After scoring six goals in three games (including four against Dallas on Saturday), New York Islanders LW Matt Moulson was named the NHL’s first star of the week.
The four-goal outburst against Dallas was the defining moment of Moulson’s week, cementing him in Islander lore. He became just the third Islander to score four in a game since 1992-93 (joining the immortal Alexei Yashin and Viktor Kozlov) and is now the NHL’s 12th-leading goalscorer since the 2009-10 season. Yes, seriously. No, I’m not making it up. Over the last two seasons, Moulson has put more pucks in the net than Rick Nash, Dany Heatley, Jonathan Toews, Jeff Carter and Thomas Vanek. Check for yourself.
Second star of the week went to Ryan O’Reilly. (Not the character portrayed by Dean Winters in the HBO prison series “Oz”, in case you were wondering.) The Colorado center notched seven points last week (4G, 3A), recorded three multi-point games and finished with a plus-6 rating as the Avs went 3-0-1. As such, the 20-year-old now leads Colorado in scoring with 21 points in 27 games.
Third star went to LA Kings goalie Jonathan Quick. This marks the second weekly honor Quick’s received -- he was named the NHL’s first star back on Oct. 24 -- and the second time he’s posted a ridiculously-low GAA. Quick’s goals-against average was 0.50 last week; he also won both his starts and posted a .987 save percentage. Quick now leads the NHL in shutouts (four), ranks second in save percentage and fourth in GAA.