No. 1 star, Olli Jokinen, Calgary Flames:
It was quite the debut for Olli Jokinen, a day earlier sent to Calgary from Phoenix. Jokinen scored two goals and led his new team to a 5-1 victory in Philadelphia. The veteran center, looking to appear in the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time in his career, struck quickly with even-strength goals at 9:41 and 15:53 of the opening period to give the visitors a 3-0 lead. Jokinen centered wingers Jarome Iginla and Michael Cammalleri, a top line that accounted for seven points. Jokinen was a plus-2 with five shots and won eight of 12 draws during 20:44 of ice time.
No. 2 star, Michal Handzus, Los Angeles Kings:
What a game the big forward had for the Kings, who rallied from a 3-0 deficit at home to win 5-4 in overtime against Dallas. Michal Handzus scored his third goal of the night 1:31 into sudden death. Handzus scored on the power play at 15:41 of the second and again with the man advantage at 16:42 of the third as Los Angeles scored twice in the final four minutes of regulation to tie the game. With six shots on goal and 22:38 of ice time, Handzus completely dominated in the faceoff circle with 19 wins and only three losses.
No. 3 star, Martin Gerber, Toronto Maple Leafs:
The 34-year-old goaltender capped a whirlwind 24 hours by stopping 37 shots in leading his new team to a 2-1 victory in Washington. Gerber started Wednesday in the minors with Binghamton, the AHL affiliate of the Ottawa Senators. By the end of the day, he was a member of the Maple Leafs, who claimed the exposed Gerber off waivers. He was within 40 seconds of a shutout in his triumphant return when Alexander Semin scored an extra-attacker goal for the Southeast Division-leading Capitals. Gerber figures to get his share of work the last quarter of the season as Toronto's starter Vesa Toskala is out for the season with a hip injury.
Honorable mention: Mikko Koivu's second goal of the game with 13.3 seconds left in overtime enabled the Wild to rally from a 3-0 deficit on the road to salvage the last of a four-game trip. … Nikolai Zherdev and Chris Drury scored a goal and added an assist apiece as the new-look Rangers beat an Islanders' team that included four fresh minor-league call-ups. … Jason Spezza set a club record by scoring 12 seconds into a game and added four more shots on goal in Ottawa's win. … Tyler Kennedy scored two goals and had five shots as the Penguins improved to 7-1-1 under Dan Byslma. … Steve Sullivan broke a tie with a breakaway goal late in the second period as Nashville won a sixth straight.
Did you know?: Mark Recchi is the fourth player to appear in a Bruins' uniform with at least 500 goals on his resume (535). The others are Phil Esposito (717), Dave Andreychuk (640) and Johnny Bucyk (556).
Dishonorable mention: The Devils have got to love the looks of this: Washington has lost the first three games of a four-game homestand – outscored 13-5 in the process – and Boston dropped its ninth in 12 overall. … Daniel Briere continued his fragile regular-season ways as a member of the Flyers. He went down with a lower-body injury on Thursday after having already missed 51 games this season. … The backhand dump-in from center ice by Marek Zidlicky bounced three times and right between the legs of Sharks goalie Brian Boucher, pressed into regular duty as Evgeni Nabokov missed his fourth straight. San Jose lost a game when leading by three goals at home for the first time since Oct. 12, 1996.
