If fan voting for this year's All-Star Game — to be played in Montreal on Jan. 25 — were to close today, the Montreal Canadiens would have starters at every position. Alex Kovalev, Saku Koivu and Alex Tanguay are the top three vote-getters as forwards, while Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are fourth and fifth, respectively.
"It would be nice to be at the All-Star Game, period," Crosby said. "If I'm not a starter, that's fine. It's a voting thing. If those guys are the top six, and they're voted in, they deserve to be the starters."
• Malkin has been named the second star among the NHL's Three Stars for November. Malkin - the NHL points leader with 39 - registered a pair of four-point games last month. He recorded a goal and three assists in a 5-2 victory over Buffalo on Nov. 15. He tallied his third career hat trick and added an assist in a 5-3 win over the New York Islanders on Wednesday.
Crosby was named the first star of the NHL's Three Stars for this past week. He led all NHL scorers last week with nine points (six goals, three assists) in three games.
• Philippe Boucher did not practice Monday, and he is still listed as day-to-day with an undisclosed injury.
Digits
2 — Times in the past 20 years teammates finished 1-2 in the NHL scoring race. Both instances involved Penguins — Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr finished 1-2 in 1995-96, and Lemieux and Kevin Stevens were 1-2 in 1991-92.
21 — Multi-point games Crosby (10) and Malkin (11) have accounted for this season.
