Friday's three stars: Hiller ties record in Ducks' win over Oilers

No. 1 star: Jonas Hiller, Anaheim Ducks

Hiller was brilliant tonight, especially in a 19-save third period, as the Ducks defeated the Edmonton Oilers 3-2 in the shootout. The Ducks goalie tied a franchise record with 51 saves on the night, and that doesn't include three he made in the skills competition. Corey Perry had a power-play goal for the Ducks and scored the lone goal in the shootout.

No. 2 star: Patrik Elias, New Jersey Devils

The Devils forward had four points, including three on the power play, in New Jersey's 5-1 win over the visiting Ottawa Senators. His two goals came with the man advantage, and one of them was a back-breaker at 19:06 of the second period to make it 3-1 Devils. He's been a bit under the radar, but Elias is having his best offensive season since 2003-04. 

No. 3 star: Ryan Miller, Buffalo Sabres

The Los Angeles Kings skated into Buffalo and outshot the Sabres in every period. But Miller denied them every time, making 40 saves for his third shutout of the season in Buffalo's 5-0 victory. He had all the motivation he needed after giving up five goals to the Devils in his previous start: "You kind of get to the point where you're mad enough at yourself and you're confident enough in your game where you can go out and play."

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Honorable Mention: Jonathan Toews schooled Dion Phaneuf going to the net to set up Duncan Keith for the game-winning goal just 23 seconds into overtime, as the Chicago Blackhawks -- thanks to 32 saves from Nikolai Khabibulin -- skated out of Calgary with a 3-2 win over the Flames. ... New York Islanders defenseman Brendan Witt said the other day that his team has defensive problems. Like, for example, giving up three unanswered goals in the third period to lose to the Minnesota Wild 4-1 Friday. Minnesota had a season-high 39 shots. Colton Gillies scored his first NHL goal against his third cousin Clark's old team. ...

Dishonorable Mention: The Islanders had a season-low 16 shots against the Wild, while they've given up 39 goals over eight games in December. ... Getting 13,242 fans on snowy/sleety Friday night is by no means honorable for the Devils, but it is when compared to the pathetic announced crowd of 9,889 for Jason Kidd's return against the Nets at the Devils' former home in the Meadowlands. ... Finally, a nasty moment from the Ducks' win over Edmonton, as Teemu Selanne received a cut on his thigh from his own skate after a hit by Denis Grebeshkov. Selanne didn't return.

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