Three Stars: Washington Capitals 5, Anaheim Ducks 3

First Star: Alex Ovechkin. C’mon. Two goals, retaking league lead. Two assists, giving Andre Burakovsky some momentum to stay on the top line (and in the lineup, period). Ovechkin is carrying this team right now (wen has he not), yet gets very little mention as an MVP candidate. Does the nationals (Canadian) media have Ovi burnout? Sure. But they are sleeping on another incredible season. Hard to imagine this Caps team contending for playoffs without another stellar season from the Great 8.

Second Star: Andre Burakovsky. Two pretty goals, courtesy of Mr. Ovechkin. Bura’s had some ups and downs this season, but obviously the talent is there. Barry Trotz has gotten some grief on the way he’s handled the young talent on the roster, but he’s not just looking at this year’s results (unlike the previous coach), but also looking forward like a coach that knows he has job security. It’s not how you start… Evgeny Kuznetsov’s game has progressed of late as well. Hopefully Trotz can figure out how to get Tom Wilson going again, because I envision a time in the not-so-distant future made up of the three.

Third Star: Justin Peters. Justin Peters? Seriously? After I tweeted this in the first?

This has got to stop. An NHL team cannot survive with one NHL caliber goalie. If they don’t want Gru on the bench, have to trade for one.

— DistrictSports Caps (@CapitalsDSP) February 16, 2015

Peters has been, frankly, miserable this season. But after the very rough first period, he settled down and made some quality saves in the second and especially in the third as Anaheim was scrambling to get back in it, with 30 saves in total, including 11 on the penalty kill. Credit begrudgingly where its due, but primarily because he’s set the bar so low for himself this year.