TEUVO TERAVAINEN
Nov. 13–20, 2017
First NHL career hat trick
5-5–10 in 4 GP
Led NHL in goals and points
Teuvo Teravainen led all NHL scorers with five goals and 10 points to earn NHLPA.com Player of the Week, helping the Carolina Hurricanes take six points from three victories over the team's four games.
The Finnish forward started his scorching hot week by posting his first NHL hat trick – a natural one to boot – as part of a four-point night. His trio of goals in the third period came after earlier assisting on the game's opening goal by teammate Sebastian Aho. Teravainen's first tally of the night stood as the game-winner as he skated away with first star of the game honours.
The Canes then hit the road Thursday for their first matchup of the week against the New York Islanders, where at Barclays Center the 23-year-old notched two helpers for back-to-back multipoint games in what was an eventual 6-4 loss before the team continued along the road.
Next stop was KeyBank Center for a Saturday night showdown against the Buffalo Sabres. Teravainen had four shots on goal and picked up his fourth apple of the week (his third assist on a goal by Aho) in the 3-1 win.
It was back to PNC Arena Sunday where Teravainen capped his week with another multi-point performance – his third of the week. No. 86 helped Aho open the game's scoring for Carolina once more with his fifth and final assist on the week. The assist tied Teravainen for second in league helpers over the week with Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and linemate Aho, who also had an outstanding week going 4-5–9. Teravainen found the back of the net twice in the 4-2 victory – his first marker of the game came on the power-play and stood as the game-winner, while his second of the night stood as his fifth goal of the week.
"[Teravainen] is dangerous, he's got to shoot it. He's got a really good release. He's got an underrated shot; people don't see it often enough. It's heavy too. Now that he's getting rewarded a little, we should be able to keep him in that mindset," Hurricanes head coach Bill Peters told reporters Sunday.
Teravainen looks to build off his four-game point streak Wednesday when the New York Rangers come knocking at PNC Arena.
Complete listing of the 2017-18 NHLPA.com Players of the Week here.