In the traditional poll for the past month, he was surpassed only by American center Jack Hughes from New Jersey. Canadian defenseman Vince Dunn from Seattle became the third star. Finnish goalkeeper Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen from Buffalo was chosen as the best rookie for January.
With 13 hits, Pastrňák was the best shot in January along with Hughes and finished third in productivity with 21 points. Twice during the opening month of 2023, he had a four-point performance in a game. First, on January 8, he helped win in Anaheim 7:1 with a hat trick and an assist, then on January 24, he arranged a 4:2 victory in Montreal with a goal and three assists.
Pastrňák did not score in only four of his 14 appearances in January and did not score in six. With 38 goals, he is second in the scorers’ table, three shots behind Edmonton’s Connor McDavid. He ranks fourth in productivity with 71 points from 50 games. As the only Czech representative, he will present himself at the Stars Match in Sunrise this weekend.
Pastrňák was included among the best players of the month in the NHL for the fifth time overall in his career. In addition to two awards this season, he was also the best player of the NHL East Division in February 2021, second with a star in October 2019 and third in February 2020.
Twenty-one-year-old Hughes scored 23 points (13+10) in 13 duels. He came up empty-handed in just one game and has a streak of eight games. On Tuesday, January 24, he became the fastest player in Devils club history to surpass the 60-point mark. The 2019 draft pick did it in the 47th game. He now has 64 points (33+31) from 49 duels.
Five years older, Dunn collected 17 points (5+12) in 15 games. In total, he has 36 points for nine goals and 27 assists in 49 games this season.
Twenty-three-year-old Luukkonen picked up six victories in nine Buffalo duels. He averaged 3.05 goals conceded per game and had a save success rate of 90.7 percent. Among the candidates for the award was the Czech goalkeeper Daniel Vladař from Calgary, who celebrated five wins in six duels, had an average of 2.63 and a success rate of 90.8.
