Maine's Spencer Abbott, Jack Connolly of Minnesota-Duluth and Colgate's Austin Smith are the finalists for this year's Hobey Baker award. The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation identified the three seniors Thursday from a list of 10 candidates for the award honoring college hockey's best player. Abbott leads the nation in scoring and assists, with 21 goals and 41 assists. He has signed with the Maple Leafs.

Penguins center Evgeni Malkin has once again been named as the First Star for the past week's games. Joining Malkin, who currently leads the race for the Art Ross Trophy, is Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller, who was awarded Second Star, and Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin, the Third Star. Malkin had 5 goals in four games this past week to give him 46 for the season, second only to Steven Stamkos in the Rocket Richard Trophy race. He had 9 points total, increasing his season output to 97, which is 10 ahead of Stamkos and 11 in front of Claude Giroux.

Flyers goalie Ilya Bryzgalov was the hottest player in the League last week, earning First Star of the Week honors. That hot play continued last week, and he again has earned the NHL First Star of the Week. Bryzgalov is the first player this season to be named First Star in back-to-back weeks. Blackhawks goalie Corey Crawford was named Second Star, and Predators forward Martin Erat was named Third Star.

Coyotes Head Coach Dave Tippett won his 400th career NHL game last night versus the Oilers at Rexall Arena in Edmonton, Alberta. Tippett ranks second among all NHL Head Coaches in victories since the beginning of the 2002-03 season, trailing only Detroit's Mike Babcock with 415 wins. Since Tippett's arrival in the desert at the start of the 2009-10 season, the Coyotes have posted a record of 66-25-30 in one-goal games; while the franchise has registered a scintillating 94-12-14 record when scoring the first goal. He has never posted a losing season as an NHL Head Coach, and has qualified for the postseason in seven of eight seasons behind the bench.

The Penguins unveiled a 4,700-pound bronze statue honoring Mario Lemieux outside Consol Energy Center on Wednesday. The statue depicts Lemieux splitting a pair of defensemen on his way to scoring a goal against the Islanders in 1988.

Sabres goalie Ryan Miller, looking like he did in his 2010 Vezina-winning season, won all three of his starts last week, all on the road, including a pair of shutouts, to earn NHL First Star of the Week honors. Miller started his week with back-to-back shutouts, stopping all 43 shots in a 2-0 win in Anaheim on Wednesday, and following that with 39 stops in a 1-0 win in San Jose. "It's unbelievable to see a guy be this good in net," teammate Tyler Ennis said after Thursday's win in San Jose. "You never think a guy can be that good and make that many saves, but he does."

Coyotes goaltender Mike Smith, Senators defenseman Erik Karlsson and Lightning center Steven Stamkos have been named the NHL's 'Three Stars' for the month of February. Smith went 11-0-0 and led the League in wins as Phoenix earned 23 out of a possible 24 points to climb to first place in the Pacific Division. Karlsson helped the Senators post a 7-3-2 record and pull within one point of the Bruins for first place in the Northeast Division. Stamkos led the League in goals (11) and points (22) to keep the Lightning in the Eastern Conference playoff race. He began the month with a five-game point streak, including goals in four consecutive contests.