Matthews, Petterson, Malkin named NHL Three Stars
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A six-goal performance in his first two games of the season has earned Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews the nod as the NHL's First Star of the Week.
Elias Petterson of the Vancouver Canucks and the Pittsburgh Penguins' Evgeni Malkin round out the Three Stars for the first week of the season.
A two-time Rocket Richard winner, Matthews became just the fifth player in NHL history to score a hat trick in each of his first two games, doing so in Leafs wins over the Montreal Canadiens and Minnesota Wild. Against the Habs, Matthews reached the 300-goal mark, becoming the 10th-fastest player to reach the mark in league history.
The 26-year-old Matthews' 305 goals are the most anybody has scored since he entered the league in 2016.
Petterson, 24, notched a goal and set up five more in the Canucks' back-to-back wins over the Edmonton Oilers to start the season.
It marked the team's first 2-0 start to a campaign since 2017.
Petterson became just the second player in franchise history to record six or more points in the first two games of a season.
Malkin, 37, is in his 18th NHL season and recorded two goals and four assists in three games this past week.