The NHL named Florida Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau its First Star for the month of December.
Pittsburgh Penguins goaltender Tristan Jarry and New York Rangers right wing Artemi Panarin were the second and third stars, respectively.
Huberdeau tied for the most points in the league in December, amassing 22 points on six goals and 16 assists in 13 contests for an average of 1.69 points-per-game – tops in the NHL – as the Panthers (21-14-5, 45 points) had a 7-6-0 record for the month.
There have only been two instances of a Florida player with more points in a calendar month: Aleksander Barkov (7-17—24) and Huberdeau (9-14—23) himself in March 2019 (16 games played).
Huberdeau put up points in 10 of 13 games, including back-to-back four-point showings and three four-point outings overall. The crafty winger recorded his seventh career four-point game December 29 to surpass Pavel Bure (6) for the most in franchise history – he also tallied his 50th point of the season that day. The 26-year-old native of Saint-Jerome, Quebec, moved into second place on the club’s all-time points list with two assists on December 8 versus the San Jose Sharks. Huberdeau (412 in 506 GP) now needs seven points to tie Olli Jokinen (419 in 567 GP) for the most in franchise history.
After last night’s game in Ottawa, Huberdeau, who produced a goal and an assist, ranks seventh in the NHL in scoring with 17 goals, 38 assists and 55 points (40 GP) and was recently named to his first NHL All-Star Game, which will be played January 25 in St. Louis, MO.
Congratulations for the honor, Jonathan! You earned it.