Connor named Third Star of the Week

The Winnipeg Jets Hockey Club, in conjunction with the National Hockey League, today announced that forward Kyle Connor has been named the NHL's Third Star of the Week for the week ending Mar. 25/18.

Connor, 21, led the Jets to a perfect 3-0-0 record last week to help the club clinch their third playoff berth in franchise history. He recorded a pair of goals, including the overtime winner, to lead the Jets to a 2-1 win over the Los Angeles Kings on Tuesday. On Friday, Connor became the second rookie in NHL history to score a regular season OT goal in consecutive games when he scored in the extra frame in the 3-2 victory over the Anaheim Ducks. The Shelby Township, Michigan native scored once again and added a pair of assists in yesterday's 5-4 shootout win over the Nashville Predators. In total, Connor had six points (4G, 2A) and a plus-five rating in the three games. He has at least one goal in five of Winnipeg's last six games and he has seven goals and two assists over that span.

On the season, Connor has 50 points (29G, 21A) in 69 games played. He is tied for the rookie lead in goals (29), sits second among freshmen in power play goals (7), and is fifth among NHL rookies in points (50). With his goal yesterday, Connor tied Ilya Kovalchuk for the second-most rookie goals (29) in franchise history and trails Kovalchuk by one point for third-highest point total by a freshman in franchise history (51).
This is the first time in his career that Connor has been selected in the NHL's Three Stars of the Week. He is the sixth different Jets player to be selected in 2017-18 and it is the ninth instance that a Jet has been among the Three Stars of the Week. Connor joins Patrik Laine (Mar. 12 - First Star, Mar. 5 - Second Star, and Feb. 20 - First Star), Mark Scheifele (Feb. 18 - Third Star), Connor Hellebuyck (Jan. 2 - First Star and Jan. 22 - Second Star), Blake Wheeler (Dec. 4 - First Star), and Nikolaj Ehlers (Oct. 16 - First Star) as members of the Jets that have earned NHL Three Stars of the Week honours this season.