NHL Player of the Month MacKinnon, other honorees Matthews and Helleybuck

Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon was the NHL’s leading scorer for the month of December. The other players honored are top scorer Auston Matthews, who became the first to reach the 30-goal mark this season, and Winnipeg goalie Connor Hellebuyck.

MacKinnon scored the most points

Nathan Mackinnon of the Colorado Avalanche scored nearly two points per game during the period. In 15 games played, he scored 29 points on 11 goals and 18 assists. He also set a new club record.

No other player in the history of the Quebec Nordiques/Colorado Avalanche has ever scored more points in a calendar month than him. He thus surpassed the feat of Slovak legend Peter Stastny. He scored 28 points in 12 games while still in Quebec in February 1981.

The Colorado center had only one point in 15 games. He also scored the most power-play points (12) and managed to score in 19 straight games from November 20 to December 27. That made it the third-longest point streak in franchise history.

It is also worth noting the 9 games in which he scored more than one point. He is still in second place in the league scoring with 61 points. He has only two points less than the current leader Nikita Kucherov from Tampa Bay.

Second star of the month, sharpshooter Matthews

Another player honored was two-time league leading scorer Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, who is the only player to record three hat tricks so far this season. In 12 games played, he scored a total of 21 points and was also the top scorer with 15 goals.

With 30 goals scored in the current season, he is on course to win the third Maurice Richard Trophy for the season’s top scorer. He currently holds a three-goal lead over scoring leader Nikita Kucherov. In addition, in the long history of the Maple Leafs, only three players have managed to score as many goals in one calendar month as Matthews.

Specifically, they were Rick Vaive – 17 goals in January 1983, Babe Dye – 15 goals in February 1921, and Frank Mahovlich – 15 goals in December 1960. Thus, after more than 40 years, a Toronto player was able to score such a high number of goals in one calendar month again.

moreover, the 26-year-old Toronto sharpshooter recorded his 13th career four-point night against the New York Rangers. In addition, this American hockey forward has surpassed the 30-goal mark in each of his eight seasons in the NHL. Only Patrick Kane is better in this regard among American hockey players.

Winnipeg goaltender Hellebuyck is the third star of the month

The Winnipeg Jets goaltender started nine games and picked up a win for his team on seven occasions. He had a 93.4% save percentage and averaged just 1.88 goals per game. the 30-year-old goalkeeper, who already has the Vezina Trophy from the 2019/20 season in his collection, is currently second among goalkeepers with 17 saves. With an average of 2.34 goals scored, he is then in fifth place.

Source: NHL