NHL FanHouse Best of the Week: More Hat Tricks, Great Goaltending

Every Monday morning Adam Gretz and Chris Botta recap the best performances and plays of the week.

The Top Individual Performances of the Week

1. Ed Jovanovski, Phoenix vs. Nashville, Thursday: The bruising defenseman they used to call "Jovocop" in Florida is counted on to score goals. But his first career hat trick -- in his 979th NHL game -- earns him Performance of the Week. Jovanovski's three goals, in a 4-3 win over the Predators, was also the first hat trick by a defenseman in the 2,415-game history of the Winnipeg Jets-Phoenix Coyotes franchise.

2. Raffi Torres, Vancouver at Edmonton, Wednesday: This is the dream of many an NHLer, and the well-travelled Torres has a few former teams: go into one of your former workplaces and tear the joint a part. In a 4-3 win for the Canucks over the Oilers in Edmonton, Torres had a hat trick that included a pair of power play goals in the third period. "Felt great," said Torres, who remains a humble enough pro to resist rubbiing it in. "A great win for us."

3. Niklas Backstrom, Minnesota vs. San Jose, Tuesday: There are shutouts, and then there are games teams win almost entirely on the work of their goaltender. The best example this week was Backstrom's magnificent performance against the Sharks, stopping all 36 shots -- 16 in the third period -- to give the Wild a 1-0.

4. Jonathan Toews, Chicago at Atlanta, Saturday: There's just something about this still-young man, you know? Facing a Thrashers team with several former teammates, buddies for life who helped them win the Stanley Cup a little over four months ago, the Blackhawks were led by their captain. In a 5-4 shootout win in Atlanta, Toews had two goals, two assists, plus a tally in the skills competition.

5. Jason Spezza, Ottawa vs. Islanders, Thursday: For all the grief he gets -- some of it even deserved -- Spezza is still capable of carrying the Senators on any given night. The latest proof came Thursday, when he factored in all four goals in Ottawa's 4-1 victory over the Islanders at home. Spezza had one goal and four assists. (CB)

Goaltending Reigns Supreme: In just his second start of the season, Ty Conklin made 27 saves for the shutout in the Blues' 2-0 victory over the Rangers on Sunday ... Mathieu Garon had back-to-back shutouts, making 29 saves against Montreal on Tuesday and 25 against Atlanta on Thursday for the revitalized Blue Jackets ... Roberto Luongo opened a week filled with shutouts by stopping 30 shots in a 3-0 home win for Vancouver over New Jersey ... Chris Mason made 52 saves in Atlanta's 4-3 win over Tampa Bay on Wednesday ... Jaroslav Halak stoppped all 25 San Jose shots for a 2-0 victory for the Blues in St. Louis on Thursday ... Jonathan Quick was perfect for the Kings on 24 shots in a 1-0 win over Tampa Bay on Thursday ... Henrik Lundqvist had a 33-save shutout for the Rangers in New Jersey on Friday ... (CB)

Top Plays Of The Week

1. Nikolai Khabibulin, Edmonton Oilers: The Oilers have a ton of talented young players that are well worth the price of admission, even if the team isn't going to win a lot of games this season, and they've been making their share of highlights early on. Even though they lost to Detroit, 3-1, on Friday, it was their veteran netminder, Nikolai Khabibulin, making highlights with a sprawling, Dominik Hasek-style save.



2. Manny Malhotra, Vancouver Canucks: Pavel Datsyuk is the best player in the NHL at stripping the puck from his opponent and then taking it back the other way. During Saturday's 6-4 loss to the Vancouver Canucks, Datsyuk was on the other end of such a play when Manny Malhotra pulled off this successful strip-and-score to break a 2-2 tie in the second period.



3. Justin Williams, Los Angeles Kings: There was only one goal scored during Thursday's game between Los Angeles and Tampa Bay, and it belonged to the Kings' Justin Williams just a little over five minutes into the third period. And it was a beauty... (AG)



October Was A Good Month For Hat Tricks: If it seemed like there has been a large number of hat tricks so far this season, it's because there has been. In the month of October, for example, there were 12 three-goal games across the NHL. Since 1997 there were only two seasons when the opening month of the season saw more hat tricks: 13 in 2006-07 and 13 during the 1997-98 campaign. The beauty of it is that it hasn't been just the star players racking up the goals, but also unheralded and often times overlooked like players like Jay McClement, as well as relatively unknown players like Anthony Stewart. (AG)