NHL Players of the Week: 10/25 through 10/31

By Dara Heaps

1. Tomas Kaberle, Toronto Maple Leafs. The Leafs got their first win of the season (finally) on the road against Anaheim this week and Kaberle has instrumental to the Leafs . In 4 games, all on the road, Kaberle has 2 goals and a whopping 10 assists. The Leafs picked up points in all but one game on their 5 game road trip (and deserved at least a point in their loss against Vancouver). With winger Phil Kessel expected in the lineup Tuesday when the Leafs face off against the Tampa Bay Lighting and the return of their top-2 netminders in Vesa Toskala and Jonas Gustavsson, Toronto should start winning more consistently.

2. Craig Anderson, Colorado Avalanche. People keep questioning when the Avs will be the bottom feeder most analysts expected. With Anderson playing the way he is, it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen any time soon. Anderson shut out the Edmonton Oilers Tuesday, allowed 2 goals on 32 shots for a win against Calgary and only allowed 3 goals against 46 shots in a loss to San Jose. Anderson finished the week with a sparkling .951 save percentage.

3. Players with Hat Tricks. Four players had hat tricks this week, all of them worth mentioning. First was Nicklas Hagman of the Toronto Maple Leafs, netting 3 goals on the power play against Anaheim. His hat trick propelled the Leafs to a 6-3 win. Next to score three was Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby. Crosby scored 3 goals on 9 shots, all at even strength. Friday night saw Steven Reinprecht tally 3 for a natural hat trick against the Dallas Stars. Reinprecht also added an assists in a shootout win. Jeff Tambellini notched 3 goals on 5 shots against the Buffalo Sabres Saturday night for his first career hat trick. The Isles won 5-0 thanks to Tambellini’s offensive output.

Honorable Mentions

A few goalies threw up the ol’ goose egg this week. Roberto Luongo became the Canucks shutout leader Sunday before going down with a rib injury, stopping 27 shots the Oilers threw at him. Thursday saw a pair of goalies with shutouts. First was Pekka Rinne who stopped 22 shots against Chicago followed by Phoenix’s Ilya Bryzgalov, stopping St. Louis’s 32 shots. Tuuka Rask stopped 19 shots for his shutout against Edmonton Saturday afternoon. Later that night, Martin Biron stood tall for the Islanders, not allowing a goal on 38 Buffalo shots. Like Bryzgalov, Tomas Vokoun shutout the Blues. Vokoun stopped 34 shots. … Alex Ovechkin added to his goal total this week by netting 5 goals in 3 games. Ovechkin with his linemates Nicklas Backstrom (1+3) and Alex Semin (1+2) combined for 4 goals against Philadelphia on Tuesday. … Pat Marleau continued his great start by scoring a goal and 4 assists. Marleau was also good in the faceoff circle, particularly against Colorado, winning 72.2% of his draws. … Detroit has been bitten by the injury bug, but since coming back from his own injury, Pavel Datsyuk has been solid. Datsyuk lead the Wings to a win over Vancouver scoring 2 goals and an assist. Datsyuk added 2 assits against Edmonton and another in Calgary. … Zach Parise’s 6 game point streak (Oct 16 through Oct 29) came to an end Saturday. The Devils are 7-0 on the road after beating the Lightning in a shootout Saturday afternoon. … Nathan Horton assisted on all 3 of Reinprecht’s goals for his hat trick against Dallas. Horton ended the week with a goal and 6 assists. … San Jose’s Thomas Greiss allowed 1 goal on 37 saves against the Flyers for his first NHL win. … Marian Gaborik turned in a fantastic performance for the Rangers against the Coyotes before getting injured late in the game. Gaborik scored 2 goals on the power play and an assist. … Lee Stempniak had a goal and 3 assists in Toronto’s win over Anaheim. … Chris Kunitz assisted on Crosby’s hat trick and added a goal of his own against Montreal. Linemate Billy Guerin assisted on 3 of Pittsburgh’s 6 goals. … The Phoenix Coyotes have been playing some solid hockey (even if no one in Glendale is watching). Jason LaBarbera made 31 saves, allowing only 1 goal and Keith Yandle hade 3 assists on the power play against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Wednesday night. … The Islanders went 3-0 last week, thanks in part to the effort of Dwayne Roloson, allowing 4 goals on 75 shots, good for a .960 save percentage. … Steven Stamkos put on quite a show against the Ottawa Senators on Thursday, scoring 2 power play goals and an assists. … 'The Savior' Zach Bogosian had 3 goals this week, 2 against the Washington Capitals. … Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry each had 2 goals and an assist in a 7-2 rout of the Vancouver Canucks. Ryan Getzlaf chipped in 2 assists. … Colorado Rookie Matt Duchene scored his first career short-handed goal against the San Jose Sharks. … Atlanta netminder Ondrej Pavelec made an astounding 50 saves in a 3-1 win over the Senators on Saturday. … Matt Carle continues to put up points for the Flyers, scoring a goal and 2 assists along with Scott Hartnell in a rout of the Carolina Hurricanes. Brayden Coburn scored 2 goals, the first of his career and David Laliberte scored his first NHL goal in his first NHL game.

Notes

Chances are no matter what team you cheer for, you’ve got a few injuries. According to Kevin Allen of USA Today, 110 NHL regulars are either injured or sick which is roughly 18% of players. A fair few of these injured are major injuries. Detroit’s Johan Franzen is out 4 months (if not longer) with a torn ACL. Chicago’s Marian Hossa has yet to play a game due to off-season shoulder surgery. Philadelphia’s Simon Gagne needs surgery to repair two small hernias in his right groin. Andrei Markov lacerated his ankle and will be out for four months. The list goes on.

Sickness has also been a problem. Colorado’s Peter Budaj and Edmonton’s Ladislav Smid both have swine flu. One of the most injury-ravaged teams is the Boston Bruins. First left winger Milan Lucic broke his right index finger, requiring surgery. Not long after Lucic’s injury, his linemate center Marc Savard went down with a broken left foot. Both are expected to be out 4-6 weeks. The Bruins have now lost the whole of their top line from last season with Phil Kessel being traded to the Leafs.

Arguably the biggest lost belongs to Montreal. Markov is not only key to their power play and penalty kill, but Markov is akin to Pittsburgh’s Sergei Gonchar (also injured with a broken left wrist, out 4-6 weeks), the silent leader. There’s no real replacement for Markov on the Habs roster. These players will eventually return but its an interesting phenomenon this season.