In a relatively inactive night of hockey, there were individuals and teams that strived, while others struggled. Here are your Studs and Duds for Friday, February 3rd:

Studs

3) Overtime Antics

In each daily addition of "Studs and Duds", those highlighted often feature different players, goaltenders, and teams. However, there are rarely mentions of games themselves. On Friday, the Anaheim Ducks and Columbus Blue Jackets played a back and forth game for 60 minutes that needed to be solved in overtime. Looking from the outside in, a matchup between these two lacklustre teams might seem dull. However, the 3 minutes of overtime played were far from that.

In a constant non-stop, action-filled overtime, the Jackets and Ducks exchanged odd man rushes and scoring chances to end the game. Antoine Vermette got robbed by Hiller, Ryan got stoned by Sanford, and Selanne missed a chance to grab a hattrick. In the end, a turnover from Cam Fowler resulted in Derick Brassard scoring his 2nd of the night to win the game for the Blue Jackets 3-2. This was one of the best overtime periods of the year, and certainly deserved some recognition for it's seat-gripping action.

2) Iggy Smalls and Ironman Jay

Jarome Iginla has had quite the season, scoring his 500th goal and being chosen to represent Calgary in the All-Star Game. On the other hand, Jay Bouwmeester has had quite the disappointing season, having only his consecutive games streak to his name. Regardless of their polar opposite seasons, their contributions to Friday's game against the Blackhawks was equally vital.

The two Flames combined for 2 goals, 1 assist, 11 shots, and just under 46 minutes of combined ice time in a 3-1 victory. While some want the Flames to trade these players for future assets, tonight's performances prove that the Flames would burn without Iginla and Bouwmeester, and would have no shot at the playoffs that they are striving for this year.

1) Halak in Black

Jaroslav Halak is continuing his magical run in this storybook season for the St. Louis Blues. The Slovak netminder stopped 22 of 22 shots to take the shutout in a 1-0 win over the Kings. This victory gave Halak his 4th shutout and 6th win in his last 7 games, and has only allowed 12 goals in 9 starts. Halak (along with Elliott) have been vital parts of the St. Louis Blues success. Some were worried that Halak cooled down since being traded from the Canadians, but that is far from the case. He continued to prove that to everyone with his most recent win.

Duds

3) Lost Kings

Recently, the Los Angeles Kings have started to find some success. While they haven't solved their offensive woes, the team has been 5-2-3 in their past 10 games. However, in the past games, stars Mike Richards and Anze Kopitar have been incredibly disappointing in the past few games. That was further shown in Friday's contest against the Blues.

Richards went pointless for his 6th consecutive game and Kopitar was essentially invisible in their 1-0 loss. While the team is in a playoff spot and winning games, Kings' fans will forgive their best players for playing poorly. However, the team will start losing soon and fans will begin to lose their patience. Richards and Kopitar should find their stride once again, or face heavy criticism.

2) Black Hawks Down

Western Canada was not too kind to the Chicago Blackhawks. After a hard-fought loss in Vancouver, the Blackhawks travelled to Edmonton only to be victimized by Sam Gagner. The only way to finish off the Western swing on a high note was to beat the Calgary Flames. Unfortunately, that did not happen.

In an overall underwhelming performance, the Hawks lost 3-1 in Calgary, giving them 1 point in their Canadian visit. As a whole, the team looked fairly awful. Hossa and Toews were nearly invisible, the squad took 5 penalties, and the defence was sloppy. In fact, the final goal (scored by Jarome Iginla) was a direct result of Duncan Keith failing to pick up his man. He finished -2, along with Dave Bolland. There is little doubt that the Blackhawks make the playoffs, but the goal should be a top 4 position. That will not be possible if they have poor outings against weaker teams, like they did on Thursday and Friday.

1) Senator Impeachment

Following a tough loss to the Boston Bruins, the Ottawa Senators found themselves back at the Scotiabank Place for a matchup against the New York Islanders. The Senators, losers of four straight, were looking to take a win from the Isles on Friday to store some more points before Saturday's contest with the Maple Leafs. While the game started out well for the Sens, things began to deteriorate at the beginning of the 3rd period.

Matt Martin scored a game-tying goal, and Mark Eaton finished the game in overtime to hand the Senators their 5th straight loss, but their first one with a point. While the Senators are still in a playoff position, their excess amount of games in hand and small gap of separation between themselves and other teams makes for an interesting end to the season. Ottawa is in no way out of contention, but it's quite unwavering to have the fourth ranked team drop to a bubble-team in such a short period of time.