Just because the NHL is on a break doesn’t mean the award train stops chugging along.
On Monday, as it normally does during the regular season, the league named its Three Stars of the Week.
You can probably guess which member of the Florida Panthers made the cut.
Matthew Tkachuk has been on one hell of a tear lately.
He scored in six straight games for the Panthers, racking up an impressive 16 points over his past eight outings.
For this award, though, he’s only getting credit for about half of that.
Tkachuk was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Week for the three games he played last week, a road loss to Washington, a road win over St. Louis and Saturday’s victory over his brother Brady and the Ottawa Senators.
During those three games, Tkachuk racked up four goals and seven points while helping the Panthers maintain their spot atop the Atlantic Division heading into the 4 Nations tournament.
He’s now up to 22 goals and 57 points through 52 games this season.
Tkachuk and Team USA will be back on the ice for a practice on Tuesday and Wednesday ahead of their 4 Nations opener against Finland Thursday night at Bell Centre.
LATEST STORIES FROM THE HOCKEY NEWS – FLORIDA
Jesse Puljujarvi signs PTO with Florida Panthers’ AHL affiliate
First day of 4 Nations practices show who Panthers players are lining up with
Matthew Tkachuk will be wearing snazzy, custom Team USA themed skates at 4 Nations
Three takeaways: Progressively strong win over Ottawa, Tkachuk and Co. on fire
Matthew Tkachuk scores for 6th straight game, Panthers take down Senators 5-1
