Even though many teams are having their bye weeks, this week still continues to impress with great rookies! Toronto Maple Leafs Rookie Trio Game Timeline This Week: Mon., Feb. 6 at Islanders: Toronto loses 5-6 in OT, but ALL three score in each period (Auston Matthews first, Mitch Marner second, then William Nylander third). Nylander's goal would have won the game if it weren't for Andrew Ladd wanting free hockey and taking it to OT. Tues., Feb. 7 vs. Stars: Toronto wins 3-1 and Matthews nets his 25th goal of the season, giving him a two-goal lead over Patrik Laine as the leader in rookie goals. Matthews is tied for 8th in the league right now. Marner also gets his 32nd assist, making him still the rookie points leader and 14th in the league. Thurs., Feb. 9 vs. Blues: Toronto loses 1-2 in OT-- thanks, Tarasenko-- but Nylander still had his hand in the game with an assist to the game-tying goal by Morgan Rielly. Nylander earned his 22nd assist in this game and places him at 5th in team for assists. Sat., Feb. 11 vs. Sabres: Marner scores the lone goal for Toronto as they lose 1-3 to their neighbor. Marner now has 15 goals and 47 points. In Review (4 GP): Matthews: 2 G (2 P) Marner: 2 G, 1 A (3 P) Nylander: 1 G, 1 A (2 P) Toronto gained the third spot in the Atlantic this week but lost it again to Boston. As of right now, they have the second Wild Card in the East, which is great because the East is tough and that shows that they are working hard to make their playoff dreams come true. The run for the playoffs would not be possible without this trio of rookies playing the way that they are right now. Their efforts get them into OT situations and at least earn them a point or they help win games not only with goals but with assists that create the play. Toronto really deserves to be in the playoffs and I hope to see them there. When to see them this week:Matthew TkachukTkachuk had a 3 point week, including a 2 point game vs. New York Rangers where he scored his 10th goal and had an assist. In Tuesday's game vs. Pittsburgh, he had an assist. Tkachuk now has 24 assists and 34 points. Calgary is one spot out of the Wild Card in the West right now. Want to see the rookie doing nice things? Here you go! Schedule:Sebastian AhoAho still remains at second in goals for the Canes at 17 after he scored in yesterday's 2-5 loss to Dallas. He also is still third in goals for rookies but holds that title with a two-goal lead over Marner. This should get interesting and I think Aho can maintain his awesome scoring pace and bring more excitement to Carolina. Schedule:Brayden PointThree points this week makes it 20 career points for Point! So many points I had to make there. Anyways, Point scored his 6th and 7th goals vs. Minnesota (NHL's best) and Winnipeg. He also had an assist in the Winnipeg game last night. Tampa has won 10 games since Point's breakthrough goal on Dec. 20 after being scoreless since his injury. Schedule:Christian DvorakDvorak had his first multigoal game of his 48 game career--at that time--against the Canadiens. Dvorak's first goal was a wrist shot that fooled Carey Price in the second period. The second goal in that game sent the Coyotes into OT where they eventually lost. The centre also won 12 of his 21 faceoff draws. Dvorak now has 7 goals in his 49 games played. He also leads the team with a 2 +/-. Schedule:Hat trick! Patrik! Point! The point leader! And more! Check out this week's amazing rookies! Anthony ManthaMantha had a great week of assists including his 12th assist against New Jersey on Tuesday. He scored his 12th goal and netted his 13th assist on Friday against the Islanders and then tallied another assist last night vs. Nashville, making his point total at 26. Detroit still remains in the middle of the Atlantic standings and is trying to keep the streak alive right now, so these next couple of months will be crucial to watch as they try to fight to maintain a legacy. Detroit will most definitely look to Mantha and others as they use their youth to keep the team alive. Brendan PerliniOn Thursday, Perlini had a productive night against Chicago as the Coyotes made a late surge that faltered as Chicago held onto their 4-3 win. Perlini assisted Christian Dvorak's goal, that made it 4-2, and then scored the last goal of the game. In last night's shootout win (and upset!) in San Jose, Perlini scored the first of the two shootout goals that fooled the Sharks into losing. Perlini now has 8 goals and 3 assists in 26 games. Zach WerenskiWerenski had a great January, finishing up with a +/- of +7 and then adding 2 last assists on Tuesday to his total of 5 for the month. The Blue Jackets' record for January was 7-6 and they remain tied for second in the Metropolitan. Patrik LaineSomeone could not handle Matthews being on top for rookie goals and decided to change that-- by being his awesome self and tying him! Laine scored his 23rd vs. St. Louis on Tuesday and then took second place for points (43) on Thursday vs. Dallas. The first place holder for rookie points is later in the report... Guess correctly and you will feel happy about who it is! Sebastian AhoWhere do I even begin to talk about Aho's week? He still remains third in goals for rookies but his week skyrocketed him even further. Aho had a 4 point night that included an assist and a HAT TRICK on Tuesday in Carolina's 5-1 rout of Philadelphia. Aho then returned to goal scoring with the game sealing goal against Edmonton on Friday where Carolina won 2-1. Carolina is third in the place for the last wild card spot after winning all 3 