The National Hockey League yesterday announced the Three Stars of the Week and earlier today the Three Stars of the Month as well as the NHL Rookie of the Month was announced.
First, TXHT will take a look at the announcements made for the Three Stars of the Week (week ending March 31)
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The First Star of the Week went to Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky would be named the First Star of the Week thanks to a four wins on the week with two shutouts and would extend the Blue Jackets win streak to five games.
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The Second Star of the Week went to Detroit Red Wings F Tyler Bertuzzi.
Tyler Bertuzzi shared the League lead with three goals and seven assists in four outings to power the Red Wings to a perfect week and their fifth consecutive victory overall.
During the week, Bertuzzi would become the first Detroit player to record three consecutive three-point games since 1992-93. Steve Yzerman achieved that feat twice during the 1992-93 season.
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The Third Star of the Week would go to Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper.
Arizona Coyotes goaltender Darcy Kuemper would achieve a record of 2-0-1 to keep the Coyotes in the hunt for a wild card spot and earn two shutouts over the week.
Over the season, Kuemper has achieved a career high 26 wins in 53 appearances and ranks in the top 10 in the NHL in goals-against average (6th place with a GAA of 2.34) and save percentage (9th place with a SV% of .924).
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Second, the National Hockey League earlier today announced the Three Stars of the Month (March 1-March 31).
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The First Star of the Month would go to Edmonton Oilers C Connor McDavid.
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McDavid would have 20 assists over a 14 game span during the month of March and lead the Oilers to a record of 7-5-2 for the month. McDavid would also have 11 multi-point games over the course of March.
The Edmonton captain also scored seven times, including his seventh career
overtime goal March 16 at ARI and 40th goal of 2018-19 March 28 vs. DAL. McDavid also ranks second in the NHL with a career-high 74 assists and 115 points in 75 total contests this season as well as sharing the League lead with nine game-winning goals.
The Second Star of the Month would go to Columbus Blue Jackets goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky.
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Bobrovsky topped the NHL in wins, tied with nine and had four shutouts in 13 appearances. In those 13 appearances for the month, Bobrovsky would compile a
1.74 goals-against average and .940 save percentage to give the Blue Jackets a 9-6-1 March record and to the first Wild Card spot in the Eastern Conference.
The Third Star of the Month would go to Boston Bruins D Brad Marchand.
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Marchand placed third in the NHL with nine goals and 14 assists in 15 games to propel the Bruins to a 9-6-0 March and help the Bruins clinch their third consecutive playoff berth.
Marchand would register three points in four games (March 7 vs. the Florida Panthers, March 12 at the Columbus Blue Jackets, March 21 at the New Jersey Devils, and March 27 at home against the New York Rangers.
Finally, the NHL also announced the Rookie of the Month for the month of March.
St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington named as the NHL’s Rookie of the Month
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The NHL earlier today would announce that St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington would be named the NHL’s Rookie of the Month for the month of March. This would also be the second consecutive month in which Binnington would earn Rookie of the Month honours.
Binnington would compile a record of 6-3-0 with a GAA (goals against average) of 2.37 and a save percentage of .912.
Binnington allowed three or fewer goals in eight of his nine appearances to spark the Blues (43-28-8, 94 points) to their seventh playoff berth in eight seasons and would help get the Blues from the bottom of the NHL standings on January 2nd to second place in the Central Division standings as of the completion of yesterday’s games.
Binnington has also compiled a record of 22-5-1 since he made his first NHL career start on January 7th.
Binnington joins Vancouver Canucks rookie Elias Pettersson as the only two rookies to earn Rookie of the Month honours twice during the 2018-19 campaign.
One final note to close out this article…
Sportsnet and Hockey Night in Canada’s Elliotte Friedman released his “31 Thoughts” blog post for the week.
One big highlight on this week’s “31 Thoughts” blog post is the news with the CWHL shuttering operations on May 1 and what the NHL needs to do to make a viable partnership with the NWHL.
