NHL Three Stars: Ovechkin, Luongo with record setting nights

No. 1 Star: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals

With his one goal, two assist game against the Montreal Canadiens, Ovi tied Maurice ‘Rocket’ Richard at 544 career goals (29th overall) in front of the Bell Centre crowd. His three points brought him within one point of reaching 1,000 in his career.

No. 2 Star: Roberto Luongo, Florida Panthers

Luongo earned the 73rd shutout of his career in the Panthers 3-0 defeat of the New Jersey Devils. The win is No. 448 for Bobby Lu, which places him in sole possession for fifth place all-time in wins after passing Terry Sawchuk.

No. 3 Star: Connor Hellebuyck, Winnipeg Jets

The netminder picked up his third shutout of the season (fifth of his career) with a 28 save performance against the always dangerous Calgary Flames. Hellebuyck improves his record to 16-13-1 on the year.

Honorable Mention: Braden Holtby allowed one goal on 23 shots. Carey Price faced 39 shots against making 35 saves. Each player on the Washington roster registered a shot on goal Nicklas Backstrom and Evgeny Kuznetsov earned a goal and assist each against the Canadiens. Kuznetov’s goal is a nominee for goal of the year:

… Vincent Trocheck and Jussi Jokinen recorded 2 points each for Florida … Nicolaj Ehlers assisted on Dustin Byfuglien’s game opening goal for his 37th point of the season, tying him with Patrik Laine and Mark Scheifele for first on the Jets:

… Patrick Sharp (1 G, 2A), Radek Faksa (3A) led the Stars in scoring. Tyler Seguin assisted on Jiri Hudler’s game winning goal as part of the two teams six goal third period.

Did You Know? Anze Kopitar’s goal against the Dallas Stars advances him past Wayne Gretzky on the Los Angeles Kings all-time goal scoring list at 247.

Dishonorable Mention: Despite getting the win, the Panthers power play was 1-for-6 against New Jersey. Their lone power play goal came during a five minute major penalty to Pavel Zacha for a check on Denis Malgin. Malgin did not return to the game … T.J. Oshie missed the game with an upper body injury … As expected, Patrik Laine did not play due to a concussion … The game between Stars and Kings stared as Peter Budaj versus Kari Lehtonen; it ended with Jeff Zatkoff versus Antti Niemi. There were five goals in 5:28 between the two teams, so that had a lot to do with the goalie changes. For whatever stock you put into the stat, Jake Muzzin was a minus-4 and Alec Martinez was a minus-5. The Stars were without Jamie Benn due to a lower body injury.

– – – – – – –

Jen Neale is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow her on Twitter! Follow @MsJenNeale_PD.