NFL – Named stars of February

VIDEO: The Ducks 2015 Epic Game. Watch Video Below..

He nearly quadrupled his offensive production as a 17-year-old in 2002–03 by scoring 29 goals and 68 points. His performance made him a top prospect for the 2003 National Hockey League (NHL) Entry Draft; the NHL Central Scouting Bureau ranked Getzlaf as the fifth best North American skater in the draft and he was taken in the first round, 19th overall, by the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim.

Getzlaf led all players with 6-14-20 and a +13 rating in 14 games to power the Ducks (34-19-8, 76 points) to a 12-1-1 February, their most wins and points in one calendar month in franchise history. He recorded at least one point in 13 of his 14 outings, including an 11-game streak to close the month (5-12-17).

Getzlaf made the Mighty Ducks‘ roster out of training camp and began the 2005–06 season in Anaheim; he made his NHL debut on October 5, 2005, against the Chicago Blackhawks. After recording his first point with an assist on October 14 against the Columbus Blue Jackets, Getzlaf scored his first NHL goal seven days later against goaltender Manny Legace of the Detroit Red Wings. Though Getzlaf had seven points in his first 16 games with Anaheim, he was demoted to the AHL’s Portland Pirates in mid-November, partially to gain more playing time than he was getting in Anaheim. He appeared in 17 games for the Pirates in which he scored 8 goals and added 25 assists. Along with teammate Corey Perry, Getzlaf shared AHL co-rookie of the month honours for December and while he was named to play in the 2006 AHL All-Star game, Getzlaf did not appear in the contest as he was recalled to Anaheim in mid-January. He completed the season in the NHL, and finished with 14 goals and 39 points in 57 regular season games, then added seven points in 16 post-season contests.

At the age of 16, Ovechkin helped lead the Junior National Team to the Gold medal with two hat tricks, one against Switzerland and one against USA, and an assist.

At the age of 17, when he was selected by Russian coach Viktor Tikhonov to play in the Česká Pojišťovna Cup EuroTour tournament, Ovechkin became the youngest skater ever to play for the Russian national team. In that tournament, he also became the youngest player ever to score for the national team. He also was selected to play at the 2002 IIHF World U18 Championships, which he amassed 14 goals and four assists in eight games, leading Russia to a silver medal. Ovechkin holds the record for most points scored in IIHF U18 World Championships with 31 points in 14 games.

Ovechkin also represented Russia in 2013 IIHF World Championships. He joined the national team after Capitals were eliminated from 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs. Russia had already advanced to the first playoff round where they faced the U.S. The Americans defeated Russia 8–3, eliminating them from the tournament.

Ovechkin shared first overall with 12 goals in 13 games (12-4-16) to guide the League-leading Capitals (45-12-4, 94 points) to a 10-4-0 February. He scored in nine of his 13 outings, including a pair of multi-goal performances: Feb. 11 at MIN (3-0-3) and Feb. 18 at NYI (2-0-2). Ovechkin then reached the 40-goal milestone for the eighth time in his 11 NHL seasons Feb. 26 vs. MIN (1-1-2). In doing so, he became the 10th player in League history to record eight or more 40-goal campaigns.

Ovechkin participated in the 2014 IIHF World Championships. Russia won gold. He also joined the Russian team late in the 2015 IIHF World Championships, where Russia won the silver medal.

Forsberg had standout performances at both the 2011 Ivan Hlinka Memorial Tournament, Breclav, Czech Republic and World U18 Championships Tournament, Brno, Czech Republic where he was a member of the silver medal winning Team Sweden. At World Juniors in Brno he was also selected Best Forward of the tournament. In final rankings done by NHL Central Scouting, Forsberg was the highest rated European forward available in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft. He was selected 11th overall in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft by the Washington Capitals.

THIRD STAR – FILIP FORSBERG, LW, NASHVILLE PREDATORS

Forsberg also tied for the League lead with 12 goals in 13 games (12-4-16) to lift the Predators (31-21-11, 73 points) to a 7-3-3 February and the first Wild Card spot in the Western Conference. He recorded a trio of multi-goal performances, highlighted by a pair of natural hat tricks in his final three outings of the month: Feb. 23 at TOR (3-0-3) and Feb. 27 vs. STL (3-1-4). In doing so, Forsberg became the first player to register multiple natural hat tricks in three or fewer team games since 1986-87, when Petri Skriko did so in consecutive outings (w/ VAN).

Forsberg scored his first NHL goal on 8 October 2013, against Niklas Bäckström of the Minnesota Wild. He finished the 2013–14 season with five points (one goal and four assists) in 13 games played with the Predators, in addition to 34 points (15 goals and 19 assists) in 47 games played with the American Hockey League (AHL)’s Milwaukee Admirals.

On 22 January 2015, Forsberg was named to the 2015 NHL All-Star Game in Columbus, replacing the Pittsburgh Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin, who pulled out of the game due to injury.

by NHL Public Relations @NHL / NHL.com

https://www.nhl.com/news/ryan-getzlaf-alex-ovechkin-and-filip-forsberg-named-nhl-three-stars-for-february/c-279268270