This Week's NHL Stars: Ovechkin, Palmieri, and H Sí

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00:00because it's time for us to talk about our three stars of the week. And one thing I can

00:06promise you here on sports grade is that we're not going to replicate what we see elsewhere.

00:09No, we don't have to pick the same three stars that everybody else thinks of. And that's

00:13the best part about it. Although two of my three stars, it's just a non-negotiable. What

00:17they've done, the performances they've had in this past week, you got to make them a

00:22star. So we're going to start with Alex Ovechkin, of course, because you've got two of the most

00:26iconic guys facing off on the ice tonight. But more importantly, it's just what he's

00:30done. 16 points in 12 games, sitting at a plus 10. And finally, he has a supporting

00:34system in the Capitals where they're not sitting in negatives when it comes to scoring. They're

00:38actually one of the top scoring teams, I think sitting at 4.18 last I checked for goals for.

00:43The chase to extend greatness is in full pursuit because how poetic is it that he grabs goal

00:47861 as a game winning goal versus that Predators team we were just talking about. Now, sometimes

00:53the push to shove is there when you compete against the Predators. But regardless, it's

00:56the fact that the Capitals needed to piece together the entirety of their game. They

01:01weren't able to get points on the board. They were stuck in their own zone all the time.

01:04They were forced to defend for dear life and then rely on their goaltending, which stepped

01:07up tremendously. But regardless, they have now started to find a way to piece the game

01:12together. Ovechkin being a key piece in that. So, of course, he's a star of the week and

01:16I'm excited to see what he does versus the Penguins tonight, which we will get into when

01:20I talk about my favorite plays of the day later on in NHL today. Then this is the sneaker

01:25for me, Kyle Palmeri. Why Kyle Palmeri? We know that the Islanders are struggling immensely

01:30right now. They're starting to string together more wins. But let's say this. They're one

01:34of the top teams for getting shots on goal and creating scoring chances. So it's not

01:38like the opportunities haven't been there. Do we hear that in a lot of press conferences

01:41with these players all the time? Yes, it feels like hockey scripts, but this is a hockey

01:45script that's actually not hyperbole. The chances have been there and considering that

01:49their roster doesn't have much of an identity, Palmeri has been tremendous for this team.

01:53First of all, he put this team on his shoulders over the last couple of performances, split

01:57his lip open. I mean, gassed from the nose all the way to the top lip versus the Rangers

02:02on Sunday. Cleans it up, goes back in, back to that hockey players are different conversation.

02:08But then outside of that, played a huge role in the comeback win versus the Penguins. Now,

02:13is there a surprise there? No. Penguins let up the most odd man rushes in the league currently.

02:17But regardless, 11 points in 14 games, not sitting as far in the negative column as he

02:21previously has before. And this is a guy who has a 30 goal caliber, picked up 30 goals

02:25last year. So no matter where you put him, he's one of the few people that's helping

02:29to generate a consistent offense or opportunities because we're not seeing that much scoring

02:33quite yet, but consisting generate chances for the Islander. So I had to put him up there

02:38just because of the way he has shouldered the New York Islanders while they try to sort

02:41through what this roster is going to look like moving forward. And Martin HS, I mean,

02:46what else can we say about the hurricanes right now? One of the most explosive offenses

02:50in the NHL at the moment, 21 points in 12 games, you guys, and three game winning goals.

02:56It's impossible to keep this guy off of the score sheet, whether it's in the assist column

02:59or the goal column. And he's helped bring this offense to life. They were off to a bit

03:04of a sluggish start through their first three games. There's still some question marks around

03:08their defense, but they're just so hard to slow down and they're so hard to keep off

03:12the board. And this is one of the leading men in that entire conversation. I do have

03:17to throw some honorary mentions out there. It's so hard to pick three stars and one of

03:21the fastest, most exciting games out there. Now, again, it's not always going to be the

03:26most popular person. It's not always gonna be the most popular player, but Ryan Donato

03:30for the Blackhawks. He needs some love on his name right now. The Blackhawks have had

03:34some moments where they've actually stood up teams defensively and it's been surprising.

03:38They've kept games much closer than anybody anticipated and they've made things a bit

03:42more exciting. Do they let up some more goals in that third period? Sure, but it's the Blackhawks.

03:46They're technically still in a rebuild, but Donato has really found a form this season

03:50so far. And you're talking about a guy who has 10 points in 13 games, a sick game winning

03:54goal more importantly versus the LA Kings, who shouldn't have been so easy to top. Then

03:59Macklin Celebrini, the two lone goals last night to keep his team from being in a shutout

04:03and plus the most disgusting, actually, no, the most ew, no look goal last night going

04:09against the Minnesota Wild, a hard team to compete against. And I love when they mention

04:13on Twitter that he's one of the guys who has the youngest guy scoring on the oldest guy

04:18in the league.

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