Saturday's three stars: Andrei the giant for Montreal

No. 1 star: Andrei Kostitsyn, Montreal Canadiens
Andrei Kostitsyn provided all of the offense Montreal needed, and it was a good thing, too, because that's all of the offense the Canadiens would get Saturday night. Kostitsyn scored 75 seconds after the opening faceoff and again with just 1.6 seconds left in the first period. But his ninth goal of the season 2:21 into the third period broke a 2-2 tie and represented the first hat trick of his career. Kostitsyn was a plus-2 with a team-high six shots on goal during 17:15 of ice time.

No. 2 star: Rene Bourque, Calgary Flames
Speaking of first career hat tricks, we present Rene Bourque as Exhibit B. Bourque enjoyed the first three-goal game of his career to help the homestanding Calgary Flames beat the fragile Ottawa Senators and improve to 4-0-3 in their last seven games. Bourque scored a pair of even-strength goals 58 seconds apart midway through the second period, the second of which was unassisted. The offseason acquisition then capped his hat trick with an even-strength goal at 14:25 of the third period to ensure the victory and strengthen Calgary's hold on first place in the Northwest Division.

No. 3 star: Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets
The 20-year-old goalie is getting further and further entrenched in the Calder Trophy talk. Mason stopped 20 shots during a 3-0 victory over visiting Philadelphia for his third shutout already. Mason is now 10-7-1, but what really sticks out in his 1.87 goals-against average.

Honorable mention: Blake Wheeler scored two goals, Marc Savard added a pair of assists and Boston moved to 21-2-1 in its last 24 games. … Travis Zajac figured in the scoring during three of victorious New Jersey's four scores with a goal and two assists. … Martin St. Louis had three assists during a four-point night and Vincent Lecavalier scored two goals and added an assist as the Lightning won a third straight game for Rick Tocchet for the first time. … Goalie Peter Budaj had 41 saves in regulation and three more in the skills competition as Colorado improved to 7-1 in shootouts. … Los Angeles goalie Jonathan Quick made 26 saves for his second shutout in three games while Alexander Frolov scored two goals. … The Penguins wasted Sidney Crosby's goal, assist and a 15-8 edge in the faceoff circle.

Because we can't resist: The Dallas Stars are 7-3-1 since Sean Avery went bye-bye. And the New York Rangers are 22-13-3 without him this season, too.

Dishonorable mention: Let's divide equal blame to Chicagoland weather and the schedule-maker for Philly's travails this weekend. After a delayed landing forced the Flyers to miss a morning skate Friday, they were delayed getting out of Chicago because of fog and arrived mid-afternoon Saturday in Columbus where they had only a couple hours to prepare for the Blue Jackets. … Rangers' goalie Henrik Lundqvist has allowed 32 goals in his last eight games. … New Jersey went a team-record 159:18 without scoring. We're actually surprised the previous franchise mark wasn't longer.

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