3 Stars of the Night: May 10

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It’s the most, wonderful time, of the yearrrrrrrr! Who doesn’t love playoff hockey right? This is what we wait all season for, this is why most of us became fans of the game, as the postseason captivates us year after year after year. My personal favorite part is the dying minutes of a one-goal game when everything is a scramble, bodies are diving everywhere, pucks are zipping around the zone and the intensity is as high as can be. Until we get to overtime that is, when it become full-on, tighten your butt cheeks, gasp and cringe with every shot end-to-end action (WITH NO COMMERCIALS!!).

Who will hoist the 2016 Stanley Cup?

http://gty.im/88519335

With the team I cover out of the playoffs (again), I relish the opportunity to write a little out of character and enjoy the playoffs as a fan of the game, and pick my three stars of each night like our friends over at Yahoo!/Puck Daddy blog do throughout the season. You can find player standings at the bottom of each post with three points for being the no. 1 star, two for no. 2 and one for no. 3 and on some nights we’ll have an honorable mention.

May 10, 2016

#3) Carl Hagelin, Pittsburgh: goal, 2 assists

Once a key cog in a highly successful team in New York, now Hagelin is a key cog on a highly successful team in Pittsburgh – and he seems to have hit another level that he wasn’t even at with the Rangers. The Pens are using him in all situations and it’s paying off as he had seven points in the six-game series victory over the NHL’s best regular season team. In Game 6 he scored on a deft deflection in front of the net on a power play and chipped in two assists – including on the overtime winner. He had a game-high eight shots on goal and two takeaways.

#2) Nick Bonino, Pittsburgh: GWG

The center piece of the HBK line netted the series-clinching goal to avert certain disaster had the Penguins fully blown the 3-0 lead and lost the game. It was his third career playoff overtime goal, and he now has ten points through Pittsburgh’s first 11 playoff games. The whole line had another great, dominate game, outplaying whomever they were matched against and Bonino was johnny on the spot in the extra session.

#1) Phil Kessel, Pittsburgh 2 goals, assist

Kessel was dominant in Game 6 from start to finish and nearly had a hat trick if he hadn’t rang one of his shots of the crossbar. But three points isn’t bad either in a series-clinching win, especially when the assist came on the game-winning goal 6:32 into overtime. this whole line has been brilliant, not just against the Caps, but the entire playoffs. But against the Caps Sidney Crosby had two points (assists) in six games or one less point than Kessel had in Game 6.

Honorable mention) Jay Beagle, Washington:

This save. That is all. It had to be mentioned.

3-Stars Standings:

Brian Elliott (StL): 9

Joe Pavelski (SJ): 8

Braden Holtby (Wash): 8

Nikita Kucherov (TB): 7

Victor Hedman (TB): 6

Michal Neuvirth (Phil): 5

John Tavares (NYI): 5

Pekka Rinne (Nash): 5

Tyler Johnson (TB): 5

Matt Murray (Pitt): 5

Patric Hornqvist (Pitt): 5

Ben Bishop (TB): 5

Alex Ovechkin (Wash): 4

Nick Bonino (Pitt): 4

Thomas Hickey (NYI): 3

Antti Niemi (Dall): 3

Evgeni Malkin (Pitt): 3

Artemi Panarin (Chi): 3

Troy Brouwer (StL): 3

TJ Oshie (Wash): 3

Radek Faksa (Dall): 3

Kris Letang (Pitt): 3

David Backes (StL): 3

Mike Fisher (Nash): 3

Kari Lehtonen (Dall): 3

Carl Hagelin (Pitt): 3

Phil Kessel (Pitt): 3