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Mikhail Grabovski is your first star of the week

Toronto Maple Leafs v New York Islanders

UNIONDALE, NY - JANUARY 24: Mikhail Grabovski #84 of the Toronto Maple Leafs celebrates his third-period goal against the New York Islanders on January 24, 2012 at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale, New York. The Maple Leafs defeated the Islanders 4-3 after overtime. (Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

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A short week turned into a big one for Toronto’s Mikhail Grabovski as he earned the NHL’s first star as player of the week.

Grabovski notched five points (one goal, four assists) in back-to-back wins over the New York Islanders. Those wins got the Leafs back into the top eight in the Eastern Conference. Grabovski is the first Russian Maple Leaf to win the award since Sergei Berezin did in April 1999.

Nashville’s Pekka Rinne had a big enough week to earn second star honors after going 2-0-0 with a 1.00 goals against and a .961 save percentage. Nashville has been on fire of late and has stormed into the discussion with Detroit, St. Louis, and Chicago as part of a dominating foursome in the Central Division and Western Conference.

Rounding out the week’s three stars was Ottawa’s All-Star captain Daniel Alfredsson. Alfredsson had a goal in each of the Senators’ games leading up to the All-Star Game. While the Sens lost both games, Alfredsson did lead the way for his team in the All-Star Game scoring two goals and adding an assist in a 12-9 loss to Team Chara.