No. 1 star: Brooks Orpik, Pittsburgh Penguins
He may not be a frequent visitor to this spot, but the veteran defenseman went beyond his comfort zone Tuesday night and accomplished a career first during Pittsburgh's 3-2 overtime win against intrastate rival Philadelphia. In his previous 300 career games, the San Francisco native never had paired a goal and assist in the same game, but the defensive-minded Orpik got a little offensive against the Flyers by scoring a goal – the team's first of the night at 14:12 of the first period on a power play, no less – and provided the primary assist on Pascal Dupuis' game-winner with just more than 10 seconds remaining in sudden death. In addition to his first one-goal, one-assist contest, Orpik blocked three shots and delivered four hits during a team-high 25:07 of ice time.
No. 2 star: Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
The team captain scored his first two goals of the season, one at even strength and another shorthanded, to lead San Jose to its first 4-0 start in franchise history. Marleau broke a 2-2 tie at 9:29 of the second period by picking up the rebound of his own shot, dipsy-doodling around Columbus goalie Pascal Leclaire and depositing the puck into an empty net. Marleau's second goal came at 5:19 of the third period as San Jose's second shortie of the game – and third in four games – gave the hosts some breathing room. Marleau put a team-high five shots on goal and logged a forward-leading 23 minutes of ice time.
No. 3 star: Antti Miettinen, Minnesota Wild
The 28-year-old Finnish winger, a newcomer to the Minnesota from Dallas, scored two third-period goals after assisting on the Wild's first goal of the game as the visitors rolled into Atlanta and rolled out with a 4-2 victory. Miettinen, with three goals in the early going, put three shots on net during his 19:10 of ice time.
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Honorable mention: Rugged winger Todd Bertuzzi scored two goals and collected four shots on goal during 20:47 of ice time in the Flames' win. … Center Jarret Stoll and defenseman Tom Preissing had a goal and assist each as Los Angeles broke into the win column at the expense of winless Anaheim. … Philadelphia's Simon Gagne has a goal in each of the Flyers' first three games, his first three-game goal-scoring streak since April 5-8, 2007. … Minnesota defenseman Brent Burns assisted on a goal and put three shots on net during a game-high 29:03 of ice time. … Wild center Mikko Koivu had two assists and won 14 of 21 draws during 22:09 of ice time.
Dishonorable mention: The Anaheim Ducks are 0-3, losing to three different Pacific Division rivals – San Jose, Phoenix and Los Angeles. … Colorado goalie Peter Budaj has surrendered 13 goals on 69 shots. An .812 save percentage is not going to cut it. … The Penguins blew a 2-0 lead in the span of 21 seconds late in the second period. … The Flyers already trail the first-place Rangers by nine points.
