In collaboration with NENT Sweden, NHL.com/sv has named the Swedish stars of the month in the NHL. In November, we have named the Toronto Maple Leafs forward William NylanderBuffalo Sabres back Rasmus Dahlin and Seattle Krakens defender Adam Larsson.
Here are our three Swedish stars for January:
FIRST STAR – WILLIAM NYLANDER – HF – TORONTO MAPLE LEAFS
William Nylander became the best Swedish scorer during January together with the Buffalo Sabres Rasmus Dahlin. Nylander scored seven goals and ten assists, improving his season total to 59 points (28+31). Nylander is thus still well on his way to his best season in the NHL so far (80 points in 2021-22).
Nylander opened the month scoring three points (1+2) on January 3 against St. Louis Blues. He then followed up with three more games in which he scored at least two points. His real peak came on January 23rd in the 5-2 win against the New York Islanders. Nylander then scored four points, two goals and two assists. All the points also came in the same period, which only three players have achieved before in Maple Leafs history.
William Nylander is in 14th place in the NHL’s total points. However, the Swede is not selected for the NHL All-Star weekend, which will take place in Florida on February 3-4.
Video: TOR-OTT: Nylander scores on the power play
SECOND STAR – RASMUS DAHLIN – B – BUFFALO SABERS
Rasmus Dahlin continues to impress and during January was responsible for fine efforts from his back position. Dahlin was noted for 4 goals and 13 assists for a total of 17 points which was only surpassed by 9 players. The 22-year-old’s progress means that he is now up to 55 points (14+41) this season. This gives him second place in the backers’ scoring after Erik Karlsson.
Dahlin had many good performances in the month, but the one that stood out the most came on January 7th in a 6-5 win against the Minnesota Wild. Then Dahlin scored five points and passed 200 sticks in the NHL. Dahlin’s five points in the game tied the Buffalo club record for most points scored in one game by a back. Also, only three backs in Sabers history have done it in fewer games than the 313 the Swede needed to reach 200 points: Phil Housley (212), John Van Boxmeer (255) and Doug Bodger (308).
Video: DAL-BUF: Dahlin finds the right from the blue line
THIRD STAR – ADAM LARSSON – B – SEATTLE KRAKEN
Adam Larsson can look back on the month of January with a smile on his face. The Kraken’s Swedish back scored nine points (1+8), played the fourth most of all Swedes (24:34 per game) and played a full plus-18 in the plus/minus statistics.
30-year-old Larsson, in his second season with the Kraken, has scored 23 points (4+19) in 49 games this season. This means that he will soon catch up to his personal best, 25 points (8+17) in 82 games from last season. Larsson has reached at least 20 points four times in his career (also 24, 2014-15 and 20, 2018-19).
One game in which Larsson particularly excelled was the one against the Chicago Blackhawks on January 14. The Kraken won 8-5 and Larsson was on the ice for seven of the team’s goals and thus played plus-7 in the match. Larsson was also responsible for an assist in the match.
The defender scored in eight of the 15 games he played in the past month, helping the Kraken cement themselves as one of the top teams in the Pacific Division.
Video: SEA-NYI: Larsson’s direct shot finds its way in