Anderson Named NHL’s 3rd Star of the Week – 1/9/2012

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Dallas Stars forward Jamie Benn, Toronto Maple Leafs forward Joffrey Lupul and Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson were named Monday as the NHL’s Three Stars for the past week.

Benn earned First Star honors after putting together three multi-point efforts in a five-day span, giving him four straight multi-point games overall. He contributed a goal and 2 assists in a loss to Detroit on Tuesday, had a goal and an assist in a victory against Nashville on Thursday and capped his big week with a pair of goals, including the game-winner, against Edmonton on Saturday. Benn’s 4 game-winning goals tie him for the team lead and tie him for 11th in the League.

Lupul continued his surge in the NHL scoring race with 2 goals and 5 assists as the Maple Leafs surged back into the top eight in the Eastern Conference with three straight wins. Lupul recorded a goal and 3 assists — including the 300th point of his career — in a rout of the Lightning on Tuesday. He assisted on a goal in a shutout against the Jets on Thursday, and then contributed the game-winning goal plus an assist to a win against the Red Wings on Saturday. Lupul entered Monday tied for fourth in the League in scoring with 47 points, just two behind the leader, Henrik Sedin.

Anderson survived a high volume of shots to post a 3-0-1 record, extending his overall run to 5-0-1 in his last six starts. Anderson helped the Senators defeat the Devils and Lightning before earning a home-and-home split with the Flyers over the weekend. Anderson stopped 35 of 36 shots against Tampa Bay, and then finished with 36 and 33 saves, respectively, in the weekend games with Philadelphia. Anderson leads all NHL goaltenders this season in shots faced (1,120) and saves (1,010).

From NHL.com