NHL Names Nathan MacKinnon #1 Star For December

After the most productive month in franchise history, Nathan MacKinnon has been named the #1 star of the month for December.

Big surprise, I know.

MacKinnon, who had probably the best month of his career to date in the NHL, shot all the way up to second in the league in scoring with a 29 point month. He currently sits just three points behind Nikita Kucherov in the scoring race, with 58 points in 37 games.

Auston Matthews was named the second star, while Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellbuyck earned the third star.

Here’s the write-up from the league on the month that MacKinnon had…

MacKinnon paced the NHL with 18 assists and 29 points in 15 games (11-18—29) to propel the Avalanche (23-11-3, 49 points) to an 8-5-2 December. His 29 points set a franchise record for a single calendar month, besting Peter Stastny’s 28 in February 1981 (12-16—28 in 12 GP w/ QUE). MacKinnon, who found the scoresheet in all but one of his appearances (Dec. 29 at STL), also ranked among the December leaders in power-play assists (1st; 9), power-play points (t-1st; 12), goals (t-2nd; 11), shots on goal (6th; 59) and power-play goals (t-7th; 3). He ran his overall point streak to 19 games from Nov. 20 – Dec. 27 (13-23—36), tied for the third-longest in Avalanche/Nordiques history, and also extended his active, season-opening home point streak to 19 contests (15-25—40), a length last surpassed by Wayne Gretzky’s record 40-game home point streak to begin 1988-89 (33-70—103 w/ LAK). MacKinnon produced nine multi-point performances during the month, highlighted by 2-2—4 Dec. 17 vs. SJS and 4‑1—5 Dec. 21 vs. OTT, the first four-goal effort in Avalancheteam history and the sixth five-point outing of his career. The 28-year-old MacKinnon, who sat 13th in League scoring through November (8-21—29 in 22 GP), now ranks second overall with 19-39—58 in 37 total contests. He also places among the 2023‑24 leaders in assists (1st; 39), power-play assists (1st; 19), power-play points (t-2nd; 23), shots on goal (3rd; 162) and goals (9th; 19).

MacKinnon and the Avalanche will take on the New York Islanders at Ball Arena tonight. The game starts at 7 PM MST.