NHL Three Stars: Stepan’s hat trick; Emery gets third star he actually earned

Dan Boyle seemed happy to be back scoring goals.

No. 1 Star: Derek Stepan, New York Rangers

After Carl Hagelin scored twice, Stepan put this one away for the Rangers, scoring the next three goals to for a 5-0 triumph over the Carolina Hurricanes. How he wasn't named the game's first star is beyond me -- Henrik Lundqvist earned that honour for his 27-save performance. Here's the hat trick:

No. 2 Star: David Legwand, Nashville Predators

Legwand opened the scoring in the Predators' 4-3 win over the Los Angeles Kings, and he closed it too, scoring the game-winner with just under four minutes to go in the game. Carton Hutton stopped 35 shots.

No. 3 Star: Ray Emery, Philadelphia Flyers

He definitely didn't deserve the third star last night, but we'll give it to him here, as Emery made 14 saves, all of them quite necessary, to give the Philadelphia Flyers a much-needed 1-0 bounceback win. Brayden Schenn scored the game's lone goal.

Honorable mention: Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and an assist as the Colorado Avalanche won their 12th, 4-1, over the Montreal Canadiens... Daniel Alfredsson had two assists and Petr Mrazek picked up a 14-save shutout in the Detroit Red Wings' rolled 5-0 over the Edmonton Oilers... Michael Neuvirth made 31 stops in the Washington Capitals' 3-2 win over the Florida Panthers... Roberto Luongo got the shutout in the Vancouver Canucks' 4-0 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs, but James Reimer was the real standout, making 43 saves to keep this one respectable... Thomas Vanek has a goal and an assist to propel the New York Islanders over the Boston Bruins, 3-1... Patrick Sharp scored a spiffy goal in the Blackhawks' 5-1 rout of the Winnipeg Jets... Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf combined for five points in a 6-3 walloping of the hapless Buffalo Sabres...

Jeff Zatkoff got his first win and his first shutout in a 3-0 Pittsburgh Penguins victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets... The San Jose Sharks outshot the Phoenix Coyotes 50-30 and still lost, 4-3, in a shootout... Alex Killorn's third point of the night for the Tampa Bay Lightning was an assist on Valteri Filppula's insurance goal, which made it a 4-2 final over the St. Louis Blues. Steven Stamkos scored an incredible goal, as he often does:

Did You Know? Joe Thornton registered his 800th career assist versus Phoenix.

Dishonorable mention: Rough night for Jonathan Quick, who allowed 4 goals on just 17 shots... The Sabres have now lost 9 straight at home... the Maple Leafs put in what Randy Carlyle believed their worst performance of the season, and lost Dave Bolland in the process to a nasty, Erik Karlsson-like skate cut.