34 of 37 shots and went the distance despite sustaining what looked like a fairly deep cut when he was sliced on the forearm by a skate. … Kerry Fraser officiated career game No. 1,800.

Dishonorable mention: This isn't a "Worst Persons" segment, but if it was we'd have a slam-dunk winner in Manny Legace, who allowed three goals on eight shots against his former mates. He later said, "I was the worst player in the NHL tonight." You won't get an argument from anyone who saw Hossa's first goal Monday. … Of course you could argue that Chris Mason should have been in there in the first place. … Nice nugget from the Rogers Sportsnet crew: The Avs have surrendered a goal within the first six shots faced in five straight games. … Kerry Fraser officiated career game No. 1,800.