NHL Three Stars: Flyers win ninth straight; Varlamov stops 51

No. 1 Star: Semyon Varlamov, Colorado Avalanche

The goaltender made 51 saves on 52 shots on goal to help his team in a 3-1 win. Varlamov’s performance came just one night after he allowed six goals on 16 shots on goal in a 10-1 loss to the Montreal Canadiens. Said Varlamov, “today, this morning, I woke up and said, ‘Today is a new day, a new opportunity to win a game.’ That’s the NHL. You have to forget quickly and refocus.”

No. 2 Star: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

Ovechkin broke a seven-game goalless stretch with a goal and one assist in a 3-0 win over the Vancouver Canucks. It was Ovechkin’s 13th goal of the season and the 200th power play goal of his career, which tied Mark Recchi for 18th all time. It was also Ovechkin’s 538th career goal, which tied Keith Tkachuk for 31st all time.

No. 3 Star: Anthony Stolarz, Philadelphia Flyers

The 22-year-old Stolarz picked up his first shutout in his second career start stopping all 28 Detroit Red Wings shots on goal in a 1-0 win. The victory was Philadelphia’s ninth straight. This is the first time they Flyers have won nine straight games since April 2-22, 1995. Stolarz became the youngest Flyers goaltender to post a shutout since Dominic Roussel on Feb. 27, 1992 at Calgary. The Flyers have 39 points – just two behind the New York Rangers for first in the Metropolitan Division.

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Honorable Mention: Anaheim Ducks forwards Corey Perry and Antoine Vermette each scored a goal and added an assist in a 5-1 win over the Ottawa Senators. … Ducks goaltender John Gibson stopped 21 of 22 shots on goal. … Minnesota Wild goaltender Devan Dubnyk stopped 22 of 23 shots on goal in a 3-1 win over the St. Louis Blues. … Wild forward Nino Niederreiter scored his eighth goal of the season. … Minnesota forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Matt Dumba each scored a goal. … St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko scored his 14th goal of the season. … Wild forward Eric Staal notched an assist to pick up the 800th point of his NHL career. … Capitals forward Justin Williams scored a goal. … Washington forward Evgeny Kuznetsov notched his 100th assist of his NHL career. … Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby picked up his second shutout of the season, stopping all 20 Canucks’ shots on goal. … Chicago Blackhawks forward Marian Hossa scored his 15th goal of the season in a 3-1 win over the Dallas Stars. … Blackhawks forward Artem Anisimov scored his 12th goal of the year. … Chicago goaltender Scott Darling stopped 23 of 24 shots on goal. … Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon scored the game-winner against Toronto. … Forwards Mikko Rantanen and Blake Comeau also scored for Colorado. … Jake Gardiner scored Toronto’s only goal. … New York Rangers goaltender Antti Raanta won his third straight start stopping all 19 New Jersey Devils shots on goal in a 5-0 win. Raanta has picked up two straight shutouts. … Rangers forwards Chris Kreider and Brandon Pirri each scored a goal and added an assist in the win over New Jersey. … Rangers forward Jimmy Vesey scored his 10th goal of the season. … Edmonton Oilers forward Mark Letestu scored twice in his team’s 3-2 win over the Winnipeg Jets. … Edmonton defenseman Oscar Klefbom scored his fifth goal of the season. … Jets forwards Mathieu Perreault and Chris Thorburn each scored one goal. … Flyers forward Brayden Schenn scored the game-winner in overtime.

Did you know? Raanta is the first Rangers goaltender to post a shutout in two straight team games since Mike Dunham in 2003.

Dishonorable Mention: The Senators pulled goaltender Mike Condon after he allowed three goals on 10 shots on goal in the first period. … Devils goaltender Cory Schneider allowed five goals on 31 shots on goal. … Laine fired the puck into his own net on Letestu’s second goal. This proved the game-winner. … The Canucks were shut out for the fifth time this season. This tied the Avalanche for most in the NHL.

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