Music: {allcanada} Malkin, Stamkos, Sedin grab monthly honors

Sunday, January 1, 2012

{allcanada} Malkin, Stamkos, Sedin grab monthly honors

The calendar turned the page to 2012 Sunday morning, but three NHL players might be hoping 2011 never ended. Even though the year is over, though, Evgeni Malkin, Steven Stamkos and Henrik Sedin can look back on a close to the year that was good enough to win them Three Stars of the Month honors for December.

Malkin, the first star of the month, helped lift a Pittsburgh team that could have been sent reeling without captain Sidney Crosby to a four-game winning streak late in the month during which the 2009 Conn Smythe Trophy-winner had 3 goals and 8 assists. For the month of December, Malkin finished with 20 points. He is currently tied with Stamkos for fifth in the League in scoring.

Stamkos earned second star of the month honors by going on a torrid stretch that eventually put him atop the League goal-scoring lead. While Stamkos had six goals in the last three games of the month, that was merely a cap on a December in which he lit the lamp 10 times and added 7 assists.

Sedin, who currently leads the NHL with 46 points, powered Vancouver to a 10-4-1 record in December by scoring 2 goals and notching a remarkable 20 assists, giving him third star of the month honors.