Friday’s Three Stars: Sens, Pens blank; rough night for Florida

No. 1 Star: Craig Anderson(notes), Ottawa Senators

Anderson stopped 31 shots, including 12 in the third period, as the Senators upset the Ovechkin-less Washington Capitals, 2-0, who had won 11 of their last 12. It's his second shutout of the season and with the Senators. He has now allowed one goal or less in 9 of the 13 games he's played with Ottawa.

No. 2 Star: Drew Stafford(notes), Buffalo Sabres

Stafford was clutch for the Sabres in their 4-2 victory over the Florida Panthers. He broke a 1-1 tie in the second period by finishing off a nice passing play with Brad Boyes(notes) and Tyler Ennis(notes). In the third, he put the game away by scoring 13 seconds after he assisted on teammate Jordan Leopold's(notes) power-play goal. It was Stafford's fifth multi-goal game in 2011.

No. 3 Star: Marc-Andre Fleury(notes), Pittsburgh Penguins

The King of March 25 struck again. Fleury made 21 saves and pitched his fourth shutout in five seasons on that date, blanking the New Jersey Devils, 1-0, in the shootout. James Neal(notes) had the lone goal in the skills competition. The Penguins goalie faced one shot in a first period that saw his team put just three shots on Marty Brodeur (26 saves).

Honorable mention: Huge win for the Carolina Hurricanes to keep pace for the playoffs, topping the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-3. Erik Cole(notes) had two goals and Eric Staal(notes) scored a power-play goal and added an assist. Simon Gagne(notes) scored two power-play goals for the Bolts, who saw Dwayne Roloson(notes) peppered with 39 shots. … Roberto Luongo(notes) made 30 saves, including 12 in the third, as the Vancouver Canucks defeated the Atlanta Thrashers, 3-1. Mason Raymond(notes), Alex Bolduc and Alex Burrows had the goals. Bryan Little(notes) scored unassisted for the Thrash. … Colin Greening(notes) scored a goal that went to the review booth and Erik Condra(notes) had the other tally for the Sens. … Sergei Samsonov's(notes) goal gave him 10 points in 13 games since being acquired by the Panthers.

Did you know? Samsonov's goal 4:01 into the game ended the Panthers' scoring drought at 135:35. (AP)

Dishonorable mention: Close call for David Booth(notes) tonight. The Panthers forward took a puck to the throat with 2:31 left in the first period, and was taken to the hospital for precautionary reasons. He was cleared and accompanied the team to Pittsburgh. … The Panthers were eliminated from the playoff race, and will be out of the money for an NHL record 10th consecutive season. Ouch. … "I don't know how Buffalo played, but if they win I think we're done," said Ilya Kovalchuk(notes) after the Devils' loss. And so it was. … Steve Downie(notes) had a 10-minute misconduct for the Lightning. … Finally, Zack Smith(notes) was given 5 for fighting, 2 for instigating and a misconduct for this fight with Matt Bradley(notes). The Caps forward got 2 for boarding and 5 for the fight.

Related: Dwayne Roloson, Colin Greening, Erik Condra, Tyler Ennis, Mason Raymond, David Booth, Eric Staal, Drew Stafford, Steve Downie, James Neal, Marc-Andre Fleury, Ilya Kovalchuk, Sergei Samsonov, Roberto Luongo, Simon Gagne, Jordan Leopold, Matt Bradley, Erik Cole, Brad Boyes, Craig Anderson, Atlanta Thrashers, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Florida Panthers, New Jersey Devils, Ottawa Senators, Pittsburgh Penguins, Tampa Bay Lightning, Vancouver Canucks, Washington Capitals

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Friday's Three Stars: Bert nets pair; Canes retire Brind'Amour's 17

No. 1 Star: Todd Bertuzzi(notes), Detroit Red Wings

Three minutes after Stephen Weiss(notes) brought the Florida Panthers back from a 3-1 deficit in the third period, Bertuzzi took the lead back for Detroit en route to a 4-3 win. It was the third time in four games that Bertuzzi finished with two goals. Joey MacDonald(notes) made 29 saves and Pavel Datsyuk(notes) scored his ninth goal in 14 games.

No. 2 Star: Kyle Brodziak(notes), Minnesota Wild

After scoring just twice in their previous two games, the Wild broke out with a five-goal night during a 5-1 win over the Anaheim Ducks. Brodziak led the way with a goal and two assists, while Niklas Backstrom(notes) stopped 29 shots for his third win in four starts. 

No. 3 Star: Ty Conklin(notes), St. Louis Blues

Filling in while Jaroslav Halak(notes) heals on the IR, Conklin notched his 16th career shutout with a 25-save performance during a 3-0 win over the Buffalo Sabres. T.J. Oshie(notes) and and David Backes(notes) scored in the second period as the Blues won just hours after their captain Eric Brewer(notes) was dealt to Tampa Bay.

Honorable mention: Corey Perry(notes) extended his point streak to seven games with his 30th goal of the year ... Brad Marchand(notes) scored his 17th and 18th goals of the season and Tuukka Rask(notes) made 32 stops as the Boston Bruins won 4-2 over the Ottawa Senators. Making his Bruins debut, Tomas Kaberle(notes) finished a minus-1 with 19:34 of ice time ... All the New Jersey Devils needed was one goal and 16 saves from Johan Hedberg(notes) to shutout the New York Rangers 1-0 for their sixth straight victory. New Jersey is now 8-0-1 in their past nine games. The lone tally came from the red-hot Ilya Kovalchuk(notes), who scored in his fourth straight game to extend his point streak to nine games:

On the night they raised Rod Brind'Amour's(notes) No. 17 to the rafters at RBC Center, Erik Cole(notes) provided some late dramatics as the Carolina Hurricanes slipped past the Philadelphia Flyers 3-2. Cole's winner with 3:03 left in the game came just a little over two minutes after Braydon Coburn(notes) had tied things at two. A pre-game ceremony honored Brind'Amour, with both teams wearing jerseys with his name and number on them during warmups:

Steve Mason's(notes) 37 saves and Columbus' success on the power play (2-for-4) buoyed them past the Chicago Blackhawks 4-3 to improve to 6-1-1 in their last eight games. Matt Calvert(notes) recorded two points and opened the scoring with this pretty individual effort:

Did you know? Detroit is now 22-0-2 when leading after two periods. (AP)

Dishonorable mention: The Ducks saw their six-game road winning streak come to an end ... The Rangers saw their own four-game road win streak end as well ... Ryan Miller(notes) lost his third straight start.

Related: Rod Brind'Amour, Brad Marchand, Steve Mason, Niklas Backstrom, David Backes, T.J. Oshie, Tuukka Rask, Jaroslav Halak, Kyle Brodziak, Corey Perry, Joey MacDonald, Braydon Coburn, Stephen Weiss, Ilya Kovalchuk, Ty Conklin, Pavel Datsyuk, Johan Hedberg, Ryan Miller, Erik Cole, Eric Brewer, Tomas Kaberle, Todd Bertuzzi, Anaheim Ducks, Boston Bruins, Buffalo Sabres, Carolina Hurricanes, Chicago Blackhawks, Detroit Red Wings, Florida Panthers, Minnesota Wild, New Jersey Devils, New York Rangers, Ottawa Senators, Philadelphia Flyers, St. Louis Blues, 3 Stars, Puck Videos

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