RALEIGH, N.C. – The National Hockey League (NHL) announced on Monday that Carolina Hurricanes forward Jeff Skinner was selected as the league’s First Star for the week ending Jan. 5 .
The recognition marked the second time the 21-year-old sniper had earned the honor in less than a month, as he was also named First Star for the week ending Dec. 8.
The former Calder Trophy winner scored six goals and tallied three assists (9 points) in four games as Carolina earned recent victories against the Montreal Canadiens, Washington Capitals, New York Islanders and Nashville Predators.
Skinner’s recent run started when he scored two goals and added an assist as the Hurricanes came back from three goals down in the third period to beat the Canadiens on New Year’s Eve at PNC Arena.
He then followed that performance up by scoring his second hat trick of the season, including the game-winning goal, in overtime in Washington on Thursday.
After earning the primary assist on Brett Sutter’s game-winner against the Islanders in Uniondale two days later, Skinner put together his third multi-point effort in four games with the game-winning goal and an assist against Nashville back home on Sunday.
Skinner currently leads Carolina and ranks tied for ninth in the NHL in goals (20) and game-winning goals (4) this season despite having missed 11 games due to injury.