Anders Lee Named NHL’s 3rd Star of the Week

On Monday, the National Hockey League announced their three stars of the week. At no. 3, New York Islanders captain Anders Lee.

7️⃣ goals in the 4️⃣ games. 🔥

Anders Lee has been named the @NHL’s 3rd Star of the Week.

— New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 14, 2022

The 31-year old forward scored seven times this past week, registering at least one goal in each of the New York Islanders last four contests. The Islanders are currently on a three-game win streak.

It had not been the easiest of seasons for Lee or the Islanders. But the Islanders showed some life this past week and Anders Lee led by example, as captains often do.

Anders Lee has been a storyline over the last week or so, not just in the NHL, but over here at NYI Hockey Now.

On Monday, March. 7, the New York Islanders fell to the Colorado Avalanche by a score of 5-4, as the Islanders were just not good enough for the majority of the contest. If it was not for goaltender Semyon Varlamov, that game would have been over just 20 minutes after the opening puck drop. I asked Anders following the game about the positives, but the only response given was the play of Varlamov. But after Lee left the podium, he had more to say to me which illustrated why Lee is the captain.

This past Friday, March 11, marked a year since Lee suffered his season-ending ACL injury. He missed the remaining 29 games of the 2021 regular season, along with the entirety of the Islanders postseason run but was back in time for training camp with no limitations. But as we all know, injuries of that magnitude take time to heal and it did not appear early on in the season that Lee was feeling all too comfortable.

A big body, who wins puck battles and goes to the front of the net, Lee struggled to do his job as effectively, having really strong nights and then some nights where he was not at his best.

The effort of Lee was never in question, it was just a reality of the situation and the injury.

But he gave himself an early one-year anniversary gift the night before, as Lee recorded a hat trick, the first of his career, in the 6-0 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets. “Right now, I’m grateful,” Lee said following Thursday’s game.

For three stars, we need to cap the Lee train off with one more story. His leadership has been on display, as you have seen from the two previous stories. New York Islanders head coach Barry Trotz spoke after Sunday’s 4-3 win over the Anaheim Ducks about the leadership of Anders Lee, and Brock Nelson, as a reason for why the Islanders have been able to play better hockey as of late.

“They’ve (Lee, Nelson) increased their roles a little bit, and they’ve done a really good job,” Trotz said. “And when the leaders are doing that, it’s easy to follow.”