NHL Three Stars: Kucherov's power play trick; Granlund OT hero for Wild
No. 1 Star: Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning
Kucherov fired home a second period hat trick as the Lightning routed the Ottawa Senators 5-1. All three goals came on the power play.
No. 2 Star: Alex Radulov, Montreal Canadiens
The Russian forward had a big night in a 4-3 overtime win over the New Jersey Devils. Radulov scored his 15th of the season and assisted on Montreal’s three other goals. Two of those goals came off the stick of Max Pacioretty, who reached the 30-goal mark for the fourth straight season. The fourth and final one came via Alex Galchenyuk, who ended the night in the extra period.
No. 3 Star: Mikael Granlund, Minnesota Wild
Granlund didn’t waste any time in helping the Wild to a 5-4 win over the Los Angeles. Just 12 seconds into overtime, he burst through the Kings’ defense to put home the winner in his 300th NHL game.
Honorable Mention: Montreal won consecutive games for the first time since the opening week of January … Ryan White had a goal and an assist in his debut with the Wild … Minnesota has now won nine games in a row following a loss … Jonathan Drouin had three assists … Andrei Vasilevskiy made 39 stops in his first start since Ben Bishop was dealt:
Did You Know?
Along with the win, Max Pacioretty became the 5th player in #Habs history with 4 consecutive 30-goal seasons.
The List pic.twitter.com/oPjsheK2oX
— Sportsnet Stats (@SNstats) February 28, 2017
Dishonorable Mention: New Jersey has dropped four in a row and two straight in overtime … Mike Condon was in net for all five Tampa goals.