St. Louis Blues centre David Backes (42) celebrates his game winning goal against the Pittsburgh Penguins during the third period at the CONSOL Energy Center. The St. Louis Blues won 1-0.Charles LeClaire
St. Louis Blues centre David Backes was named NHL first star of the week Monday after leading all players with five goals and eight points over three games last week.
Backes had a four-goal game in a 6-0 win over Arizona on Jan. 6. He had a goal and an assist in a 7-2 win over San Jose two days later and added two more assists in a 5-4 victory over Carolina last Saturday.
Colorado Avalanche goaltender Semyon Varlamov was the second star and Florida Panthers left-winger Jonathan Huberdeau took the third star.
Varlamov went 3-0-0 last week with a 1.67 goals-against average, .962 save percentage and one shutout. Huberdeau had three goals and two assists last week to help the Panthers sweep a three-game trip through western Canada.