Marchand, Crosby, Elliott named NHL's 3 stars of the week

No surprise here, but Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand was named the NHL's first star of the week after registering five goals and four assists in three games, including his second-career hat trick in a marvelous performance against the Canucks. The 28-year-old's surge has propelled him into second place in the league's goal scoring (37) and points races (79).

The only player with more goals than Marchand, Sidney Crosby, received second star honors after netting eight points in four games, highlighted by a natural hat trick Sunday versus the Panthers to hit the 40-goal mark for the second time in his career.

Lastly, red-hot Calgary Flames netminder Brian Elliott was designated as the third star after going 3-0-0 with a sparkling 1.95 goals against average and .926 save percentage. Elliott has won 11 consecutive starts, matching Flames icon Mike Vernon for the longest such run in franchise history.