Montreal Canadiens goalie Carey Price, Dallas Stars goalie Kari Lehtonen and Boston Bruins forward Jarome Iginla were named the NHL’s three stars of the week on Monday.
Price has won his last three starts, and that includes a shutout against the Calgary Flames and a 42-save performance against the struggling Vancouver Canucks. In that three-game span last week, Price posted a 1.00 goals-against average. He’s now with the Canadian men’s Olympic hockey team in Sochi. His recent play, combined with the recent struggles of Roberto Luongo, have started quite the debate about which of those two goalies will earn the first start for Canada in the competition.
Lehtonen has helped the Stars jump into the second Wild Card position in the Western Conference standings. He’s posted a record of 2-0-1 in his last three games, allowing only four goals in that span. Both of those wins came against the Phoenix Coyotes, a team that is tied in points with the Stars for the second Wild Card, but currently ninth in the West standings with one less regulation-overtime win than Dallas. This also marks the second time in two weeks that Lehtonen has been named one of the league’s three stars to begin a week. He was the first star when the weekly award was named on Jan. 27. He’ll represent Finland at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Iginla may have had a slow start to the season in Boston, but he’s picked it up since the beginning of December. His recent numbers include two goals and seven points over the last four games. The Bruins, in that time, have earned three wins and seven of a possible eight points. Iginla has 10 multi-point games this season, as per NHL.com.