The star of the week in the NHL is productivity leader Kucherov. Close behind Crosby and Panarin

The NHL has once again announced the three biggest stars of the past week. The current leader in points, Nikita Kucherov, was named the top player. He was followed by Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Artemi Panarin.

Kucherov was the star of the week

Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov, who recently broke his own club record for points in a season with 136 points, leads the Canadian scoring and is on pace to win his second Art Ross Trophy, which is awarded to the winner of the productivity award.

Kucherov played 4 games in the period under review, scoring a total of 10 points on 1 goal and 9 assists. This made him the most productive player of the week. Although it was enough for only two wins, the Lightning will not miss the playoffs for the seventh time in a row.

The Tampa Bay forward recorded three three-point nights in a row, the second of his career. In addition, he is the second best passer of the competition with 93 assists. Only Connor McDavid is better. He is one assist short of joining the club of players who have recorded at least 100 assists in a season.

Second star of the week Crosby

Pittsburgh’s captain Sidney Crosby’s brilliant performance brought his team to a position guaranteeing a playoff spot after a huge point deficit. He scored 5 goals and recorded one assist in 4 games played.

He was the second best scorer last week. His point streak is now 8 games. In addition, he tied the record set by Wayne Gretzky of 19 consecutive seasons with a season average of at least one point per game.

To make matters worse, he became only the seventh player in the NHL’s long history to score at least 40 goals in a season at the age of 36.

Of course, his great performances help the whole club. Meanwhile, it looks like Pittsburgh will become the first organization in league history to break a 9-point deficit for playoff position in the last 11 games of the season.

The latest honoree Panarin

The New York Rangers club productivity leader and fourth man in Canadian scoring, Artemi Panarin, also played 4 games last week in which he averaged 2 points per game on 2 goals and 6 assists. His best game was the last one at home against Montreal, when he had 4 hits for his team.

Thanks to his great performance, the Rangers tied the club record for most wins in a season and lead the entire league. Panarin is currently on 115 points. This is the second best performance in the history of the New York team. The club record is held by Jaromir Jagr from the 2005-06 season with 123 points.

Source: NHL, X