Bergeron, Letang, Carter comprise Monday's Three Stars

1. Patrice Bergeron, Bruins -- Tim Thomas made some huge saves in the end to preserve Boston's must-win, but the play of Bergeron went a long way toward giving him a lead from which to work. Bergeron assisted on two Bruins goals and finished a plus-3 for the night; he was also credited with four hits and won 10-of-17 faceoffs (59 percent). Bergeron showed leadership when, right after the Bruins killed off an early too-many-men penalty, he fed David Krejci in front of the net to give Boston its first lead of the series -- and the B's never lost it.

2. Kris Letang, Penguins -- The Pittsburgh D-man played 24:32 and did a little bit of everything. He assisted on two of Pittsburgh's three goals in a 3-2 win at Tampa Bay, finishing plus-2. He also put five shots on goal and led all players with five hits in Game 3. With Sidney Crosby still out indefinitely with a concussion, and Evgeni Malkin out until next season, the Penguins rely more on the defense for scoring now -- and Letang isn't disappointing. Through three games, he has three points and a plus-4.

3. Jeff Carter, Flyers -- Through the first two games of Philadelphia's series with Buffalo, Carter's name was absent from the score sheet. It had been six games, in fact, since Carter scored a goal, but that changed in Game 3 on the road. Carter scored and assisted in Philly's huge win, while putting four shots on Sabres goalie Ryan Miller. Carter is at his best when he doesn't try anything too fancy, as was the case on Monday night.