No. 1 star: Roberto Luongo, Vancouver Canucks
Will anyone score off the Canucks' captain again? Well, certainly someone will, but when Roberto Luongo next gives up a goal it will have been a long time between needing to fish the puck out of the net. Luongo ran his current shutout streak to 201 minutes, 8 seconds with a 2-0 victory over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday night, the veteran netminder's third straight whitewash. Luongo stopped all 29 shots he faced against Minnesota. He had 28 saves in a 1-0 win over Phoenix on Thursday and 28 stops in a 4-0 triumph over Nashville on Tuesday. Luongo has four shutouts in six games and a league-high five blankings for the season. Luongo now has his sights set on the franchise record of 212:12 without allowing a goal. That could fall Wednesday when Colorado visits Vancouver.
No. 2 star: Steve Mason, Columbus Blue Jackets
The 22-year-old rookie has lit a fire under the Blue Jackets. Mason registered 22 saves to remain unbeaten in three career starts as Columbus has won three straight games, all against Canadian-based opponents – Edmonton, Montreal and Calgary since Wednesday with Mason in goal. The only goal Mason surrendered was a power-play tally by Flames captain Jarome Iginla. Mason helped to kill Calgary's other five power plays.
No. 3 star: Brent Johnson, Washington Capitals
The veteran backup has made the most of three straight starts in favor of the ineffective Jose Theodore. Johnson stopped 28 of 29 shots Saturday night as Washington turned back the New York Rangers 3-1 to remain unbeaten in regulation at home (5-0-1). Johnson only allowed a power-play goal. His key stop came at 9:25 of the third period when he stoned Rangers captain Chris Drury's attempt to tie the game on a penalty shot. Johnson, 3-0-2 on the season, has turned aside all but five of 107 shots since stepping in for Theodore.
Honorable mention: Daniel Briere returned ahead of schedule, just two weeks after undergoing surgery to repair an abdominal muscle, and skated just six seconds short of 19 minutes for the Flyers on Saturday night. … Boston's Milan Lucic recorded eight hits against Buffalo. … Pittsburgh defenseman Hal Gill appeared in his 800th career game. … Toronto has outshot its opponents in 11 straight games. … Detroit goalie Chris Osgood tied Tom Barrasso for 14th all-time in wins with his 369th. … Darcy Tucker's game-winner for Colorado was his 200th career goal. … Brian Boucher's shutout streak ends at 163:41 to start the season for San Jose. … Two more goals for Marian Hossa in Detroit. … Manny Fernandez stopped 32 of 33 shots for Boston. … Not to be forgotten in the goaltending exploits from Saturday night is Peter Budaj's 26 saves for his first shutout since March 6, 2007.
Dishonorable mention: It was a rough night for the Rangers' Brandon Dubinsky in the faceoff circle as he lost 12 of 13 draws. … The Islanders were outshot 18-1 in the third period by visiting Pittsburgh, who were not aided by any power plays. … Washington's Alexander Ovechkin is without a goal in nine straight games (six assists in that span). … The Flyers are 2-4-1 at home. … With just one win on the road this year and none ever in their postseason history, the Predators are halfway done with a six-game road trip and are 0-3.
