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Mike Smith is the NHL’s First Star of the Week

Mike Smith

After backstopping the Coyotes to their first-ever division title, Mike Smith has been named the NHL’s first star for the final week of the regular season.

Smith started his week in style with a shutout win over the Blue Jackets, stopping all 54 shots faced to set an NHL record for most saves in a shutout performance. That also extended his shutout streak, which came to an end against the Blues on Friday in a 4-1 Coyotes win. Undeterred, Smith bounced back to stop 23 of 24 shots against Minnesota in the season finale -- all told, he’s now stopped 188 of his last 190 shots faced.

“He’s embraced the No. 1 goaltender role with our team and he’s played excellent,” coach Dave Tippett said. “He had a few games there where he was basically willing us into the playoffs. His game is top-notch right now. Hopefully it goes into the playoffs and that continues.”

Second star went to Tampa Bay sniper Steve Stamkos, who on Saturday became just the 20th player in NHL history to hit the 60-goal plateau. He scored two in the final 1:03 of win over Washington, including the game-winner, then notched single goals against both Toronto and Winnipeg to reach the magic mark.

Third star went to Pittsburgh’s Sidney Crosby. The Penguins captain had three multi-point efforts in four games last week and scored the game-winning goals against both the Bruins and the Flyers. In just 22 games this season, Crosby finished with 8 goals and 37 points. Six of those goals came in his last nine games.