NHL Three Stars: Laine nets first hat trick; Howard stands tall for Detroit
No. 1 Star: Patrik Laine, Winnipeg Jets
The Jets rookie recorded his first NHL hat trick as Winnipeg came back from a 4-0 deficit to defeat the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-4 in overtime. After chants of “Laine’s better’ echoed inside MTS Centre in the third period, Laine forced OT with a goal with 54.5 left and then potted the winner moments after Auston Matthews was denied on a breakaway.
No. 2 Star: Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings
Making his season debut, Howard was strong in net for the Wings as they edged the New York Rangers 2-1. Howard stopped 32 shots, including this flurry late in the second period:
No. 3 Star: Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets
Other than Laine, Scheifele played a big role in Winnipeg’s comeback assisting on their first two goals before cutting Toronto’s lead to 4-3 early in the third period with this great shot:
Honorable Mention: Bobby Hull, Anders Hedberg and Ulf Nilsson, better known as The Hot Line, were inducted into the franchise’s Hall of Fame:
Thomas Vanek continued his red-hot start with his third goal of the season. He now has six points through four games … Mika Zibanejad scored his second of the year for the Rangers … Nazem Kadri scored a pair for the Maple Leafs in a losing effort. His second came eight seconds after William Nylander put Toronto up 4-0:
Did You Know?
28 per cent of the skaters in tonight's Leafs-Jets game are Calder eligible.
— James Mirtle (@mirtle) October 19, 2016
Dishonorable Mention: Jesper Fast’s tying goal late in the third was waved off after a high stick … Henrik Lundqvist’s going to want a re-do on this one:
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy