Victor Hedman named NHL's First Star of the Week

NEW YORK (Dec. 30, 2019) - Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman, St. Louis Blues goaltender Jordan Binnington and Toronto Maple Leafs center John Tavares have been named the NHL's "Three Stars" for the week ending Dec. 29.

FIRST STAR - VICTOR HEDMAN, D, TAMPA BAY LIGHTNING

Hedman shared the League lead with six assists and paced all skaters with 2-6-8 in three contests, including back-to-back games with at least three points, to help the Lightning (20-13-4, 44 points) to a perfect 3-0-0 week. Hedman opened the week by recording 2-1-3, his sixth career multi-goal game, in a 6-1 win over the Florida Panthers Dec. 23. He followed that up by establishing a career high with four assists - his
third career four-point game
- in a 5-4 victory against the Montreal Canadiens Dec. 28. In doing so, he registered consecutive games with at least three points for the second time in his career (also Jan. 23-25, 2014) - no other Lightning defenseman has posted back-to-back three-point showings. He capped the week with one assist in a 2-1 triumph over the Detroit Red Wings Dec. 29, his third point of the week on a game-winning goal (1-2-3). A 29-year-old native of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden, Hedman ranks third in scoring among defensemen with 9-28-37 in 35 games, an average of 1.06 points-per-game.