games this week. Brayden PointPoint has been heating up these past three games with 2 goals from Tuesday and Thursday and scored a shootout goal in Tampa's win over Anaheim last night. Point's 4th shootout goal ties him at the top among shootout goals in the league. Point is doing well after being out for 14 games with an upper body injury. Maybe Point needed that time off because he has almost tied his goal total from when he played 27 games and scored 3 goals. Keep your eye on him as the Lightning shift closer to making the playoffs. William NylanderNylander scored his first career hat trick last night in Boston for the Leafs' 6-5 win. Nylander's big game moves him up to 4th in goals (13) and 5th in points (34) for the team. He previously held the 3rd spot (21) for assists. Mitch MarnerIf you guessed Marner as the leader in rookie points, you are correct! Marner was named Rookie of the Month after a stellar January of 11 assists that placed him among some of the league's best in the assists leaderboard at 31 this season. Marner ended his January with a game of 2 points (1 goal, 1 assist) and then kept it going in the beginning of February with a goal vs. St. Louis and two assists vs. Boston last night. Toronto now is ONE point away from reaching Boston's third spot in the Atlantic Division. This would not be possible without Marner's play-making ability. All the latest news from this week's buzzworthy rookies. Markus HannikainenHannikainen scored his first career NHL goal against the Hurricanes. His goal came in the first and helped his team secure a 3-2 victory. Sebastian AhoThe underrated Aho had two goals this week and now finds himself at third place on the team's total and also third for all rookies. Aho's goals were both scored on the Blue Jackets but they were separate games. Aho is now 2 for 3 in games against his Metropolitan rival. Miles WoodWood killed last night's 4-1 win over Philadelphia with two goals. He thought that scoring a goal in that was so nice, he did it twice! Wood also got his third assist of the season vs. Minnesota last Tuesday. Auston MatthewsMatthews is now tied for third among the NHL in goals after he scored his 22nd against Buffalo. Matthews is with great company in third place as he shares the spot with Evgeni Malkin and Alex Ovechkin. That amazing trio will not last long because one of them will most definitely get their 23rd soon. Mitch MarnerMarner collected two assists this week vs. Buffalo and New York Rangers. His 27 assists lead the team with James van Riemsdyk behind at 22. Marner is tied for 18th in the NHL in assists, leads all rookies in that category, and is also with good company at 27 assists, including Jamie Benn, Evgeny Kuznetsov, and Joe Thornton. Sounds like Mitch has found his niche... Brendan PerliniYou cannot take back Perlini to the AHL All-Star Classic because he will not let it happen! He's also already been replaced but he has a good reason to stay in the NHL. Perlini's 7th goal of the season came against Minnesota off of Devan Dubnyk this week. Anytime the Coyotes face Dubnyk it's a big deal since they traded their star goalie to Minnesota a few seasons ago. Perlini is very unique among rookies being that he was born in England. He identifies as British Canadian since he moved to Canada at age 11, but he is doing great things for all the British hockey players in the future. Jakob ChychrunThe Coyotes defenseman went on a two game goal streak against Winnipeg and Minnesota. Chychrun does not mess around with his goals since his three have been scored on Carey Price, Ondrej Pavelec, and Devan Dubnyk. Not bad at all for your first season. Chychrun also had two hits vs. Winnipeg and one hit vs. Minnesota, because he plays defense too. Update on Patrik Laine:
Jets fans rejoice! Laine was cleared for full contact practice today and could possibly play on Tuesday's game vs. San Jose. We probably will get to see him in the All Star Game one week from today. Yay! Excited to feature not one, but TWO rookie goalies this week! Also happy to see defensemen and lesser known forwards collecting points this week! Juuse SarosIn Thursday's win over Boston, Nashville's star that night in goal was Saros with 35 saves in 36 shots. Saros' Goals Against Average is now 1.25, best in the NHL, and he collected his fourth win that night vs. Boston, which is the same amount as our next rookie goalie... Jared CoreauCoreau stopped 28 shots in Detroit's big win over Pittsburgh last night. Coreau only has one loss in regulation and a save percentage of .903%. Coreau played his first NHL game against Pittsburgh and gave up 4 goals in that loss. Guess he learned how to finally stop them last night... Zach WerenskiWerenski collected his 20th assist this season in Columbus' 3-1 win over Tampa. Werenski's 20 assists ranks him third in the team (tied with Cam Atkinson, good company to be around). Columbus leads the Metropolitan with 62 points are a nice surprise this year. William NylanderThe Leafs only had 2 games this week but Nylander managed to get a point in both games. His goal in Friday's game vs. New York was his 9th of the season and opened up the scoring in Toronto's 4-2 win. Nylander's other point this week was his 19th assist vs. Ottawa last night. Another achievement? Nylander made it on here while fellow teammate and Rookie Report favorite Auston Matthews did not (he will be back though). Update: Congratulations to Rookie Brock McGinn on being named NHL's third star of the week!!!McGinn collected 7 points (4 goals, 3 assists) in Carolina's three home wins.
