Welcome to the 3 Stars of the Week segment. This is a weekly post where I pick the Vegas Golden Knights’ three stars from the previous week. The first star will receive five points, the second star will receive three points, and the third star will receive one point. Points will be tallied throughout the season and one dollar per point will be donated to the charity of the winner’s choice at the end of the season.

The Golden Knights made up some ground in the Pacific Division last week. They won four of their five games and are in second place with 43 points. This week was led by a monster performance from a superstar winger, a talented young defenseman and a feel-good comeback story. Here are your three stars.

3rd Star: Valentin Zykov (1 goal)

After serving a 20-game suspension, Valentin Zykov is back with the big club. After completing his suspension, he was sent down to the American Hockey League where he had four points in five games. He was called up last week when Cody Glass went down with an upper-body injury.

You have to throw some love at Zykov for his work ethic and determination to get back to the NHL. The statement the team issued after his suspension sounded like he would not sniff another game in a Golden Knights sweater, but he worked his tail off to get back into the lineup, said his apologizes, and the coaching staff and management have given him a second chance.

2nd Star: Shea Theodore (1 goal, 5 assists)

Shea Theodore is known as an offensive defenseman and this week he showed off his abilities. He’s contributed a goal and five assists in his last three games with two apples scored on the power play. He has tremendous vision and skating ability which help create offense for everyone on the ice.

When Theodore’s confidence is up, he makes plays. His skating opens up lanes for his teammates and allows him to dish the puck to an open player for a scoring opportunity. They say defense wins championships, not only to shutdown your opponent but to create offense. You need the ability to skate the puck out of the zone or make a strong outlet pass, and Theodore was flying on all cylinders this week.

1st Star: Max Pacioretty (5 goals, 4 assists)

After receiving the NHL’s first star of the week, Max Pacioretty is also being recognized as our first star. His nine points in the past five games has sparked the Golden Knights’ offense as he sets the pace for each game. He also registered the game-winning goal in overtime against the Dallas Stars, displaying some nice hands on a breakaway.

After a disappointing first season in Las Vegas, Pacioretty looks like a revived man. He has already eclipsed his power play production from last season and is averaging over a shot per game more this campaign. This is the left winger the Golden Knights thought they had acquired from the Montreal Canadiens two summers ago.

I will keep a tally of the points all season long and donate a dollar per point to the winner’s charity of choice at the end of the season. Stay updated by following me on Twitter, @LAM1926, to find out who will be next week’s three stars!

• Mark Stone: 11 points
• William Karlsson: 11 points
• Marc-Andre Fleury: 8 points
• Jonathan Marchessault: 8 points
• Paul Stastny: 5 points
• Max Pacioretty: 5 points
• Reilly Smith: 3 points
• Alex Tuch: 3 points
• Shea Theodore: 3 points
• Malcolm Subban: 2 points
• Tomas Nosek: 1 point
• Nick Holden: 1 point
• Nicolas Roy: 1 point
• Valentin Zykov: 1 point

The post Vegas Golden Knights’ 3 Stars of the Week: Dec 10 – 17 appeared first on The Hockey Writers.