3rd star – John Tavares
John Tavares had a very John Tavares month.
The Toronto Maple Leafs captain quietly went about his business and, when all was said and done, the body of work was remarkably impressive.
Tavares scored eight goals, bested only by Matthews.
He recorded 17 points, on par with Matthews. He had seven primary assists, good for 1st on the roster. He also finished 1st in primary points.
He was clearly ultra productive individually and there were zero red flags – in terms of his on-ice impact – to take away from that.
The Toronto Maple Leafs out-chanced and out-scored opponents with Tavares on the ice.
It was a strong month across the board for Tavares, who is producing at a 37-goal, 81-point pace over a full schedule.
Tavares currently has 26 goals and 58 points in 60 games this season. This is slightly down from last year, but Tavares missed several games with injuries, as did his usually running mates from last year Zach Hyman and Mitch Marner. (All stats naturalstattrick.com).
Tavares still maintains well over 50% rates in all major on-ice stats, and the only thing detracting from his season is an 88% save percentage by Leafs goalies while he’s on the ice.