Toronto centre Auston Matthews has been named the NHL’s first star of its opening week of the 2023-24 season after he posted hat tricks in the Maple Leafs’ first two games.
Vancouver Canucks centre Elias Pettersson took second-star honours after posting a goal and five assists in two games, while Pittsburgh centre Evgeni Malkin was named third star with two goals and four assists in three games.
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Matthews became just the second player since the NHL’s inaugural 1917-18 campaign to record a hat trick in each of his first two games of a season.
He scored two of his three goals in the final five minutes of regulation to erase a two-goal deficit in Toronto’s season-opening 6-5 shootout win over Montreal on Wednesday.
Matthews followed that with three goals in a 7-4 win over Minnesota on Saturday.
Pettersson opened the season with a goal and three assists in Vancouver’s 8-1 rout of visiting Edmonton on Wednesday, and followed with two assists in the Canucks’ 4-3 win in Saturday’s rematch in Edmonton.
Malkin’s week was highlighted by a two-goal, two-assist performance in a 4-0 win at Washington on Friday.
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