Leafs’ Matthews, Oilers’ McDavid among three stars for February

Toronto Maple Leafs scorer Auston Matthews, Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid and New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin were named Three Stars for February by the NHL on Friday.

Matthews led the NHL with 13 goals in 12 games (13-7—20) to lift the Maple Leafs (34-17-8, 76 points) into third place in the Atlantic Division on the strength of a 9-3-0 February, the third-best record in the league. Among those goals was his 50th, scored in his 54th game, the fastest player to hit the milestone since Mario Lemieux did it in 50 games in 1995-96.

McDavid had a league-leading 25 assists (eight more than the next-closest player) and 27 points (six more than the next player) in 12 games (2-25—27) to push the Oilers (35-20-2, 72 points) within one point of second place in the Pacific Division. McDavid was the first NHL player to collect at least 25 assists in a calendar month since Lemieux had 28 in December 1992, and did so in the shortest month of the year.

Shesterkin led the NHL with seven wins in seven games, compiling a 1.72 goals-against average, .953 save percentage and one shutout to push the Rangers (40-17-3, 83 points) to a league-best 10-1-0 February and move within one point of first place in the Presidents’ Trophy race.