Auston Matthews, Jake Oettinger and Alexis Lafrenière were named the NHL’s Three Stars for the week ending Oct. 11 after driving strong early-season runs for Toronto, Dallas and the New York Rangers.
- First Star — Auston Matthews, C, Toronto Maple Leafs: Matthews produced 3 goals and 6 assists in three games, tying the week together with two four-point nights. Toronto collected five of six available points and moved to 3-2-1.
- Against Nashville on Oct. 6, Matthews had a goal and three assists as the Maple Leafs erased a 3-0 hole for a 5-4 overtime win. His overtime winner was the 15th of his NHL career, second-most in franchise history.
- Matthews added an assist in Toronto’s 4-3 shootout loss to Vegas on Oct. 8, then put up two goals and two assists in a 6-3 win over Colorado on Oct. 10. It was his 19th four-point game.
- The Toronto captain has 4 goals and 10 points in six games this season, seventh in League scoring. In 695 NHL games, all with the Maple Leafs, the 29-year-old has recorded 432 goals and 790 points. Since entering the League as the first pick in the 2016 Draft, no player has scored more goals.
- Second Star — Jake Oettinger, G, Dallas Stars: Oettinger allowed only one goal over three starts, stopping 59 of 60 shots. His weekly line: 2-0-1, a 0.33 goals-against average, a .983 save percentage and two shutouts.
- He blanked San Jose 5-0 on Oct. 5 with 13 saves, then made 26 stops in a 4-0 shutout of Buffalo on Oct. 8. It was the second time in his career that Oettinger had posted shutouts in consecutive starts.
- Oettinger stretched his shutout streak to a personal-best 188 minutes, 52 seconds before Dallas fell 2-1 in a shootout to Pittsburgh on Oct. 10. He made 20 saves in that game. The run ranks third-longest in Stars/North Stars history.
- Through four appearances, the 27-year-old is 2-1-1 with a 0.74 goals-against average, .963 save percentage and two shutouts. His 186 victories rank third in Stars/North Stars history; all have come in his 309 games with Dallas.
- Third Star — Alexis Lafrenière, LW, New York Rangers: Lafrenière led the NHL with five goals during the three-game week, adding two assists as the Rangers went 2-1-0.
- He scored three times and set up another goal in a 5-2 win against the Islanders on Oct. 6, collecting his third career hat trick. Lafrenière followed with New York’s only goal in a 3-1 loss to Washington on Oct. 9.
- In the Rangers’ 6-2 win over Vancouver on Oct. 11, Lafrenière finished with a goal and an assist, including a helper on Tye Kartye’s goal 27 seconds into the game.
- The 25-year-old leads the Rangers with five goals and eight points through seven games. The first overall pick in the 2020 Draft has 121 goals and 258 points in 469 career NHL games, all with New York.
