Detroit’s Pavel Datsyuk, Columbus’ Sergei Bobrovsky and Florida’s Aaron Ekblad have been named the NHL’s three stars for the week ending Dec. 7, the league announced on Monday.
The highlights:
Datsyuk shared the League lead with seven points (3-4—7) in four games, including three multi-point performances, to help the Red Wings (17-6-5, 39 points) pick up a trio of victories and tie the Lightning (18-7-3, 39 points) for the most points in the Atlantic Division and Eastern Conference.
Bobrovsky posted a 3-0-0 record with a 1.62 goals-against average and .956 save percentage to backstop the Blue Jackets (9-15-2, 20 points) to their first three-game winning streak of the season.
Ekblad led all defensemen and tied for fourth in the NHL with six points (2-4—6) in four games to lead the Panthers (11-7-7, 29 points) to five out of a possible eight standings points.
Datsyuk’s accomplishments are remarkable considering he’s missed a bunch of time this year -- 11 games, to be exact -- with a nagging groin injury. He currently sits third in the NHL in points per game (1.29), trailing only Sidney Crosby and Tyler Seguin; should it hold, that 1.29 PPG rate would be the highest of Datsyuk’s 13-year NHL career.