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NHL Three Stars: Phil thrills in OT; 1,000 games for Chimera

Getty Images
Getty Images

No. 1 Star: Phil Kessel, Pittsburgh Penguins

Playing in his 800th NHL game, Phil the Thrill was the hero Friday night as he scored twice in a 4-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. Kessel’s second of the night came in overtime as the Penguins prevented Columbus from completing a comeback after being down 3-1 in the third period.

No. 2 Star: Jonathan Huberdeau, Florida Panthers

Making his season debut, Huberdeau scored the game’s winning goal late in the second period to help the Panthers beat the Anaheim Ducks 2-1. Huberdeau’s goal was set up by Aleksander Barkov, who returned to the Panthers’ lineup after missing a month with a back injury. James Reimer made 22 stops days after his wife gave birth to the couple’s first child.

No. 3 Star: Mikael Backlund, Calgary Flames

Calgary blew a 2-0 lead but forced overtime with a third period goal. That set up Backlund to score his 15th of the season and give the Flames a 4-3 win over the New Jersey Devils. T.J. Brodie assisted on all four Calgary goals.

Honorable Mention: Cam Atkinson picked up his 25th goal for the Blue Jackets … Patric Hornqvist scored and now has five goals in his last five games … Sebastien Aho’s goal 1:48 into the third period snapped a 1-1 tie and helped the Carolina Hurricanes edge the Edmonton Oilers 2-1. The goal was Aho’s 16th of the year and fourth in his last two games.

Connor McDavid recorded his 60th point of the year with a goal that came moments after he replaced a broken stick … Jason Chimera scored his 11th of the year as he played in game No. 1,000 … Danny DeKeyser’s shot with 27.9 seconds to go deflected off Nick Leddy and Thomas Hickey and beat Thomas Greiss to give the Detroit Red Wings a 5-4 win over the New York Islanders. Anthony Mantha and Henrik Zetterberg each had a goal and an assist, while Tomas Tatar picked up two helpers.

Did You Know? The Penguins win gave Ethel Lewis a great 100th birthday present.

Dishonorable Mention: Doug Weight suffered his first loss in regulation since replacing Jack Capuano on an interim basis as Islanders head coach … Sami Vatanen and Frans Nielsen exited games tonight with injury … Matthew Benning left the game in the first period after this collision with Viktor Stalberg:

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