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NHL Three Stars: McDavid downs Ducks; Matthews leads Leafs over Wings

josh cooper
EDMONTON, AB - APRIL 1: Connor McDavid #97 of the Edmonton Oilers skates with the puck while being pursued by Jakob Silfverberg #33 of the Anaheim Ducks on April 1, 2017 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)
Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers skates with the puck while being pursued by Jakob Silfverberg #33 of the Anaheim Ducks on April 1, 2017 at Rogers Place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. (Getty Images)

No. 1 Star: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers

McDavid continued his recent scoring tear with a goal and two assists in a 3-2 win over the Anaheim Ducks. With the victory, the Oilers took over the lead in the Pacific Division from the Ducks. Both teams have 97 points, but the Oilers have one more regulation and overtime win. Edmonton tied a franchise record set in 1985-86 with their eighth consecutive home victory. McDavid also added to his lead in the NHL scoring race, and now has 94 points – seven more than second-place Patrick Kane. McDavid has picked up at least one point in each of his last 10 games, a stretch where he has 19 total.

No. 2 Star: Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs

Matthews scored two goals and added an assist in a 5-4 win over the Detroit Red Wings. He now has 38 goals, which tied Neal Broten for most by an American-born rookie. Matthews also now has 66 points, which tied Peter Ihnacak for the Maple Leafs rookie record for most in a season. With the win, Toronto jumped ahead of the Ottawa Senators for second-place in the Atlantic Division. Both teams have 91 points, but Toronto has one more regulation and overtime win.

No. 3 Star: Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators

Rinne stopped all 31 shots on goal in 3-0 win over the Minnesota Wild. The victory was Rinne’s first since March 25th and 31st on the season. He now holds a 2.44 goal-against average and .917 save percentage to go along with three shutouts. The Predators currently hold the final Western Conference Wild Card spot with 91 points. If Nashville gets one point Sunday against the St. Louis Blues, they will make the playoffs. The Predators’ win over the Wild clinched the Central Division and home ice advantage in the Western Conference playoffs for the Chicago Blackhawks.

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Honorable Mention: Nashville forward Filip Forsberg scored his 31st goal of the season. … Predators forward Kevin Fiala and defenseman P.K. Subban each scored their 10th goals of the year. … Boston Bruins forward Patrice Bergeron scored two goals in a 5-2 win over the Florida Panthers. … Bruins forward Brad Marchand scored his 39th goal of the season. … Boston forward David Pastrnak notched two assists. … Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask stopped 24 of 26 shots on goal. … Florida forward Thomas Vanek scored a goal. … Dallas Stars goaltender Kari Lehtonen stopped all 25 shots on goal in a 3-0 win over the Carolina Hurricanes … Stars forwards Jason Spezza and Devin Shore along with defenseman John Klingberg each scored a goal. … The Philadelphia Flyers got 26 saves from Anthony Stolarz in a 3-0 shutout win over the New Jersey Devils. Michal Neuvirth started the game, but left after collapsing in the first period. The team said Neuvirth was alert but went to the hospital for observation. Neuvirth made six saves. … Flyers forward Brayden Schenn scored his 24th goal of the season. … Philadelphia forwards Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek as well as defenseman Shayne Gostisbehere each notched one assist. … Montreal Canadiens forward Phillip Danault scored a goal and added an assist in a 2-1 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning. … Habs forward Alexander Radulov scored the overtime winner. … Montreal goaltender Carey Price stopped 21 of 22 shots on goal. … Lightning forward Yanni Gourde scored his team’s only goal. … Tampa forward Jonathan Drouin and defenseman Victor Hedman each notched assists on Gourde’s goal. … Maple Leafs forwards Mitch Marner, James van Riemsdyk and William Nylander each scored one goal in their win. … Toronto forwards Nazem Kadri and Leo Komarov each notched one assist. … Detroit forward Gustav Nyquist scored his 11th goal of the season and added an assist. … Red Wings defenseman Nick Jensen also scored a goal and added an assist. … Detroit forward Henrik Zetterberg notched two assists. … Red Wings defensemen Niklas Kronwall and Mike Green each scored a goal. … Winnipeg Jets defenseman Jacob Trouba and forward Bryan Little each notched two assists in a 4-2 win over the Ottawa Senators. … Jets forward Blake Wheeler scored his 25th goal of the season and forward Nikolaj Ehlers scored his 24th. … Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 29 of 31 shots on goal. … Ottawa forward Mike Hoffman scored two goals. … Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl scored the overtime winner and added an assist. … Edmonton forward Milan Lucic sent the game to OT with the game-tying goal at the 18:02 mark of the third period. … Ducks forward Jakob Silfverberg notched two assists in the loss. … Anaheim forwards Ryan Getzlaf and Patrick Eaves each scored a goal.

Did you know? With four games left, McDavid is six points shy of the 100-point mark. If he follows 1.20 points per-game pace this season he will finish with 99.

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Dishonorable Mention: The Wild have won only three games since March. … Panthers forwards Vincent Trocheck and Jaromir Jagr along with defensemen Alex Petrovic and Keith Yandle were each a minus-3. … Hurricanes defenseman Justin Faulk was a minus-3. … Red Wings goaltender Jimmy Howard allowed five goals on 27 shots on goal.

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