No. 1 star: Ty Conklin, Detroit Red Wings
In Detroit's first game in Pittsburgh since the Stanley Cup Finals, two former Penguins haunted the home team. Marian Hossa, heckled mercilessly by the Pittsburgh faithful, scored his 30th goal of the season on a great individual effort in the third period to give the Wings a two-goal lead. But Conklin gets the nod here for making every stop he needed to make in a 25-save effort, combining with a stout defense to lead the Wings to a 3-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. It was ConkBlock's sixth shutout of the season, as he won both starts on the weekend to put the pressure on net-mate Chris Osgood for the starting job.
No. 2 star: Mikko Koivu, Minnesota Wild
Koivu's slick pass in the third period set up Antti Miettinen's shorthanded goal to give the Wild a lead, but the Edmonton Oilers would tie the game on a Sam Gagner goal about 10 minutes later. The teams went into the fourth round of the overtime shootout; that's when Koivu confidently beat Dwayne Roloson for the winner, giving the Wild a critical extra point in the Western Conference playoff race with a 3-2 shootout victory.
No. 3 star: Jeff Carter, Philadelphia Flyers
With Thomas Vanek out of commission for at least three weeks, it could become a two-man race for the NHL's lead in goals scored. Carter now has 34 goals on the season after scoring a pair in the Flyers' 3-2 win at the Atlanta Thrashers. He used his speed to get behind the defense for the game's first tally, and then rifled a Scott Hartnell pass for what would be the winner in the third.
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Honorable Mention: Marty Turco was brilliant in making 25 saves, improving to 9-2-2 in his last 13 games as the Dallas Stars defeated the Nashville Predators, 4-1. Brad Richards had a power-play goal and a shorthanded assist. Jason Arnott scored his 20th in a losing effort. ... Pavel Datsyuk had two goals in the Detroit victory. ... Antero Niittymaki (29 saves) got the start and the win for the Flyers. ... Ilya Kovalchuk scored his 22nd in a losing effort.
Dishonorable Mention: Dan Ellis' 18-save performance was not the way to win a goaltending job in Nashville. ... Finally, there was enough blame to go around for the Pittsburgh Penguins' national television stinker against the Detroit. But spotlight on Miro Satan, who played just 9:37 and appears to be taking up residence in Michel Therrien's doghouse.
