Utah Hockey Club right winger Dylan GuentherWinnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and center for the Vegas Golden Knights Jack Eichel were named the NHL “Three Stars” presented by GEICO for the week ending October 13.
FIRST STAR – DYLAN GUENTHER, RW, UTAH HOCKEY CLUB
Guenther led the NHL with five goals in three games (5-0-5) to help the Utah Hockey Club (3-0-0, 6 points) post a perfect opening week, making it the second franchise in League history to win each of its first three games (also VGK in 2017-18). Guenther kicked off Utah’s season opener with two goals – including the first in franchise history 4:56 after the opening faceoff – en route to a 5-2 victory over the Blackhawks from Chicago on October 8.
He scored twice again, including his second goal in overtime (also on March 22, 2024 against SEA), when Utah came back from three separate deficits to earn a 5–4 victory against the New York Islanders on October 10. Guenther became the fifth player in NHL history to score multiple goals in each of a franchise’s first two games – and the first to accomplish the feat since the League’s inaugural season (1917/18). He added another goal in a 6–5 overtime victory against the New York Rangers on October 12. Him and his teammate Barrett Hayton became the fifth and sixth players in the NHL’s modern era (since 1943/44) to score in each of a franchise’s first three games.
Guenther, 21, who signed an eight-year contract extension with Utah on September 20, has accumulated 29-26-55 in 81 NHL appearances since being selected ninth overall in the draft. NHL selection in 2021.
SECOND STAR – CONNOR HELLEBUYCK, G, WINNIPEG JETS
Hellebuyck stopped 81 of 83 shots faced, going 3-0-0 with a 0.66 goals-against average, .976 save percentage and one shutout to help the Jets (3- 0-0, 6 points) to have a flawless start to the season. The reigning Vezina Trophy and William M. Jennings Trophy winner began the 2024/25 season with a 30-save shutout – the 38th of his career – in a 6-0 victory over the Toronto Oilers. Edmonton on October 9.
He then allowed a goal in consecutive 2–1 overtime victories, stopping 25 shots against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 11 and making 26 saves against the Minnesota Wild on October 13. Hellebuyck, 31, a two-time Vezina Trophy winner (also in 2019/20), ranks second in the NHL with 278 wins in 508 career appearances since his League debut in 2015/16 (278-173-41 , 2.61 GAA, .917 SV%, 38 SO).
THIRD STAR – JACK EICHEL, C, VEGAS GOLDEN KNIGHTS
Eichel led the NHL with six assists and seven points in three games (1-6-7) to lift the Golden Knights (3-0-0, 6 points) to their third straight 3-0-0 start to the season (7-0-0 in 2023-24 and 3-0-0 in 2022-23). He began the campaign with four assists, his second career four-assist performance (also March 31, 2018 at NSH: 0-5-5), in an 8-4 triumph over the Colorado Avalanche on October 9.
Eichel then went 1-1-2 in a 4-3 win over the St. Louis Blues on October 11 before assisting in the game-clinching goal Thomas Hertlin the third period of a 3-1 victory against the Anaheim Ducks on October 13. Eichel, 27, has produced nearly a point per game since being selected second overall in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, totaling 212-309-521 in 542 career games in the NHL. NHL.
