- Connor McDavid is the NHL’s First Star for October after a record month
- Kirill Kaprizov and Pyotr Kochetkov round out the Three Stars
- Read below for how each of them earned it
Connor McDavid is the NHL’s First Star of the Month for October, and the numbers are ridiculous.
The league announced its Three Stars for October on Sunday, with Wild winger Kirill Kaprizov taking second and Hurricanes goalie Pyotr Kochetkov rounding out the group. Here is the announcement:
McDavid piled up 27 assists in 13 games, the most any player has ever had in a single October. The old mark was 22, shared by Mario Lemieux in 1988 and Wayne Gretzky in 1986. His 35 points are the third-most for an October in NHL history, behind only Lemieux’s 38 in 1988 and 36 in 1992.
Edmonton went 10-2-1 in the month and sits atop the Western Conference. McDavid had at least one assist in every October game, which pushed his season-opening streak to 14 games, past the old record of 12 held by Sebastian Aho, Ken Linseman and Gretzky.
We were there for both record nights, from the 13th game to number 14 against Vancouver. Here is the 14th-game assist:
No player in league history has more assists through the first 14 games of a season. The previous best was 25, which Gretzky did three times and Lemieux once. McDavid has 29 and a league-best 37 points. Only Lemieux has ever had more points at that stage.
Kaprizov was the goal-scoring answer. He led the NHL with 14 goals in 15 games, two more than anyone else, as the Wild went 9-3-3 and moved into first in the Central. That ties his own franchise record for any calendar month and is the most by a player in one October since Alex Ovechkin in 2009. He also had a hat trick at Florida on Oct. 10, and we followed his goal streak as it built.
Kochetkov went 9-0-0 with a 1.66 goals-against average, a .919 save percentage and a shutout at St. Louis on Oct. 24, his 12th with Carolina. He tied Felix Potvin for the third-longest season-opening win streak in league history, behind Jack Campbell and Carey Price. That is quite a turnaround for a goalie who played just nine games all of last season. We covered his win streak too.
The Hurricanes finished October with the best record in the league at 11-2-2.