You know it was a good week for rookies when the trio from Toronto shows up! It was a big week for rookies on the big stage and in crucial moments. Game winners are here and so are those who help their team earn at least a point. Enjoy all the latest news from this week's hottest rookies! Toronto Maple Leafs Rookie TrioAuston Matthews The hottest rookie in the NHL just keeps getting hotter, especially after heating up on the big stage at the Centennial Classic last Sunday. Matthews now caught up to Patrik Laine and is tied at second in the league with 21 goals. Matthews has put his name on the score sheet 3 out the 4 games this week, with 2 goals in the Centennial Classic, 2 assists against Washington, and 1 goal in Friday's game against New Jersey. Matthews' offense has made it possible for Toronto to be the best first period scoring team at 44 goals (StatsCentre). Mitch Marner If a Maple Leafs player isn't on here, did a report ever happen? Luckily for all of us, the entire Leafs rookie trio is here! Marner woke up this week after his 3 assist game back on Dec. 22 and scored a goal and an assist in the big game vs. Detroit. He was not finished with scoring and did the same combo against Washington on Tuesday. Marner is third in points for the team at 29 (just 1 point behind James van Riemsdyk!) but leads in assists with 22 after another 3 assist night last night. William Nylander Nylander has not scored a goal since Dec. 28, but he remains quietly behind the scenes with 2 assists in the last 4 games and the second spot on the team with 18 assists. He also is fourth in the team for points mostly because of his assists. Two givers in the trio and one amazing goal scorer. Sounds like a great group to watch in Toronto. ScheduleAnthony ManthaI'm a little upset that I have not mentioned Mantha earlier because he really is doing well with Detroit. Without Mantha, Detroit would have not earned their point in the Centennial Classic without Mantha's assist and 2 goal effort, including a clock beater that sent the game into overtime. Mantha also shined in the City of Angels when he faced the Kings and scored a goal and tallied an assist in the 4-0 shutout. He finished out the West Coast trip with a goal against San Jose last night. Mantha now has 11 goals and 8 assists in 25 games this season. SchedulePatrik LaineLaine still remains at the top of the rookies in scoring at 37 points comprised of 21 goals and 16 assists, thanks to 6 points earned this week( 1 goal, 2 assists vs. Tampa Bay, 1 goal, 1 assist vs. Florida, and 1 assist vs. Buffalo). Unfortunately, Laine was hurt in yesterday's game against Buffalo and left in the beginning of the third period. He was diagnosed with a concussion and we do not know when he will return for the Jets. ScheduleEsa LindellLindell leads all Dallas defensemen and is second on the team in +/- with +5. On the offensive side, Lindell scored his fourth goal on Wednesday against the Canadiens at a crucial time in the game. Without his goal, Dallas would have not went into overtime and earn their point in that game. Prior to that game, Lindell had not scored since Dec. 23. I wonder if he thought, 'Wow! I haven't scored in a year!' or maybe he hates it when people do that... ScheduleOndrej KaseAn insurance goal and a game winner in one week? Kase does not play around here. The rookie is heating up at the right time for the Ducks and is helping them take over the Pacific Division at first place after Friday's big win in OT against the Coyotes. Kase's goal was 'unassisted' but he did get some help from Arizona goalie Mike Smith because he is just that great. ScheduleFirst of the year!!! Auston MatthewsMatthews has had 4 points since our last meeting (2 goals and 2 assists) and is fifth overall in the NHL. Matthews still leads the team in goals and points with a sizable lead (5 goal lead and 4 points ahead). The exciting part about today is that Matthews will play his first outdoor game and everyone will be able to watch it on primetime television! It's a good thing that Matthews is on an Original Six team so we can see more of him in these games. ScheduleSebastian AhoCarolina is 10-0-1 in their last eleven home games which would not be possible without their playmaking rookie. Aho has points in each of his last three games (2 assists and 1 goal), including a crucial assist in Carolina's defeat of Chicago, the best of the West. Aho is a nice addition to the Hurricanes because he provides the offense that they want and is great at assisting plays. ScheduleMiles WoodWood came into attention for something different than scoring a game winner or being the team leader. This past week, Wood got the chance to play his childhood idol, Alex Ovechkin. Ten years ago, eleven year old Wood wrote Ovechkin a letter with a card that he wanted him to autograph and if he didn't autograph the card, Wood would check him once he got into the NHL. Such a confident kid at the time but he knew he would make it. The only problem is that Ovechkin never autographed the card so Wood had to do his promise. Did he do it? Nope, but Ovechkin autographed a picture for him, telling him to "take it easy tonight". Wood played back-to-back games against the Capitals and had a +/- of +1 in the first game, so he was not completely starstruck there! ScheduleJuuse SarosHow Nashville can help out their goaltending: Put another Finn with their Finn! It's working because Saros recorded his first career shutout on Friday against the Blues and stopped Tarasenko. What a way to have your first shutout! Saros was doing well in the AHL with the Milwaukee Admirals and was named one of the November Players of the Month, so Nashville knows what they are doing with him. ScheduleGetting closer to the All Star Game for these rookies!!
