New York, NY (Sports Network) - Ottawa Senators goaltender Craig Anderson has been named the NHL's First Star for the month of January.
Anderson was stellar during the truncated first month of the 2013 schedule, going 5-0-1 with a league-leading 0.99 goals-against average and NHL-best .967 save percentage. He allowed one goal or less in five of his six starts, and his lone loss was a 2-1 shootout decision to Pittsburgh where Anderson made a season-high 33 stops.
Taking home second star honors was San Jose captain Patrick Marleau, who closed out the first month of the season with a league-high nine goals along with 14 points in seven games. The veteran Sharks forward fueled his team's franchise-record 7-0-0 start by sharing an NHL mark (originally set by Ottawa's Cy Denneny in 1917) by recording at least two goals in each of the first four games of 2013, and also posted at least one point in the first six contests.
Third star went to Buffalo Sabres dynamic winger Thomas Vanek, who finished January with six goals and an NHL-best 15 points in only six games. The Austrian sniper boosted his stats thanks to a pair of five-point performances, opening the season on Jan. 20 with two goals and three assists in a 5-2 triumph over the Flyers, and ending the month with a hat trick and two helpers in a 7-4 win at Boston on Thursday.
