The first star of the week is Max Pacioretty of the Montreal Canadiens.  The 24-year old recorded at least a point in all four of the Canadiens games last week.  In total he scored 4 goals and added 3 assists for 7 points during the week.  On the season, Pacioretty leads the Canadiens with 8 goals and 12 assists and is one reason the club is sitting in first place in the Eastern Conference.

The second star of the week is Patrice Bergeron of the Boston Bruins.  As if losing to their rivals last night and being knocked out of first place wasn’t enough, Bergeron is runner-up to Pacioretty.  Talk about rubbing salt in the wound.  Second star is still an honor and Bergeron had a nice week offensively, matching Pacioretty’s ability to register a point in all four games and tying him with seven points (2 goals, 5 assists). On the season Bergeron has 5 goals and 13 assists and is an impressive plus-15.

The third star of the week goes to Niklas Backstrom from the Minnesota Wild.  The Finnish netminder was perfect in all three of his games last week, going 3-0-0 with a 2.00 GAA and a .914 save percentage.  Last night he defeated the Edmonton Oilers, running his home record against the Oilers to an amazing 17-0-0.  For the year, Bakstrom is 9-5-2 with a 2.21 GAA and a .917 save percentage and is proving that he could cash in on the market when he becomes a free agent this summer.

Vanek has registered at least one point in every game the Sabres have played so far this year, so it’s not surprising that he’s leading  the NHL in points with 19.

To earn the honors, Vanek recorded 10 points in four games and still the Sabres were a disappointing 1-3 during that span.  Vanek had 5 goals and 5 assists during the week, which included a 5 point performance against the rough and tumble Boston Bruins.  It was the second time this season that the 29-year old has recorded a 5 point game, also doing so in the season opener.

Chris Kunitz of the Pittsburgh Penguins was named the second star who had eight points last week, which included a four-goal game on Sunday against the Washington Capitals.

The third star is Roberto Luongo of the Vancouver Canucks who went 2-0-1 last week, with a goals against average of 0.95 and a save percentage of .963.  His fine play has led to Luongo getting set to start his fourth straight game tonight in Edmonton when the Canucks take on the Oilers.

Who says there isn’t a goaltending controversy in Vancouver?