Brian Elliott: NHL First Star - Will he carry the Sens to the Playoffs?

Brian Elliott is hot again -- and, not coincidentally, so are the Ottawa Senators.

Elliott's struggled after the Olympic break, and so did the Senators, to the point that there was a question whether Ottawa would make the playoffs. But Elliott was about as good as a goaltender could be last week, winning all four of his starts, including shutouts of Montreal and Philadelphia on consecutive days. He was named the NHL's First Star of the Week Monday.

For the week, Elliott allowed just four goals in four games while stopping 116 of the 120 shots he faced -- and leading the Senators into fifth place in the East and on the verge of returning to the playoffs after missing the postseason in 2008-09.

Second Star, Jimmy Howard -- The rookie netminder continues to carry the Detroit Red Wings on his back toward the playoffs. Howard won all three of his starts last week, capping it with a 1-0 shootout victory at Nashville Saturday in which he made 33 saves through 65 minutes and then stopped 10 of 11 shots in the shootout. In all, he allowed just four goals on 92 shots.

Third Star, Ilya Kovalchuk -- Kovalchuk finally had the kind of week New Jersey was waiting for when the Devils acquired him from Atlanta in early January. He had 3 goals and 5 assists for 8 points while going plus-4 in four games, including a four-point night against Columbus.

NHL.com, John Kreiser

Blog – 1 year, 10 months ago by jazg4 to Hockey. 623 views, 1 comment.