NHL Three Stars: Mason grounds Hawks; Hemsky damages Flames' hopes

No. 1. Star: Steve Mason, Philadelphia Flyers

Stopped 34 of 35 Blackhawks shots on goal in a 4-1 victory. Mason improved to a 2.25 goals against average and .926 save percentage on the season. The win broke a two-game losing skid for Mason. The Flyers are nine points out of the final Eastern Conference playoff spot, and lost Wayne Simmonds for the season with a lower body injury.  

No. 2. Star: Ales Hemsky, Dallas Stars

The underachieving forward kept Dallas’ slim playoff hopes alive with two goals. The Stars are six points back of the Winnipeg Jets for the last Wild Card spot following their 4-3 shootout win over Calgary. Though the Stars are still six points back of the Los Angeles Kings.

No. 3 Star: Deryk Engelland, Calgary Flames

Scored two goals to keep the Flames one point ahead in the playoff race with the Los Angeles Kings. Unfortunately for the Flames, Los Angeles still has a game in hand.

Honorable Mention: Flyers defenseman Michael Del Zotto notched two assists as did forward Matt Read … Forward Claude Giroux scored a goal …  Colorado forward Ryan O’Reilly scored a goal and added two assists in a 4-3 loss to Edmonton … Oilers forward Derek Roy scored the game-winner midway through the third period … Colorado’s Jarome Iginla notched his 25th goal of the season …Edmonton’s Taylor Hall scored his first goal since coming back from an injury two games ago … Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau scored a goal … Dallas center Tyler Seguin notched two assists.

Did You Know?: The Flyers recorded their 11th straight home regular season win over Chicago, dating back to 1998.

Dishonorable Mention: The Blackhawks have scored five goals in their last four games … Chicago goaltender Corey Crawford stopped 29 of 33 Philadelphia shots on goal … Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov was yanked after allowing three goals on seven Edmonton shots on goal ..

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