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Stars of the Night

SportsLine.com looks at the players who turned in the top individual performances in Saturday's action.

Other April stars of the night

Ron Tugnutt, G, Pittsburgh Penguins
Ron Tugnutt 
Ron Tugnutt(AP) 

Ron Tugnutt continued to have the best playoff nobody knows about on Saturday as the Penguins won their second consecutive game in Philadelphia, beating the Flyers 4-1. Tugnutt was outstanding, particularly in the first period when he stopped 17 of the 45 shots he would face. The Penguins goalie was very sharp in the early minutes, making big saves on Dan McGillis, John LeClair and Eric Desjardins after Philadelphia got a power play 18 seconds into the game. Tugnutt kept Philadelphia off the scoreboard until Simon Gagne scored at 4:34 of the third period. That was the first goal he had allowed in 154 minutes, 33 seconds.

Martin Straka, C, Pittsburgh Penguins
Martin Straka 
Martin Straka(AP) 

Martin Straka won only one draw all day but it came on a power play when the Penguins needed something to stop the Flyers heavy momentum. Straka cleanly beat faceoff master Keith Primeau and got the puck back to Jiri Slegr, who set up Jaromir Jagr for a one-time shot that ended up in the Flyers net. Straka also set up two goals by Robert Lang, and played a key role in directing the 'east-west' style of offense Pittsburgh has used to throw the Flyers off track.

Peter Forsberg, C, Colorado Avalanche
Peter Forsberg 
Peter Forsberg(AP) 

He missed much of the season recovering from surgery on a separated shoulder and re-injured himself days before the regular season ended. But Peter Forsberg has shown tremendous grit throughout the playoffs, and has often been the Avalanche's best player on the ice. He has another solid effort Saturday, playing power plays, killing penalties and checking up a storm. Although he didn't take faceoffs, Forsberg also scored his third goal in the first period, making a nice individual effort after taking a pass from Ray Bourque.

Martin Brodeur, G, New Jersey Devils
Martin Brodeur 
Martin Brodeur(Allsport) 

The Toronto Maple Leafs have one of hockey's most high-powered offenses, but it was neutralized Saturday by Martin Brodeur and the Devils. Brodeur faced only 20 shots, but had a lot of action as the Leafs buzzed around his net all night. Brodeur made several outstanding saves earlier, most notably on Danny Markov and Steve Thomas. He recorded his seventh career playoff shutout and sent the Devils home tied 1-1 in the series.