Advertisement

NHL Three Stars: Vasilevskiy blanks Sabres; Sedin reaches 900 points

NHL Three Stars: Vasilevskiy blanks Sabres; Sedin reaches 900 points

No. 1 Star: Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning

The rookie netminder made 28 saves and recorded his first NHL shutout as the Lightning blanked the Buffalo Sabres 3-0. Steven Stamkos scored his 36th of the year as Tampa won for the 13th time in their last 15 games at Amalie Arena.

No. 2 Stars: Trevor Lewis / Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings

The Kings forwards each had a goal and two assists as LA beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 to snap a three-game losing streak. LA has won seven of their last eight meetings against Edmonton and since 2008 are undefeated on the road in regulation against them. Lewis and Kopitar ended up connecting on two goals, like this one to give LA a 2-0 lead:

No. 3 Star: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals 

Ovechkin continued his march toward another Rocket Richard Trophy with a pair of goals as the Washington Capitals beat the Columbus Blue Jackets 5-3. Nick Backstrom and Jason Chimera each recorded a pair of assists. Joel Ward reached the 500-game plateau.

Honorable Mention: The New Jersey Devils scored twice in the game’s opening four minutes en route to a 3-1 win over the Nashville Predators. Cory Schneider made 33 stops as the Devils won for the sixth time in eight games. Mike Cammalleri scored an empty-netter to give him 9 points in his last seven games … Predators forward Matt Cullen played in his 1,200th NHL game … Jiri Hudler scored 1:21 into overtime to help give the Calgary Flames a 3-2 win over the Philadelphia Flyers:

Scott Hartnell of the Blue Jackets scored twice and added an assist in the loss … Nazem Kadri and Peter Holland scored five minutes apart early in the third period to help give the Toronto Maple Leafs a 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers. The game featured a wacky third period that saw Al Montoya, who replaced an injured Roberto Luongo after the first period, get injured himself and force the Panthers to scramble for a solution. After a delay, and Florida contemplating the possibility of suiting up Derek McKenzie or Scottie Upshall, Montoya returned briefly before Luongo regained the crease. It was so wild that goaltending coach Robb Tallas suited up, just in case … Matt Dumba scored twice in the second period and Charlie Coyle put home the winner in the shootout as Minnesota Wild edged the Ottawa Senators 3-2. Devan Dubnyk made 31 saves in regulation and overtime and two big ones in the shootout … Cody Eakin’s goal 2:18 into overtime gave the Dallas Stars a 2-1 win over the New York Islanders. Anders Lee forced the extra period after his shot deflected off Jordie Benn’s skate with 1.1 seconds left in the third period. Kari Lehtonen made 35 saves and won for the first time in four starts … Jakob Silfverberg scored a goal and assisted on two others as the Anaheim Ducks downed the Arizona Coyotes 4-1. Andrew Cogliano added a pair of goals and Frederik Andersen made 29 saves in his first start since Feb. 8. Ryan Kesler opened the scoring with a beautiful individual effort while shorthanded:

Matt Nieto scored twice and helped the San Jose Sharks to a 6-2 rout of the Vancouver Canucks. Joe Thornton and Patrick Marleau each added two assists and Antti Niemi made 26 saves for his first win in four starts ... In a losing effort, Henrik Sedin scored twice for the Canucks and became the fourth Swedish-born NHL player to reach 900 career points:

Did You Know? “Darryl Sutter coached his 1,102th game, tying Billy Reay for 16th overall in NHL history.” (AP)

Dishonorable Mention: Nashville dropped their fourth straight, a season high … The Flyers thought they had tied the game on a Nick Schultz goal but the officials huddled and ruled the defenseman made incidental contact with Karri Ramo before the puck crossed the line:

The Blue Jackets have now lost seven in a row … Matt Martin was give a five-minute major and automatic game misconduct for kneeing Trevor Daley in the first period:

MORE FROM YAHOO HOCKEY: