NHL Three Stars: Giggy, Niemi lead impressive road efforts for Avs, Sharks

No. 1 Star: Jean-Sebastien Giguere, Colorado Avalanche

Cole Harbour’s own Sidney Crosby and Nathan MacKinnon got all the hype heading into the game, but it was Giggy that made the difference. The veteran made 34 saves and made a Gabriel Landeskog goal stand up in Colorado’s 1-0 win at the Pittsburgh Penguins. Giguere helped the Avs kill off seven power plays.

No. 2 Star: Antti Niemi, San Jose Sharks

Niemi and Jimmy Howard had a goaltending battle that kept the Sharks and the Detroit Red Wings scoreless into the shootout. It was there that Logan Couture beat Howard, and Niemi made a brilliant save on Todd Bertuzzi to clinch the 1-0 win. The Sharks have yet to lose in regulation.

No. 3 Star: T.J. Brodie, Calgary Flames

The Flames defenseman scored a power-play goal with 30 seconds left in regulation, giving the Flames a 3-2 win at the Los Angeles Kings. It was just his fourth career goal.

Honorable mention: Mike Cammalleri returned to the Flames’ lineup and scored a nasty power-play goal while assisting on Sean Monahan’s. … Drew Doughty and Jeff Carter scored for the Kings. … Karri Ramo made 29 saves in the Flames’ win. … The Penguins limited the Avs to 14 shots. … Ryan O’Reilly skated 24:45 for the Avs, which is Ovechkin territory for a forward. … Sidney Crosby made MacKinnon look silly:

Did You Know? The San Jose Sharks traded a fourth-round pick to Edmonton for Mike Brown because “Mike plays a speed game and fits the 'Fast, Hard and Supportive' mantra that our team wants to play with," according to GM Doug Wilson.

Dishonorable mention: The Kings surrendered three power-play goals to the Flames. … Anze Kopitar was in the box when Brodie scored the game-winner. ... After scoring 28 percent of the time in their previous games, the Penguins failed on seven power-play attempts.