Advertisement

NHL Three Stars: Raanta shines for Rangers; Bob lifts Blue Jackets

BUFFALO, NY - DECEMBER 09: The goal net tips over atop Philipp Grubauer #31 of the Washington Capitals during an NHL game against the Buffalo Sabres at the KeyBank Center on December 9, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. Washington won, 4-1. (Photo by Gary Wiepert/NHLI via Getty Images)
BUFFALO, NY – DECEMBER 09: The goal net tips over atop Philipp Grubauer #31 of the Washington Capitals during an NHL game against the Buffalo Sabres at the KeyBank Center on December 9, 2016 in Buffalo, New York. Washington won, 4-1. (Photo by Gary Wiepert/NHLI via Getty Images)

No. 1 Stars: Antti Raanta / Nick Holden, New York Rangers

Raanta and Holden were the heroes for the Rangers in their 1-0 overtime win over the Chicago Blackhawks. Raanta stopped all 26 shots fired his way while Holden provided the only goal 55 seconds into the extra period.

No. 2 Star: Robby Fabbri, St. Louis Blues

Two goals from Fabbri and three assists from Vladimir Taraseko helped the Blues bounce back from a Thursday night loss to beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1. Jake Allen made 20 saves for his ninth win in his last 10 starts.

No. 3 Star: Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus Blue Jackets

Bob stopped 32 Detroit Red Wings shots in a 4-1 victory, Columbus’ fifth in a row. Cam Atkinson opened the scoring with a shorthanded tally and Lukas Sedlak recorded his first NHL goal in the win. The Blue Jackets have now picked up points in 12 of their last 13 games.

Honorable Mention: T.J. Oshie and Marcus Johansson each had a goal and an assist to lead the Washington Capitals past the Buffalo Sabres 4-1. Philipp Grubauer, who’s now beaten the Sabres in each of his last two starts, made 27 saves as Washington won their third game in a row. Capitals rookie Jakub Vrana scored his first NHL goal … Eric Staal scored in the sixth round of the shootout as the Minnesota Wild edged the Edmonton Oilers 3-2. Devan Dubnyk stopped 25 shots in regulation and overtime for his third straight win. Staal’s goal was quite nice:

Hampus Lindholm’s goal with 5:38 left in the third period broke a 2-2 tie and gave the Anaheim Ducks a 3-2 win over the San Jose Sharks. Jonathan Bernier made 22 stops and Rickard Rakell scored his seventh goal in his last nine games … Scott Darling matched Raanta’s effort with a solid night of 37 saves for the Blackhawks:

Did You Know?

Dishonorable Mention: Buffalo has lost three times to Washington in the last two weeks … The Sabres have allowed 19 power play goals in their last 12 games … A whistle never came for Petr Mrazek as he tried covered the puck in the Detroit zone for a faceoff. You can imagine what happened next: