Photo: @NHL
The NHL just announced their stars of the month for January. And a Capital’s in the top three again.
Braden Holtby was named the NHL’s second star in both November and December. Now Evgeny Kuznetsov has been named the first star of January after scoring 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 10 games. During the first month of 2016, Kuznetsov ranked second in the NHL in points. He also leads the Caps overall with 49.
Evgeny Kuznetsov is the first #Caps player not named Alex Ovechkin to be named 1st Star of the Month since Alexander Semin (Oct.2008)
— Ben Raby (@BenRaby31) February 1, 2016
Last non-Russian #Caps player to earn NHL first star/player of the month honors was Robert Lang in 2003.
— Stephen Whyno (@SWhyno) February 1, 2016
All-Star MVP John Scott was also honored earlier in the day as the NHL’s player of the week.
John Scott named #NHL First Star for the Week pic.twitter.com/Y2M5XsY9Ol
— Greg Wyshynski (@wyshynski) February 1, 2016
More from the Capitals on Kuznetsov’s honor:
Washington Capitals center Evgeny Kuznetsov has been named the NHL’s “First Star” for the month of January, the NHL announced today.
Kuznetsov ranked second in the NHL with 16 points (four goals, 12 assists) in 10 games to lead the Capitals (35-8-4, 74 points) to a 7-1-2 January and the top of the League standings. He registered at least one point in seven of his 10 appearances, highlighted by a trio of three-point performances in a four-game span: Jan. 14 vs. VAN (two goals, one assist), Jan. 17 vs. NYR (three assists) and Jan. 19 at CBJ (four assists). In the latter two contests, Kuznetsov became the fifth player in franchise history to collect three or more assists in consecutive games – and the first to achieve that feat since teammate Nicklas Backstrom on Jan. 19-21, 2008 (eight assists). The Chelyabinsk, Russia, native – who earned 46 points (14 goals, 32 assists) in 97 career outings prior to 2015-16 – shares fourth place in the NHL with 34 assists and is tied for fifth overall with 49 points in 47 games this season. He also shares the League lead with a +24 rating, boosted by a +7 clip in January.
