Canes’ Aho named NHL first star of week

Carolina Hurricanes rookie Sebastian Aho on Monday was named the NHL’s first star of the week ending Feb. 5.

Aho had his first career hat trick and added an assist as the Canes beat the Philadelphia Flyers 5-1 on Tuesday, and the Finnish forward added a second game-winning goal as Carolina topped Edmonton 2-1 on Friday. The Canes also beat the New York Islanders on Saturday for a third straight win.

Aho’s four goals for the week tied for the league lead. Aho, 19, ranks third among NHL rookie with 16 goals and is tied for sixth with 31 points.

“There’s a couple of times when he’s been leaving the ice and skating by guys and you can see they’re looking at the number and the name, seeing who is this kid,” Canes coach Bill Peters recently said.

Minnesota Wild center Mikael Granlund was the NHL’s second star of the week and Los Angeles Kings goalie Peter Budaj the third star.

Aho is the first Canes player to be named the first star of the week since Jeff Skinner on Jan. 6, 2014.

This story was originally published February 6, 2017 at 12:23 PM with the headline "Canes’ Aho named NHL first star of week."