NHL Players of the Week: 11/29 through 12/5

1. Miikka Kiprusoff, Calgary Flames. Kiprusoff followed a 40-save shutout performance with 22 saves against Nashville Monday night, earning his second straight shutout and third of the year for the Flames. Kiprusoff only allowed 3 goals in the 2 following games, ending the week with a .969 save percentage. His stellar November combined with captain Jarome Iginla’s propelled the Flames to first in their division and third in the Western Conference. Kiprusoff also entered this save into contention for Save of the Year. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=69yO4ORf-c0

2. Marc-Andre Fleury, Pittsburgh Penguins. Fleury has been fantastic all season long for the Pens and this week was no exception. In 3 games, Fleury has 2 wins and an overtime loss (to the Blackhawks in one exciting game) and a .936 save percentage. He’s also tied for league leader in wins at 17 (with none other than his childhood idol, Martin Brodeur).

3. Andrew Brunette, Minnesota Wild. The Wild have won 5 straight and Brunette has been instrumental in the past 3. Brunette has 7 points in 3 games (1+6) and +4 rating. The Wild have been dealing with their share of injuries and have struggled accordingly but the return of Martin Havlat and Antti Miettinen should help the Wild continue to win.

Honorable Mentions:
Players with hat tricks. Seven different players had hat tricks this week: Pittsburgh’s Mike Rupp (first career), Columbus’s RJ Umberger (second career), Florida’s Stephen Weiss (second career), the Islanders’ Matt Moulson (first career), Montreal’s Mike Cammalleri (in Montreal’s Centennial game; fourth career, second of the season), Carolina’s Erik Cole (sixth career) and Boston’s Marc Savard (third career). … Sidney Crosby played 2 games last week and scored 3 points in each (2+1). … Ryan Miller won 2/3 games last week, including a 38 shutout save performance against Toronoto Monday. … Miller’s teammate Jason Pominville had a good week, scoring 2 goals and 4 assists in 3 games. … Brenden Morrow is currently riding a 7-game point streak, scoring 5 goals and 2 assists in that span. … Craig Anderson earned his 3rd shutout of the season Monday night against Tampa Bay. Anderson had help up front from rookie Matt Duchene who scored two goals. … Paul Stastny had a fantastic week for his Avs, scoring a goal and 5 assists, 4 of those points coming against Florida (1+3). … Daniel Sedin notched 4 points in 4 games, including a goal and assist against the Devils. … Roberto Luongo stopped 38 shots Thursday against Philadelphia for his second shutout of the year. … Alex Semin made his return to the Capitals lineup and has scored 6 points in two games (2+4). … Did you know Phil Kessel has 10 goals in his past 14 games? … Dany Heatley may have only scored one goal and two assists this week but in 4 games, he has 20 shots on goal, including 7 in the first period against St. Louis. … Heatley’s teammate Ryan Clowe is riding a 9-game point streak … The Penguins were the first team to reach 20 wins with their victory over Colorado Thursday. Evgeni Malkin had 3 assists in the win. … Washington’s Eric Fehr is riding a 6 game point streak. … Carey Price was solid for the Habs in their Centennial game, only allowing one goal on 38 shots. Cammalleri’s hat trick helped propel the Canadiens to a 5-1 win. The Habs honored their past greats with former players Guy Lafleur, Jean Beliveau and Patrick Roy in attendance. … Did you know Martin St. Louis has played in 336 consecutive games? … Mikko Koivu and Antti Miettinen each had 2 goals and an assists against Anaheim Friday night. Joffery Lupul and Bobby Ryan each had 2 goals for the Ducks as the Wild won in a shootout. … The Capitals routed the Flyers 8-2 on Saturday. Nicklas Backstrom scored a goal and 4 assists, Mike Green had 2 goals and 2 assists and Tomas Fleischmann had 2 goals for the Caps. … Wayne Simmonds’ 2 assists against St. Louis extended his point streak to 6 games. … Mike Smith stopped 30 shots for the shutout on Saturday night.

Notes:

-The Philadelphia Flyers fired head coach John Stevens Friday, replacing him with 2006 Cup winner Peter Laviolette.
-The Chicago Blackhawks announced the extensions of Jonathan Toews, Patrick Kane and Duncan Keith on Thursday. Toews and Kane will make $31.5 million over 5 years ($6.3mm cap hit) and Keith will make $72 million over 13 years ($5.52mm cap hit).
-Alex Ovechkin got handed his first career suspension for his knee-on-knee hit with Tim Gleason. Ovechkin was given 2 games.
-Florida defenseman Keith Ballard injured his own goalie by swinging his stick at the goalpost, missing and hitting netminder Tomas Vokoun in the head. Later in the week, he injured former teammate Craig Anderson by running into him in the crease.

Injury Report:

-Alex Ovechkin (WSH), knee, day-to-day.
-Jonas Gustavsson (TOR), second ablation heart procedure, indefinitely.
-Sidney Crosby (PIT), groin, day-to-day.
-Teemu Selanne (ANA), broken bone in hand, surgery, 4-6 weeks.
-Alexandre Picard (OTT), upper body injury, DTD.
-Brian Rafalski (DET), back injury, unknown.
-Patrick Eaves (DET), ankle, unknown.
-Mike Comrie (EDM) mononucleosis, indefinitely.
-Paul Gaustad (BUF), knee, unknown.
-Rostislav Klesla (CBJ), torn groin, 6 weeks.
-Jussi Jokinen, Chad LaRoase, (CAR), lower body injuries, unknown.
-Joe Corvo (CAR), leg laceration, 8-12 weeks.
-Jay McKee (PIT), Brian Sutherby (DAL), Martin Havlat (MIN), Antti Miettinen (MIN), Rob Niedermayer (NJD), Alexander Semin (WSH), Rene Bourque (CGY), Milan Hejduk (COL), Robert Nilsson (EDM), Scott Walker (CAR), Johnny Oduya (NJD) and Ed Jovanoski (PHX) all returned from injury or illness.

Milestones:

-Montreal Canadiens celebrated their 100th year Friday.
-Corey Perry (ANA) set a new franchise record point streak at 19 games. The streak ended Thursday.
-Chicago coach Joel Quenneville won his 500th game as coach in a shootout win against the Columbus Blue Jackets.
-Sidney Crosby (PIT) scored his 150th career goal Thursday against the Avalanche.
-Ryan Whitney (ANA) played his 300th career game on Thursday.
-Jakub Kindl made his NHL debut for Detroit.
-Jordan Staal (PIT) played his 250th consecutive game Saturday. He scored the game-tying goal in a 2-1 OT loss to Chicago.
-Aaron Ward (CAR) notched his 100th career assist Saturday when the Canes took on the Canucks.
-Victor Hedman (TBL) scored his first NHL goal.
-Play-by-play announcer Randy Hahn called his 1,000th game for the Sharks Saturday night.