NHL Three Stars: Kreider pulls trick on Tortorella; Malkin’s four-point night

James Neal and Jeff Zatkoff stand weirdly close to one another.

No. 1 Star: Chris Kreider, New York Rangers

Kreider struggled to find his footing under John Tortorella, but in Tortorella's first return to Madison Square Garden, the Rangers' winger seemed especially motivated. He scored 3 times in what had to be a cathartic, 5-2 win.

No. 2 Star: Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins

Malkin finished off a strong November with his first four-point game of the year, scoring a goal and adding three assists in a 5-1 rout of the Florida Panthers.

No. 3 Star: Max Pacioretty, Montreal Canadiens

Pacioretty was in on all but one of the Canadiens' goals in a 4-2 win over the Toronto Maple Leafs. He scored twice -- Montreal's first and fourth goals -- and he assisted on another in the victory.

Honorable mention: Steve Bernier scored the overtime winner as the New Jersey Devils topped the Buffalo Sabres, 1-0. Cory Schneider picked up the shutout, and he only needed 15 shots to do it. Get good, Buffalo… Milan Lucic scored twice as the Boston Bruins beat the Columbus Blue Jackets, 3-1… Alex Ovechkin's 21st of the season was the OT winner in the Washington Capitals' 3-2 win over the New York Islanders.

… The Chicago Blackhawks won their sixth straight, a decisive 5-2 win over the Phoenix Coyotes… Vincent Lecavalier scored the shootout winner in the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2 win over the Nashville Predators… Semyon Varlamov made 35 saves and Ryan O'Reilly scored the shootout goal in the Colorado Avalanche's 3-2 win over the Minnesota Wild… Michael Cammalleri scored the game-winner with 23 seconds to go as the Calgary Flames surprised the Los Angeles Kings, 2-1… The San Jose Sharks edged the Anaheim Ducks 4-3 in a shootout thanks to Joe Pavelski's nasty stutter-stop move.

Did You Know? The Canucks lost for the first time this season when scoring more than one goal.

Dishonorable mention: Ben Scrivens probably could have played this better: