Miller, Johansson headline Wednesday's Three Stars

1. Ryan Miller, Sabres -- Not only did he bring the Sabres back into the series with Philadelphia Wednesday night, he's doing a great job of bringing back early 1970s male facial fashions. Only Elvis of that era had bigger pork chop sideburns than Miller is rocking right now (as are many Sabres, in honor of "French Connection" member Rick Martin, who passed away recently). To sum up this game, one only needs to quote the great, longtime Sabres' TV play-by-play man, Rick Jeanneret -- who started calling Buffalo's games in 1971: "Millerrrrrrrrrrr." In a terrific game, much more exciting than the final score might indicate, Miller was perfect while Brian Boucher was almost perfect. Some might say Miller's glove stop of Daniel Briere with eight minutes left in the game was his best of the night, but I'll take the diving stop he made against Mike Richards on the doorstep with 5:03 left.

2. Marcus Johansson, Capitals -- When Mike Knuble couldn't go in Game 4, the Caps knew they'd need someone to give a little more. Enter Johansson, the Washington rookie. His two third-period goals got Washington even at 3-3, on a night when it seemed Henrik Lundqvist would be too much in goal. The pressure is on for guys like Johansson to keep it going, but the 20-year-old Swede took a big step toward learning what it takes in the postseason.

3. Corey Perry, Anaheim -- Granted, Pekka Rinne was uncharacteristically porous in the Nashville goal in what could have been the game that gave the Preds a steely grip on this series. But Perry made a lot of goalies look like sieves this year. His backhanded, short-handed goal at 1:17 of the third period probably will be looked back upon as the turning point in the series should the Ducks go on and win. The league's only 50-goal scorer this season for Anaheim added two assists -- giving him eight points in the last three games.