Martin Jones backstopped the Seattle Kraken to a historic road trip, while Nikolaj Ehlers and Lucas Raymond excelled this past week in the NHL.
Welcome to THN.com’s Three Stars of the Week. This regular column points out the NHL’s three best competitors this past week. Let’s get right to it:
3. Lucas Raymond, Detroit
This is Raymond’s sophomore NHL season, and though there have been stretches where he wasn’t producing offense – in an eight-game stretch at the beginning of the season, he put up only four assists – Raymond is now thriving on the Red Wings’ top line.
This week. Raymond amassed three goals and seven points in three games. In his past 12 games, he’s netted six goals and 14 points. That’s the improved pace Red Wings fans saw in his rookie campaign last year, and that’s a great harbinger of what he can bring to Detroit’s offense when he’s at his best.
Raymond is just 20 years old, but he’s a key component for the Wings’ present and future. He can be a slick, slippery force with the puck, and Detroit GM Steve Yzerman and coach Derek Lalonde have him as the Wings’ first line. Unsurprisingly, he’s second on the team in goals (13) and points (30).
Raymond is on pace for a 26-goal, 60-point season, which would be a slight improvement on his 23-goal, 57-point rookie campaign. But the Wings don’t mind that slow improvement. So long as there is an improvement, Detroit can rest assured they’ve got a true gem in Raymond.
2. Nikolaj Ehlers, Winnipeg
Ehlers led all NHL point-getters this week, putting together five assists and eight points in four games – and seven of those points came at even strength. He’s a hot commodity, and he’s thrived this week while averaging only 15:50 of ice time.
Health issues have limited the 26-year-old Dane to just seven games this season, but when he is on the ice, Ehlers is once again asserting himself as a significant threat on offense, as he has eight assists and 11 points in those seven games. He’s the Jets’ best right winger, and he’s one of the main drivers of their offensive attack.
Because he was sidelined for a long time, Ehlers will be hard-pressed to get back to the 28-goal plateau he reached last season, but Winnipeg coach Rick Bowness will lean on him hard to push the organization’s competitive buttons the rest of the way. And Ehlers has the capability to respond well to that challenge. His speed, savvy and ability to finish plays make him an elite competitor.
1. Martin Jones, Seattle
Long regarded as a goalie whose best days are behind him, Jones answered this week with a terrific showing. In three games, he posted back-to-back shutouts, a 3-0-0 record, a 1.67 goals-against average and a .933 save percentage. Those shutouts came against the Montreal Canadiens and the league-leading Boston Bruins.
The 32-year-old Jones is on a seven-game win streak and is performing considerably better than he was early in the season. Jones’ resurgence has gotten help from a Kraken team that’s firing on all pistons as they achieved the NHL's first-ever seven-game road trip sweep. That's propelled them to within two standings points of first place in the Pacific Division. But Jones is doing his part as well.
Jones’ play can swing between stellar and subpar – in nine of his past 16 games, he’s had an SP of between .750 and .865 – but this week, Seattle got the best of him.
The Kraken are paying Philipp Grubauer $5.9 million this season to be their starting netminder, but Jones has stolen the starter’s job, and if he continues to shine the way he has this week, Grubauer’s posterior will be nailed to the bench, and Jones will be the No. 1 guy in net.