Wednesday’s Three Stars: Chimera helps Caps; Niemi stops Hawks

November 24, 2011   ·   0 Comments

Wednesday’s Three Stars: Chimera helps Caps; Niemi stops Hawks

No. 1 Star: Jason Chimera, Washington Capitals

Chimera scored twice in the Capitals 4-3 overtime winner over the Jets, with the second of those two goals being the overtime winner. The big winger scored only 10 goals last season, but he’s got a team-high 8 through his first 20 games.

No. 2 Star: Antti Niemi, San Jose Sharks

Jason Demers scored 17:08 into the second period, and Niemi was brilliant before and after, making sure that was all the Sharks would need in a 1-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks. The Finnish netminder made 32 saves for the shutout.

No. 3 Star: Kyle Okposo, New York Islanders

It had been over 142 minutes since the New York Islanders had scored a goal, and even longer for the goalless Okposo, but he put his name all over the scoresheet versus the Philadelphia Flyers. The right winger scored twice and added an assist, all in the first period. The Islanders would be unable to hold the lead, however, falling 4-3 for their 13th loss in their last 16 games.

Honourable mention: Alex Pietrangelo scored the overtime winner in the St. Louis Blues 3-2 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins… Jason Garrison scored his 8th goal of the season (he is gonna get so paid this summer) as the Florida Panthers knocked off the New York Rangers 2-1… Danny Briere scored twice in the Flyers’ win… Tyler Seguin had a goal and an assist in the Boston Bruins 4-3 shootout victory over the Buffalo Sabres. Benoit Pouliot scored the shootout winner… Steve Ott scored the overtime winner in the Dallas Stars‘ 3-2 win over the Los Angeles Kings. Check out the hit Mike Ribeiro takes to start this play…

Tomas Holmstrom scored twice, Ian White added a goal and an assist, and Pavel Datsyuk had two helpers and the game-winner as the Wings knocked off the Flames, 5-3… Cory Schneider made 24 saves for his second career shutout as the Canucks’ topped the Colorado Avalanche 3-0. His best saves came during this goalmouth scramble:

Radim Vrbata scored twice and Oliver Ekman-Larsson and Keith Yandle added a goal and an assist as the Phoenix Coyotes doubled up on the Anaheim Ducks, 4-2… The Minnesota Wild won their 5th straight, beating the Nashville Predators, 3-2. Cal Clutterbuck’s game-winner came shorthanded… Lars Eller had a shorthanded goal and an assist in the Montreal Canadiens 4-3 win over the Carolina Hurricanes… Martin Brodeur made 35 saves in the New Jersey Devils 2-1 shootout victory over the Columbus Blue Jackets… Antti Niemi made 32 saves for the shutout as the San Jose Sharks eked out a 1-0 win over the Chicago Blackhawks.

Did you know? Vancouver’s victory was the 247th for which Alain Vigneault has been behind the bench, making him the all-time winningest coach in Canucks’ history.

Dishonourable mention: No points and 6 penalty minutes for Sidney Crosby in his second game. What a failure… Ilya Bryzgalov allowed three goals on nine shots before getting pulled in the first period versus the Islanders… Full-scale collapse for the Kings, who led 2-0 going into the third period versus the Stars, only to give up a goal two and a half minutes into the period, another with half a minute to go in the game, and the overtime winner shortly thereafter.

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