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Craig Anderson is the NHL’s First Star of the Week

Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson makes a shoot out save on Toronto Maple Leafs Mikhail Grabovski in Toronto

Ottawa Senators goalie Craig Anderson makes a shoot out save on Toronto Maple Leafs Mikhail Grabovski during their NHL hockey game in Toronto February 19, 2011. REUTERS/Fred Thornhill (CANADA - Tags: SPORT ICE HOCKEY)

REUTERS

Just seven days after earning the league’s third star honors, Ottawa goalie Craig Anderson has been named the NHL’s first star of the week.

Anderson won all three of his starts last week -- he’s now 8-0-1 over his last nine games -- while posting a .970 save percentage. His week was highlighted by a 34-save shutout over the Rangers, though his other two victories (stopping 29 of 30 shots against Montreal and 33 of 35 against Pittsburgh) were almost as stellar. Thanks to Anderson’s play, the Senators now find themselves in fifth in the Eastern Conference and just one point back of Boston in the Northeast Division (granted, the Bs have five games in hand.)

Second star went to Chicago forward Viktor Stalberg. The 25-year-old Swede set a career high in goals (14) after scoring five times last week, including his first career hat trick in Chicago’s 5-2 win over Columbus. Stalberg’s week also included two game-winning goals against CBJ and Minnesota -- he’s now tied for the team lead in game-winning goals (five) with Patrick Sharp.

Third star went to Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin. He moved to within a point of Vancouver’s Henrik Sedin for the NHL scoring lead with a monster week -- he had seven points in four games, though five of those game in an outstanding effort against Tampa Bay on Sunday. Malking scored a natural hat trick in the third period and assisted on two more Penguins tallies to bring his overall points total to 51.