Most productive player
He's only twenty-five years old and currently playing his sixth NHL season, but Vancouver defenseman Quinn Hughes is slowly becoming a club legend. He leapfrogged Alexander Edler this week to become the best defenceman in Canucks history with his 311 assists.
He also scored nine points (1+8) in four games and left every forward in the league behind, recording three-point nights against Detroit and Pittsburgh. He also had his best week ever with an average time of 27 minutes and 50 seconds. He is four points behind first-place Cale Makar in NHL defenseman productivity.
Goaltender of the week
Wednesday's 3-0 win over the New Jersey Devils didn't just mark the first zero of the season and the 16th of the career of St. Louis' Jordan Binnington, but the Canadian notably recorded his 152nd career win and leapfrogged Mike Liut in the Blues' historical standings to become their all-time leader.
He was also on fire on Saturday against Philadelphia but had to swallow a 3-2 defeat there. His next game will be his 300th in the competition.
Highlight of the week
This time, we focus on shooting unproductivity but that doesn't always mean failure. First up, the Montreal Canadiens, who lost 3-2 in overtime to Utah on Wednesday and, despite having nearly five minutes of three-on-three play left in regulation time, managed to put a total of 13 shots on goal. That was the worst performance for a Canadian team in nearly 15 years.
"I don't think shots on goal for our team today is the best indicator of the game we played," forward Alex Newhook, who was one of the more productive players in a Canadiens jersey, scoring once and firing twice, told NHL.com after the game.
Ottawa sent two fewer shots at the San Jose net on the same day, but the Senators won the game against the Californian team 4-3. The winning goal was scored by forward Adam Gaudette in the 56th minute and it was the only shot by the team in the third period.
"You could see that we didn't play our best game today, we didn't really grind... Luckily Linus was there for us," said head coach Travis Green after the game about goalie Linus Ullmark, who stopped 36 Sharks shots.
Stat of the week
Veteran Minnesota goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury added another interesting entry to his impressive career stats. He celebrated a milestone at the end of November, becoming only the second goaltender in NHL history to celebrate a league win as a teenager and as a 40-year-old, since Martin Brodeur.
Social media highlight
The agile Florida forward Sam Bennett is a good-natured guy. Even his teammates know he supports animals in need, and for every goal he scores this season, he donates a sum of money to the association.
So when Carter Verhaeghe could have shot into an empty net late in the game against Toronto on Wednesday during an opponent's power play, he decided to pass to Bennett instead. “I enjoy dogs and cats so I thought I would dish it over there, it was nice,” he told reporters after the game.
Photo of the week
The Arizona Coyotes are history but that doesn't mean their legacy is gone. For example, this is how a fan - now a Utah fan - celebrated Saturday's 6-0 victory on the ice of the Vegas Golden Knights.
Ladislav Smid's take
"Martin Necas is having an excellent start to the season and is carrying the whole Carolina team. He's playing well, he's dangerous, he's skating well, he's attacking well... The franchise has other quality players in its midfield, of course, but he is dominant. And that's even though the last two games against Florida were not so good.
"You can still see the confidence he's built up, and it's possible that his World Championship title in May helped him. Moreover, he was in talks with the team management over the summer about a new contract and it didn't look good from a distance, maybe he has it in his head and wants to show everyone how indispensable he can be for the team.
"We'll see if Carolina has the money for him after his two-year contract is up. His price is going up, either they sign him or they can get a very good return for him. At the very least, the Czech Republic can be proud to have a player at the top of the scoring charts."
