Chicago Blackhawks, NHL 3 Stars: Panarin Posts Stellar Week

Dec 17, 2016; St. Louis, MO, USA; Chicago Blackhawks left wing Artemi Panarin (72) shoots and scores an empty net goal as St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko (55) dives to defend during the third period at Scottrade Center. The Blackhawks won 6-4. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports

The debut of our Chicago Blackhawks/NHL 3 Stars segment starts with a strong week from Artemi Panarin

The NHL does something each week, and then each month, where it hands out 3 Stars for strong performers across all its teams. The Chicago Blackhawks are often seeing winners for these honors, guys like Corey Crawford, Patrick Kane, Artemi Panarin and Artem Anisimov.

Well, at Blackhawk Up, we’re going to start doing something similar. Each Sunday (this first edition is coming out Monday due to some weather-related issues that delayed publication), we’ll take a look at three guys who shone not only for the Chicago Blackhawks, but also within the Eastern Conference and Western Conference over a given week.

Since this 3 Stars post will come out each Sunday, the post will take a look back at the previous Sunday through the just-finished Saturday. For this post, that means I’ll be looking back at Dec. 11’s win against the Dallas Stars, Dec. 13’s victory over the New York Rangers, Dec. 15’s triumph against the New York Islanders and Dec. 17’s win against the St. Louis Blues. The next Blackhawk Up writer gets to handle Sunday’s win against San Jose.

So let’s get started with three strong Chicago Blackhawks over the last week and move on from there.

Dec 13, 2016; New York, NY, USA; Chicago Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling (33) makes a save during the second period at against the New York Rangers Madison Square Garden. Mandatory Credit: Adam Hunger-USA TODAY Sports

Chicago Blackhawks 3 Stars

Third star: D Duncan Keith

I probably could’ve given this spot to Artem Anisimov. But Keith had a really solid four games prior to Sunday against San Jose.

Keith posted four assists across those four games to run his season total up to 21 on the year prior to Sunday, giving him the team lead. He also potted three of those on the powerplay, giving him the second-most man-advantage points among the Blackhawks in those four games.

On top of all that, he averaged a silly 26:30 in ice time. None of those three games were blowouts (though the Stars didn’t seem to be much into their game against Chicago), so Keith was needed throughout. And he helped the Blackhawks to four wins with good play on both ends of the ice.

Second star: G Scott Darling

The previous four games heading into Sunday against San Jose was like a tale of two different goaltenders. At least the scoreboard suggested as much.

But really, Darling was solid throughout four consecutive wins against the Stars, Rangers, Islanders and Blues. The backup still managed a .915 save percentage and 2.50 goals-allowed average over the four games despite allowing eight goals across the last two.

Reason being, he was really good against Dallas and the Rangers. He stopped 23 of 24 shots against the Stars before corralling 33 of 34 in Part I of the New York trip.

He was even good against the Islanders, as poor play on his part probably would’ve seen Chicago staring up at a touchdown and PAT allowed … or worse. He wound up with 28 saves on 32 attempts. The Blues game was meh, but the week was all-around good for Darling.

First star: Artemi Panarin

This was an easy choice. Anisimov, Keith and Patrick Kane each tallied four points over the previous four games prior to Sunday’s tilt. Panarin posted a ridiculous nine points in that same stretch.

The guy is certainly starting to feel it. His one-timer is clicking on all cylinders, his on-ice vision is somehow getting even better and he’s showing continued killer chemistry with typical linemates Kane and Anisimov while also faring well with other Blackhawks in different situations.

Four goals and five assists, with three powerplay goals and four powerplay points, all with just 10 shots on goal means you’ve earned the Blackhawks’ first star for the previous week.

Dec 17, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; New York Rangers goalie Henrik Lundqvist (30) makes a save on a shot by Nashville Predators center Ryan Johansen (92) during the shootout at Bridgestone Arena. The Rangers won 2-1 in a shootout. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Eastern Conference 3 Stars

Third star: Tampa Bay D Victor Hedman

Would you believe the top three point earners in the Eastern Conference last week were all blueliners? It’s true, and Hedman topped the trio.

While Pittsburgh’s Justin Schultz and Washington’s Matt Niskanen each tallied five points last week, Hedman created six points, with five coming on assists.

Three of Hedman’s helpers came in a good road win against Calgary, while he added an assist in helping Tampa Bay get a point against Edmonton. The Lightning have struggled of late (2-6-2 in their last 10 games), so Hedman’s offensive production — while averaging a Keith-like 26:30 in ice time last week — is certainly a bright spot.

Second star: New York Rangers G Henrik Lundqvist

Apparently motivated by Antti Raanta receiving four consecutive starts previously, Lundqvist stepped up his game big time for the Rangers at the end of last week. And he did it under some heavy fire.

Returning to the net against Dallas, Lundqvist posted a 27-save shutout in a 2-0 road victory. He also took a nasty high hit from the Stars’ Cody Eakin, but missed just about five minutes of ice time and finished out the win.

Lundqvist followed that up by helping the Rangers to a 2-1 road shootout win against the Nashville Predators, with Lundqvist stopping 31 shots and two shootout bids. His stats for the previous week: two wins, .983 save percentage, 0.50 goals-against average. Solid.

First star: Columbus G Sergei Bobrovsky

Everything is going well right now for the Blue Jackets, who had reeled off eight straight wins prior to Sunday’s game to climb into third place in the Metropolitan Division (they added a ninth straight win Sunday). The guy in net has played a big role in that.

Bobrovsky notched two wins with a .965/1.00 stat line last week. Both of his starts went swimmingly, as he turned aside 55 of 57 shots in wins against Edmonton and Calgary. Being a key part of your team’s eight-game win streak gets you a top star.

Dec 15, 2016; Nashville, TN, USA; Minnesota Wild goalie Devan Dubnyk (40) celebrates after a win against the Nashville Predators at Bridgestone Arena. The Wild won 5-2. Mandatory Credit: Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports

Western Conference 3 Stars

Third star: Minnesota Wild C Eric Staal

These three stars are all about the win streaks. The Wild are on a seven-game heater, and last week they outscored four opponents by a 17-5 margin. The big offensive gun in that fight was Staal.

The former Carolina Hurricane matched Chicago’s Panarin with four goals last week, adding two assists. He secured his 800th career NHL point last Sunday against St. Louis and had goal against Florida, two against Nashville and another versus Arizona, also adding an assist in that latter game.

Second star: Minnesota Wild G Devan Dubnyk

It wasn’t all about the scoring last week for Minnesota. They also got some really solid goaltender from one of the early, but quieter, Vezina Trophy favorites.

Dubnyk started all but the Arizona game last week, winning three times while posting a crazy-good .955/1.33 slashline. He faced 89 shots and turned away 85 of them, helping Minnesota into second place in the Central Division.

First star: Chicago Blackhawks G Scott Darling/Chicago Blackhawks F Artemi Panarin

We’ll try not to make a habit of cheating like this in the 3 Stars posts, but this one was too tough to pass up.

Darling stepped up in a big way last week in Corey Crawford’s absence, posting four wins in as many tries while stopping 107 of 117 shots. Only St. Louis’ Jake Allen (118) and Arizona’s Mike Smith (135) saw more rubber last week.

Panarin far and away had the most points in the league last week and has been clicking right along just as the Blackhawks have strung together a six-game (seven after Sunday) win streak.

Stellar work from these two guys to push Chicago into first place in the league allows them to split the Western Conference’s first star in our first edition of Chicago Blackhawks/NHL 3 Stars.