Mats Zuccarello named NHL’s Third Star of the Week

The Minnesota Wild are riding high on a five-game win streak but some players are getting national recognition for how damn well everyone is doing in St. Paul.

On Monday morning, Mats Zuccarello was named the NHL’s Third Star of the Week.

Zuccarello is in the middle of a career-high 10-game point streak and through the four games played this week, the winger scored five goals and eight points, including his first hat trick since 2015.

Over the entire season, Zuccarello is second on the Wild in points scored with 36 and second in goals with 14, all in just 31 games.

The 35-year-old is having a renaissance season once again. After last season’s career high 79-point campaign, he is set to match it or score about the same amount of points as he has completely turned around his career in Minnesota. At one point, fans were wondering about buying his contract out or just regretting the decision that was made to sign him as a free agent in 2019, but now, he’s one of the best offensive contributors and his partnership with star Kirill Kaprizov is undeniable.

Joining him in the three stars is Washington Capitals’ Alex Ovechkin who scored his 800th career goal in a five-point week, and Buffalo Sabres youngster Tage Thompson who scored four goals and eight points in four games. Not bad company at all for Zuccarello.

The Wild continue and hope to extend their winning streak on Wednesday against the Anaheim Ducks.