There were an abundance of top tier performers in January.
Today, as we do early on in each month, we’re going to take a look at the best of the bunch. The three best, in fact.
Let’s get to it.
3rd star – Alex Pietrangelo
Pietrangelo may not be the front-runner for the Norris Trophy but his level of performance in January should certainly help his case.
For starters, he was excellent defensively. The Blues allowed just 45.62 shot attempts and 8.78 Grade A chances per 60 minutes with him on the ice at 5v5. The goals against numbers weren’t as flattering but poor goaltending (.852 on-ice SV%) had more to do with that than Pietrangelo. All he can do is limit the chances. He can’t control whether Jordan Binnington and/or Jake Allen stop them.
Pietrangelo’s offensive impact was also very impressive. The Blues scored 17 goals with him out there at 5v5. No defenseman in the NHL was on for a bigger number.
Individually he was very productive. Pietrangelo mustered up 12 points in 11 games, which tied him with Roman Josi and John Carlson for tops among defenders.
It was a very impactful month for St. Louis’ captain.
2nd star – Elvis Merzlikins
The Columbus Blue Jackets are one of the best stories in the league this season.
Many – myself included – expected them to be one of the Eastern Conference’s bottom-feeders; and for good reason. They lost an unrivaled amount of talent with Artemi Panarin, Sergei Bobrovsky, Matt Duchene, and Ryan Dzingel, among others, all walking away from the team for nothing.
It hasn’t mattered and Merzlikins is a big reason why. He’s had no problem carrying the mail since Joonas Korpisalo went down with an injury. In fact, Merzlikins has fared even better than Korpisalo was – and the latter was named an All-Star.
Merzlikins appeared in 10 games during the month of January. He posted an absurd .948 save percentage (1st), and a .867 SV% vs high-danger shots (4th).
The Blue Jackets are considered a strong defensive team but don’t let that take anything away from what Merzlikins did in January. Nobody faced more shots or expected goals, and only four netminders faced more Grade A looks.
Merzlikins’ workload was difficult and he still put up numbers very few, if any, managed to rival.
1st star – Nikita Kucherov
It took a while for Nikita Kucherov to reach the level we saw a year ago but he is definitely there now.
Kucherov terrorized the NHL in every way possible last month, putting together one of the best strings of games we’ve seen from any player all season.
Here are just a few of the ridiculous numbers from Kucherov in January:
- Kucherov was on the ice for a league-leading 19 goals at 5v5.
- Kucherov posted a +13 goal differential in that game state, good for 1st in the NHL.
- Kucherov led the NHL with 15 points at 5v5.
- Kucherov led the NHL with 15 primary points overall.
- Kucherov led the NHL with 19 total points overall.
- Kucherov ranked 6th with 45 scoring chances generated.
The Lightning very much look the part of the Stanley Cup favorites they were considered to be prior to the year. Kucherov’s dominant run is a big reason why.
Updated leaderboard
Points (appearances)
3 = 1st star, 2 = 2nd star, 1 = 3rd star
David Pastrnak – 3 points (1)
Nathan MacKinnon – 3 points (1)
Roman Josi – 3 points (1)
Nikita Kucherov – 3 points (1)
Elvis Merzlikins – 2 points (1)
Connor McDavid – 2 points (1)
Leon Draisaitl – 2 points (1)
Auston Matthews – 2 points (1)
Alex Pietrangelo – 2 points (2)
J.T. Miller – 1 point (1)
Connor Hellebuyck – 1 point (1)
Numbers via NaturalStatTrick.com
