The first week of NHL hockey is in the books and some stars shined brighter than all the rest. It's time to see why Adin Hill, Elias Pettersson and Auston Matthews were the three best.
Welcome back to a new season of THN.com’s Three Stars of the Week, an ongoing feature in which we analyse the past seven days of NHL hockey and identify which individual players had the best week. Let’s get to it.
3. ADIN HILL, VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS, G The Golden Knights got off to a strong start to the season in no small part due to the goaltending of Adin Hill, who went 2-0-0 with a sparkling .964 save percentage and 1.01 goals-against average in wins over Seattle and Anaheim. Vegas also got solid net minding from Logan Thompson (1-0-0, .957 SP, 1.00 GAA) to keep them unbeaten in their first three games of the year, and the goalie tandem of Hill and Thompson produced three games by the same 4-1 score. Hill had a breakout year with the Golden Knights during their Stanley Cup year last season – putting up a .915 SP and a 2.50 GAA in the regular season, then boosting his individual stats to a .932 SP and 2.17 G.A.A in the playoffs – but Vegas needs just as much from him in 2023-24 campaign if they’re to remain at the top of the Pacific Division. They really couldn’t have asked for more from Hill and Thompson so far, and seeing strong net minding from the duo is a very positive sign of what’s ahead for them this year. 2. ELIAS PETTERSSON, VANCOUVER CANUCKS, C As the leader of a Canucks offence that exploded for 12 goals in its first two games, Pettersson posted five assists – tying him with Toronto’s John Tavares and Pittsburgh’s Jake Guentzel in that department – and added a goal to give him six points in only two games. The 24-year-old Swede had a career-best 39 goals, 63 assists and 102 points in 80 regular-season games last year, and although it’s early, he’s on pace to top those numbers in 2023-24. Pettersson is in the final season of his current contract, which pays him an average annual amount of $7.35 million. His brilliant start to the season provides him with increased leverage in his eventual contract extension negotiations, but there’s a sense that the biggest factor in Pettersson’s future is not his individual performance, but Vancouver’s performance as a team. The Canucks have got off to a solid start in that regard, and Pettersson looks primed and ready to assert himself as one of the NHL’s top-10 talents on offence. 1. AUSTON MATTHEWS, TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS, C While he was hampered last season with health issues, Matthews did not improve on his 60-goal, 106-point performance in 73 games of the 2021-22 campaign, posting *only* 40 goals and 85 points in 74 games in 2022-23. However, in the Maple Leafs’ first two games of the current season, Matthews has looked like a man possessed, generating a hat trick in each of Toronto’s two wins to give him a league-best six goals in that span. Matthews got a little bit lucky on a couple of his goals thus far this year, but remember, you have to be good to be lucky, and Matthews definitely qualifies as both. Matthews will face intense competition for the Rocket Richard Trophy as the league’s top goal-scorer this season, but so long as he’s at 100 percent health-wise, he’s as good as any player alive at producing offence. The Leafs have set their competitive bar as high as it goes this season, and while they need all parts of the line up contributing in one way or another, when Matthews goes on a scoring tear like the one he’s on at the moment, he makes life much easier on his team mates and coaches. He likely will not continue to produce goals at this amazing pace, but he’s putting people on notice, and the 60-goal plateau is going to be well within reach for him this season.
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