Ovechkin top star for January

Feb 1, 2008 - 6:38 PM NEW YORK (Ticker) -- Washington Capitals left wing Alex Ovechkin, who led all players in scoring with 22 points in January, on Friday was named the NHL's "First Star" of the month.

J.P. Dumont of the Nashville Predators received "Second Star" honors, while Montreal Canadiens goaltender Cristobal Huet was dubbed the month's "Third Star."

Ovechkin, whose 13 goals in the month of January marked the best goal-scoring month of his career, recorded a point in 10 of the 13 games in which he played in January, including a four-goal, one-assist effort on Thursday in a 5-4 win against Montreal. The four-goal game was his second of the season.

The 22-year-old Russian leads the NHL with 43 goals and 70 points.

While he was unable to keep pace with Ovechkin, Dumont scored at least one point in each of the Predators' 14 games during the month. The right wing tallied six goals and 14 assists, figuring into nearly half of Nashville's 48 goals during the month.

Second on his team with 27 assists and 45 points, Dumont is in the midst of a career- and franchise-record 16-point scoring streak.

Huet appeared in 11 of the Canadiens' 12 games during the month, posting an 8-2-1 record with a 2.40 goals-against average and a shutout. With 32 starts already this season, the 32-year-old French netminder is nearing his career high of 39 starts set last season with Montreal.

With his standout month, Huet improved his overall season record to 18-8-6 with a 2.34 GAA.