Nathan MacKinnon

Matt Duchene named third star of the month

Published Dec. 1, 2015 3:22 p.m. ET

foxsports

After leading the NHL with 11 goals in the month of November, Matt Duchene was honored as the NHL's third star of the month.

Duchene, 24, scored 20 points in 14 games, the second highest point total in the NHL, behind only Patrick Kane. Duchene became the first Avalanche player to record 11 goals in the month of November. He was also the first Avalanche player to record 20 points in November since Joe Sakic in the 2000-01 season.

This is Duchene's first time he has been named a star of the month in his career.

Kane and the Washington Capitals' Braden Holtby were named first and second stars of the month, respectively.

"It feels good," Duchene said. "Obviously the two guys I'm with there, it's an honor to be amongst those two."

Duchene has teamed up this season with Nathan MacKinnon and Gabriel Landeskog, and the trio is absolutely dominating their competition. While Duchene is nearly at a point per game pace with 22 points in 24 games, MacKinnon actually leads Colorado with 24 points, and Landeskog is right behind the two with 20.

"I've kind of said it all the way along that so much credit goes to my line mates and my team mates," Duchene said. "You can't do it yourself in this league anymore. You need a great supporting cast around you. And that's definitely something I have right now."

While Duchene is providing an unbelievable amount of firepower, his team is still falling further and further behind in the playoff race. His Avalanche finished with a 6-8-0 record in the month of November, an improvement off of their 3-6-1 record in October. Duchene knows that if Colorado has a shot at the playoffs, he needs to continue to push the pace.

"My role on this team is to provide offense," Duchene said. "Things went in pretty good this (last) month. But it's time to continue on into December and keep helping the team climb back into the playoff race."

Get more from Nathan MacKinnon Follow your favorites to get information about games, news and more

in this topic

National Hockey League