NHL Players of the Week - 10/19 through 10/24

By Dara Heaps

1. Dustin Penner and Ales Hemsky, Edmonton Oilers. Penner and Hemsky turned in a fantastic performance in a come-from-behind win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. They combined for 10 points and had a hand in 5 of the Oilers 6 goals. Edmonton fell behind 4-1 but thanks to an inspiring effort by Penner and Hemsky, the Oilers came back to win 6-4. Penner went on to score a goal against Calgary and Hemsky recorded 2 assists in a 5-2 loss Saturday night.

2. Anze Kopitar, Los Angeles Kings. The Kings are off to a fantastic start this season. Kopitar lead the way this week, recording 7 points, including a hat trick in a 5-4 OT win against Dallas. The Kings are 7-4-0 this season so far. Their biggest problem has been holding the lead but so far they have had strong support from their offense. With Kopitar, Drew Doughty, Dustin Brown and Ryan Smyth leading the way, the Kings look poised for their first playoff berth since 2002.

3. Jaroslav Halak, Montreal Canadiens. Carey Price is in the doghouse again. Halak has started the past 3 games and won all 3. He allowed only one goal in his first two against the Atlanta Thrashers and the New York Islanders before allowing 4 against the red-hot New York Rangers. He ended the week with a .916 save percentage.

Honorable Mentions

Mike Cammalleri helped Halak out Saturday night by netting 3 goals and an assist. … Nashville’s J.P Dumont had 5 points (1+4) in a 6-5 OT win over Ottawa. Shea Weber netted 2 goals and an assist in the win. … Devin Setoguchi helped the Sharks rout the Rangers Monday night 7-3 with 2 goals and an assist. … Sidney Crosby scored his first career goal short-handed in his 300th regular season game Friday night in a 3-2 shootout win versus Florida. … Cristobal Huet stopped all 27 shots the Predators sent his way, recording his first shutout of the season. … The New Jersey Devils beat the Penguins 4-1 Saturday night to extend their road record to 5-0-0. … Craig Anderson continues to shine for the Avalanche, stopping 48 of 49 shots against the Red Wings, handing them their 3rd loss in a row. … Colin Wilson scored his first NHL goal against the Boston Bruins. … Roberto Luongo won 2 on 3 games for the Canucks this week putting up a .934 sv% in the process. … Zach Parise scored 3 goals and 2 assists this week for the Devils. … Mike Smith made 32 saves on 34 shots by the Sharks fror a 5-2 win. … Jason Spezza had 3 assists in an inspired effort against the Predators. The Senators ultimately lost 6-5 in overtime. … Ales Kotalik, Marian Gaborik, Vaclav Prospal and Michael Del Zotto continue to be the Rangers best players. … Brent Johnson and Tomas Vokoun battled it out Friday night in Pittsburgh, each making fantastic saves to keep their team in the game. Johnson and the Pens came out victorious in a shootout. … Boston came from 2 goals down in the final minutes of regulation to win in a shootout against Ottawa Saturday night. … Mason Raymond scored 2 goals for Vancouver in a 3-1 win over Toronto.

A lot of focus is put on the NHL top players and understandably so but the Stanley Cup can’t be won by just top players. Pittsburgh boasts two of the best players in the world in Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Crosby and Malkin can do all the scoring on their own though, and that’s where the Penguins 3rd line come into play. Jordan Staal flanked by Tyler Kennedy and Matt Cooke are arguably the best 3rd line in the league. When they get the puck, they can cycle it and wear down the league’s best players. They play the majority of their time in the offensive zone, take few penalties and they’re responsible defensively. They do everything a 3rd line should do. Staal, Kennedy and Cooke have been playing on the same line for almost a year now and have excellent chemistry. Kennedy has 5 goals in 9 games so far this season and either Staal or Cooke assisted on 4 of them. Teams in the new NHL can’t be successful with just 2 lines. Staal, Kennedy and Cooke add excellent depth to the Pens team.

Major thumbs down this week to Carolina’s Tuomo Ruutu for his hit on Darcy Tucker of the Colorado Avalanche. Six minutes into the 2nd period, Ruutu hit Tucker from behind, showing complete lack of respect for Tucker. Ruutu smashes Tucker’s head into the glass, resulting in Tucker needing 40 stitches and an night in the hospital. Ruutu was suspended for 3 games. No one likes to see plays like this happen. Plays like this raise questions of why there aren’t more stringent rules about hitting from behind. As our junior hockey writer Andrew Harvey said, “Maybe the NHL needs to put stop signs on the back of their jerseys like the 10 year old kids have.” Players should have more respect for one another to not make plays like the one Ruutu made.