Top 10 NHL Performances from November 22-28.
10. Jose Theodore, Washington Capitals
The Quebec native stopped all 28 shots he faced Friday to pace the Washington Capitals to a 3-0 triumph over his former team, the Montreal Canadiens. Theodore turned aside six shots in the first, 13 in the second and nine in the third en route to his first shutout of the season and 27th career.
9. Cal Clutterbuck, Minnesota Wild
The 21-year-old rookie scored his first two goals of the season to lead the Wild to a 4-3 victory over the Capitals on Monday. Clutterbuck made the most of his 10 minutes of ice time and two shots on goal by burying a wrister past Theodore in the first period and adding a power-play tally in the second.
8. Markus Naslund, New York Rangers
The Swede scored twice in regulation and added a tally in the first round of a shootout as the Rangers skated to a 3-2 triumph over the Tampa Bay Lightning on Wednesday. Naslund recorded a pair of goals in the second period after receiving feeds from defenseman Michal Rozsival to give the Rangers the advantage, and then the 35-year-old beat Mike Smith in the shootout to seal the win.
7. Chris Mason, St. Louis Blues
The Alberta native made a career-high 47 saves and stopped both attempts during the shootout to lead the Blues to a 1-0 victory over the Nashville Predators on Tuesday. Mason recorded 15 saves in the first period, 12 in the second, 11 in the third and nine in overtime to record his first shutout of the season and 13th career. The 32-year-old then stopped Rich Peverley and Ville Koistinen in the bonus format.
6. Shea Weber, Nashville Predators
The defenseman recorded two goals and an assist as the Predators scored three times in the second period and cruised to a 5-2 triumph over the Carolina Hurricanes on Sunday. After scoring midway through the second, he set up captain Jason Arnotts tally with 5:48 remaining in the session. Weber then capped the scoring with 7:18 remaining in the third for his 10th goal and second two-goal performance in seven games. The 23-year-old tallied twice in a 7-6 loss to the Calgary Flames on November 6.
5. Rob Blake and Dan Boyle, San Jose Sharks
Blake notched four assists and fellow defenseman Boyle set up three tallies as the Sharks continued their dominance at home with a 7-2 thrashing of the Capitals last Saturday. The two teamed up to assist on one of Ryane Clowes goals, while Blake set up Clowe again as well as Marc-Edouard Vlasic and Mike Grier. For his part, Boyle assisted captain Patrick Marleau and Joe Thornton on their tallies in the rout.
4. Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins
The Russian star tallied twice in 50 seconds and capped the hat trick with an empty-net goal as the Penguins scored five unanswered goals en route to a 5-3 victory over the New York Islanders on Wednesday. After tying the game at 11:03 of the third period, Malkin accepted a feed from captain Sidney Crosby and gave the Penguins the lead for good just 50 ticks later.
3. Michael Cammalleri, Calgary Flames
The 26-year-old recorded a goal in all three periods to notch his first career hat trick as the Flames edged the Vancouver Canucks, 4-3, on Friday. After posting 11 two-goal games in his career, Cammalleri accepted a feed from captain Jarome Iginla and beat Curtis Sanford to give the Flames a 3-2 lead just 78 seconds into the third period to finish the hat trick.
2. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals
The defending Hart Trophy winner recorded a hat trick and had an assist as the Capitals snapped a three-game losing streak with a 5-3 victory over the Atlanta Thrashers on Wednesday. The Russian star scored twice on the power play in the first period and capped the hat trick just 54 seconds into the second period. He also set up a goal by Viktor Kozlov 80 seconds into the third period.
1. Dainius Zubrus, New Jersey Devils
The 30-year-old Russian scored four goals as the Devils recorded the first five tallies of the game en route to a 7-3 triumph over the Lightning on Sunday. Entering the contest with just two goals on the season, Zubrus scored twice in both the second and third periods to become the first Devils player to record four tallies in a game since October 29, 2000. John Madden and Randy McKay both accomplished the feat in a 9-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins. I had chances, Zubrus said. Since Ive played with Brian Gionta and Patrik Elias, Ive had more chances than I had before. They just started going in.