Three Stars of The Night: Olympic Edition, Feb. 18, 2010

Originally Published on Hockey Primetime .

First Star: Thomas Vokoun, Czech Republic

In what was the first “big” game of the tournament, Vokoun shut down a Slovakian offensive attack led by Marian Gaborik and Marian Hossa. The only blemish to Vokoun’s amazing game was a second-period goal by Gaborik, but Vokoun was on his game stopping double-digit shots every period (34 in total) to lead the Czech team to a 3-1 victory.

Second Star: Mikko Koivu, Finland

With Finland’s 5-1 victory over Belarus, Koivu the Younger showcased on a World stage what Minnesota Wild fans already knew—kid’s got game. Koivu assisted on both of Niklas Hagman’s goals, as well as on Valtteri Filppula’s tally in the third to lead Finland to victory. Koivu also tallied three shots on goal and was a plus-one for the game.

Third Star: Henrik Lundqvist , Sweden

Lundqvist had to be perfect, as the Swedes didn’t give him much margin for error in their 2-0 victory over a surprising German team. King Henrik stopped all 21 shots that he saw, including an onslaught of 11 in the third period to preserve his shutout. The Germans were the lowest-ranked team in the tournament, but gave forth one of their best efforts, as their coach Uwe Krupp put it, to make sure things weren’t easy for the Swedes.