A happy thing happened for Matthews this past week, so enjoy! More to come for the other rookies this week! Schedules of the weekFind out what rookies from each report are up to with their teams this week! Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander Toronto Maple Leafs Sebastian Aho Carolina Hurricanes Patrik Laine Winnipeg Jets Matthew Tkachuk
Calgary Flames Lawson CrouseCrouse's first and last trip to the famed Joe Louis Arena was memorable. He scored his second goal of the season last Tuesday against the Red Wings. Crouse now has three points in his NHL career. *Notice the Toronto game up there?! That's going to be Auston Matthews' homecoming!! If you get a chance to watch it in person or on tv, please do it. It will be so special to him and his family. Auston MatthewsIt shouldn't be a surprise that Matthews now leads the Leafs in goals. Now at 14, thanks to a goal against the Sharks on Tuesday and one against his childhood team, the Coyotes, on Thursday. Last night his team beat the Stanley Cup champions which shows improvement to this franchise. *Seriously! His homecoming is going to be great! Sebastian AhoIt's been a good week for him as he's added on 3 points to his career (One goal on Tuesday and two assists on Friday). Aho also scored in last night's shootout win which means that he has some great skills to share with the team and is valuable to them looking forward. Ivan ProvorovEven though the winning streak ended, the Flyers are still in good hands. Provorov leads all defensemen in time on ice with 20:49 per game. Did we mention that he's 19? Oh to be young again! It will only get longer for him as the season goes on. Matthew TkachukHappy 19th birthday to Matthew today! His gift came early last night when he had THREE assists in a 6-2 victory against Winnipeg. Sebastian AhoIf you watched the World Juniors this year, this name may ring a bell. If not, that's fine but just remember this name because he can really help Carolina this season and in future seasons. Aho is ranked third in team assists with 9 and has 4 goals (including one this Wednesday at Anaheim). Coverage on this week's best rookies and names you need to know! Patrik LaineOnce again, Laine is leading the rookies in scoring! 17 goals (2 points in Tuesday's game vs. Detroit). Now third in goals for the NHL. Also, the Jets are fourth in the Central! One spot away from the playoffs unless they make the wildcard. Obviously they have time to get ahead (the trades will come too!) so they need to keep working hard to make the playoffs again! Auston MatthewsMatthews is second in line for goals, 12 goals (scored last night vs. Boston). Tied for lead in goals for the Leafs. His team has improved slightly this year and is not at the bottom of the NHL! Started from the bottom now they're trying to approach the middle of the entire NHL... Good things happened this week for the top rookies! Here's what's going on for them! Patrik LaineFour goals in three games??! Okay then... I'm pretty sure that last week I mentioned how he was in a bit of a goal drought and I'm glad to see him break out of it in a big way. P.S. He only has 8 penalty minutes so far (58 less than the highest in league)! So good job on only making 4 rookie mistakes! ScheduleAuston MatthewsStill doing well and scoring.. What else is new? Two goals in three games (tied for team-leading 11) is good, especially since one was against McDavid's Oilers. Everyone loves first overall picks going against each other and Matthews did his best to give the people what they wanted. ScheduleDrake CaggiulaCongrats to Drake Caggiula on his first NHL goal last night versus Anaheim! Caggiula was named third star of the game and his goal was off John Gibson, one of the best goalies in the game! Great job! ScheduleMatthew TkachukGuess who is now tied for the most goals on his team? Obviously Tkachuk because his name is the title and the other two aren't rookies anymore! Tkachuk is slowly but surely improving in his NHL season and he already is facing the challenge of being on a team in the rebuilding process. We hope to see him succeed this year. Schedule |
ThoughtOne century of this game and League is a wonderful milestone to celebrate. Let's hope to do this in the next century! Archives
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