Strong play earns Smith Third Star of Week nod
Forward tallies four goals, assist in four contests
PITTSBURGH — Reilly Smith is riding a hot hand at the moment and the NHL has noticed.
The league selected the Golden Knights forward as its Third Star of the Week on Monday after Smith scored four goals and had an assist in four games, including a pair of goals in Sunday’s 4-3 win over the Washington Capitals.
Smith, who has 16 goals, has surpassed last season’s total of 15 with the Florida Panthers. His career-high for goals is 25, set in 2015-16 with Florida.
“It’s the first time,” he said of the honor. “It must have been a slow week in the NHL.
“It’s a good personal honor, but the most important thing is to help out the team. It’s a big road trip for us and to pick up those wins early are key.”
Smith credited his recent scoring binge to linemates Jonathan Marchessault and William Karlsson.
“They’re doing a really good
job finding me in spots and the puck’s going in,” he said.
Pittsburgh’s Evgeni Malkin was the league’s first star after he had six goals and eight points in three games last week. Florida goaltender Harri Sateri was the second star after going 3-0 with a 1.67 goals-against average and a .946 save percentage.
Carrier heads home
Forward Will Carrier left the team Monday to return to Las Vegas and be examined by team doctors after sustaining an upper-body injury in the first period against the Capitals.
Coach Gerard Gallant said he didn’t know if Carrier would be able to rejoin the team in San Jose on Thursday for the final leg of the six-game road trip.
Alex Tuch, who skated with Pierre-edouard Bellemare and Ryan Carpenter after Carrier was hurt, skated with them during Monday’s 30-minute practice in Pittsburgh. But Gallant said he was going to wait before deciding whether or not to keep Tuch on that line.
With Carrier out, look for Brendan Leipsic to return to the lineup after being a
healthy scratch the last two games.
Hot ticket
Tuesday’s return of Marc-andre Fleury has made tickets a hot commodity at PPG Paints Arena.
Upper end seats that normally sell for $45 were going for just over $200 Monday on the secondary ticket outlet Stubhub, with club seats having an asking price of $1,322.50.
The game is officially sold out.
Knights trade for defenseman
The Knights and Los Angeles Kings made a trade Monday as the Knights received minor-league defenseman Zac Leslie in exchange for future considerations.
Leslie, 24, was a sixthround pick of the Kings in the 2013 entry draft. He has been playing for Ontario of the American Hockey League and has one goal and four assists in 26 games. He will be assigned to the Knights’ AHL affiliate in Chicago.
Contact Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow @stevecarprj on Twitter.