Varlamov, Stempniak, Elliott named NHL's 3 stars of the week

A pair of hot goalies and a surprising veteran forward highlight the NHL's three stars, announced Monday.

Colorado Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov takes first-star honors after going a perfect 4-0-0 last week, backstopping victories against a pair of division rivals in the St. Louis Blues and Dallas Stars. He finished the week with a 0.99 GAA and a sparkling .972 save percentage.

In his career @Avalanche goalie Semyon Varlamov is now 20-4-7 in his career when facing 40 or more shots.#Avs

- Stan Nieradka (@smn013) January 24, 2016

After agreeing to a professional tryout with the New Jersey Devils in September, Lee Stempniak has emerged as one of the team's key contributors. Last week, he scored a league-best four goals, including two on Saturday against his former Winnipeg Jets.

Finally, Brian Elliott continued his strong play in the absence of starter Jake Allen by posting a 2-1-1 record with a 1.48 GAA and a .955 save percentage last week. The team has picked up at least a point in eight of Elliott's 10 appearances so far in January.

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