Halak, Kane, Luongo top NHL Three Stars
Monday, 12.28.2009 / 12:05 PM /
The Hot List
By
John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist
Jaroslav Halak always has felt he should be a starting NHL goaltender. Now, he's making it hard for the
Montreal Canadiens to keep him on the bench.
Halak has been nothing short of phenomenal during the Canadiens' four-game winning streak during their current road trip. He was all but flawless last week, leading the Canadiens to victories in Atlanta, Carolina and Toronto while
stopping 140 of 146 shots -- an average of 48.7 shots faced per game. Perhaps his best performance came Saturday night against the Leafs, when he stopped 47 of 49 shots as the Canadiens won 3-2 in overtime at the Air Canada Centre despite being outplayed all night.
Halak has lowered his goals-against average to 2.53 and improved his
save percentage to .926 while posting a 10-5-0 record on a team that is 19-18-3 overall. He's making it increasingly difficult for Montreal coach Jacques Martin to keep him on the bench
Second star, Patrick Kane -- The
Chicago Blackhawks enter the week on top of the overall NHL standings, and Kane is a major reason why. He scored goals in each of Chicago's four games and went 5-3-8 last week, capping the outburst by scoring the game-winning goal with just 44 seconds remaining to give the Hawks a 5-4 victory over Nashville Sunday night. Kane has climbed into the top 10 in the scoring race with 42 points.
Third star, Roberto Luongo -- Thanks to the sharp play of Luongo, the
Vancouver Canucks have faulted into a playoff position in the densely packed Western Conference. Luongo has allowed just three goals in his last three games, all wins, to carry the Canucks. He got the win in a 4-1 decision over the
Nashville Predators on Dec. 22, took another win by an identical score against the
Edmonton Oilers on Dec. 26 and then allowed only a single goal in a 5-1 win over the
Calgary Flames Sunday. For the season, Luongo is 19-12-2 with a 2.28 goals-against average and .920 save percentage.
THE HOT LIST
By John Kreiser - NHL.com Columnist
Cristobal Huet,
Marc-Andre Fleury and
Patric Hornqvist were last week's Three Stars.
READ MORE ›
RELATED STORIES:
Five up -- Five players who've been hot:
Tomas Plekanec -- Halak isn't the only Canadien who's on fire. Plekanec scored twice and set up six other goals for eight points in three games.
He's 2-8-10 during Montreal's four-game winning streak and is eighth in the scoring race with 44 points. (if i may add, he's the second best passer in the NHL, the first being Joe Thornton )
Dany Heatley -- Heatley continues to put up points for the
San Jose Sharks. He had 2 goals and 5 assists for 7 points as the Sharks won all three of their Christmas-week games and is on pace for another 50-goal season with 23 in 38 games.
Alex Ovechkin -- "The Great Eight" was the NHL's most consistent player last week, scoring three points in each of Washington's two games. He has nine points (4 goals, 5 assists) in his last three games and has 25 goals and 22 assists for 47 points in just 30 games.
Tim Thomas -- Last season's Vezina Trophy winner has been up and down so far this season, but he's definitely on an upswing. Thomas won all three of his starts for Boston last week, allowing five goals and posting a shutout.
Five down -- Five players who are struggling:
David Moss -- Calgary has struggled to score, and Moss' lack of production is a big reason why. He's gone 10 games without a point, while going minus-3 in that span and averaging less than two shots a night.
Matt Moulson -- Moulson was a big surprise with 15 goals in the first two months of the season for the
New York Islanders. But he and his team have both cooled off. The 26-year-old Moulson has no points and is minus-6 in his last six games for the struggling Isles.
Phil Kessel -- Kessel got off to a fast start with the
Toronto Maple Leafs, but he's gone cold over the last couple weeks. Kessel hasn't had a point in the Leafs' last six games and is minus-6 during that span despite averaging nearly 20 minutes of ice time a night.
Erik Johnson -- Johnson, the No. 1 pick in the 2006 Entry Draft, was off to an excellent start offensively for St. Louis with 21 points in 30 games. But the 21-year-old defenseman has not had a point in his last eight games and hasn't scored a goal this month.
Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers -- The rookie goaltender has been getting a baptism of fire while Edmonton starter
Nikolai Khabibulin is out with back problems. He's lost his last five decisions, including both games last week.
