NHL Three Stars: Jagr moves up goal scoring list; Ovi tallies 40 & 41; wild game in Vancouver

No. 1 Star: John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks

The Ducks had no business winning the game against Dallas. After the first period, Anaheim played sloppy, while the Stars turned it up. Gibson faced 40 shots and stopped all but one of them in the 3-1 win. Here's Gibson making a desperation move to rob Vern Fiddler of a sure goal:

No. 2 Star: Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

Just another 3-point night for Geno. Including Sunday's 5-2 victory against Columbus, he's scored 9-points over his last 3 games. For his second goal of the evening, Malkin connected on a tic-tac-toe feed from Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang on the power play.

No. 3 Star: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

Ovechkin appears to have been reinvigorated under Barry Trotz. Sure he's still putting up numbers like before, but he's back to having more fun on the ice. In Washington's 4-0 beat down of the Maple Leafs, Ovi scored his 40th and 41st goals of the season. Here's the 40th - scored 33-seconds into the game - with a not-so-slick-but-totally-Ovi-like celebration:

Honorable Mention: Acquired earlier from Buffalo, new Winnipeg Jets, Tyler Myers and Drew Stafford, both recorded goals against LA. Jets captain Andrew Ladd add two goals for good measure in the 5-2 triumph. The Jets, currently in the first Wild Card slot, are within 3 points of Chicago for the final spot in the Central ... Tampa Bay nearly came back from a 4-1 deficit in the 3rd period against Florida, but the Cats held on to win 4-3. Of Jonathan Huberdeau's 3 assists in the game, one was on Jaromir Jagr's first goal as a Florida Panther; the tally moved him into a fifth place tie with Phil Esposito on the All-Time Goal Scoring list at 717:

... Kris Letang and Sidney Crosby both skate away with 2-points each. Fresh off his rescue from Toronto, new guy Daniel Winnik earned his first assist as a member of the Penguins on Pittsburgh's 5th goal of the contest by Steve Downie. Pittsburgh's power play went 3-for-6 against CBJ; however, there was one miscue that led directly to a Ryan Johansen breakaway short-handed goal:

... Braden Holtby earned his 30th win of the season against Toronto. He shut the Leafs out with 32 saves ... Clayton Stoner broke a 57-game goal-less streak with his game winner against Dallas. Ryan Getzlaf and Corey Perry each scored a goal and assisted on each others goals in the Ducks win. Perry's goal was the prettiest after he received a fantastic pass from new-ish teammate Jiri Sekac:

... The St. Louis vs. Vancouver game was wacky. First the Blues went up on Vancouver 2-0 in 6 minutes after puck drop. Then the Canucks score 2 goals in less than 3 minutes to tie it up. Vancouver proceeded to go up 5-2. The Blues powered themselves back to tie it up and take the game to the shoot-out where Vancouver prevailed. All three shooters for the Canucks, Nick Bonino, Radim Vrbata, and Chris Higgins scored.

Did You Know? Ovi is super excited about his newest fan:

Dishonorable Mention: Jonathan Quick was pulled for the Kings after two periods of play. He gave up 4 goals on 21 shots. With the loss to Winnipeg, LA's road troubles continue as their record away from Staples is now 9-14-6 ... This had to sting: Sidney Crosby gets leveled by Ryan Johansen. Penguins spend the rest of the game going after Columbus players.

... Korbinian Holzer left the game after 33-seconds of ice time due to a concussion; he was considered by many to be traid-bait for Toronto. According to James Mirtle, the Leafs have fallen to 6-24-2 in their last 32 games ... Anaheim's Tim Jackman collided with Ales Hemsky after 38-seconds TOI, and left the game with a lower-body injury. The Ducks say he's day-to-day. After Lindy Ruff called out Kari Lehtonen for average play as of late, he decided to start Jhonas Enroth instead. Enroth gave up 3 goals on 22 shots in the loss ... Goalie issues in St. Louis: Jake Allen started the game and was pulled in favor of Brian Elliott. Elliott gave up 1 goal on 6 shots in 6:14, and Hitch pulled him. There was a brief exchange of words before Elliott went down the tunnel. He eventually came back. Hitch says everything is fine. (Suuuuure it is.) Finally Ryan Reaves decided to go all Street Fighter on Zach Kassian, punching the 'Nuck over the heads of two officials (via Some Hockey Videos)

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

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