Pro Hockey Players of the Week

Sponsored by The U.S. Marines
By Dave Doyle

In the interim, Karlsson potted two goals in a 6-0 win over the New York Islanders, had a goal and an assist in a victory over the Washington Capitals, and repeated those numbers in a home loss to Boston. With 66 points, he’s already set the franchise single-season mark for points by a defenseman.

Whitney had the game-tying goal in the third period of the Coyotes’ 3-2 shootout win over the Western Conference-leading Vancouver Canucks on Feb. 28. This was on the heels of potting the game-winner in a 3-1 victory at Edmonton on Feb. 25. With six points in his past five games, Whitney helped key a tremendous February in which the Coyotes went 11-0-1 and surged to the top of the Pacific Division.

That’s been in large part due to the play of Lehtonen. The seventh-year pro from Helsinki was at his best in late February with wins in three of the Stars’ four wins. He stopped all 31 shots the hapless Montreal Canadiens could muster on Feb. 21; stopped 28 of 29 in a 4-1, Feb. 24 victory over a Minnesota Wild team that was coming off back-to-back wins over the Boston Bruins and Florida Panthers; and finished the run two nights later with 24 more saves in an overtime win over Western Conference-leading Vancouver Canucks.