Player of the Week - Feb. 23

The Hockey News’ player of the week for Feb. 16 to 22 is Philadelphia Flyers center Mike Richards.

After setting an NHL record Feb. 15 with the third 5-on-3 shorthanded goal of his career, the 24-year-old Flyers captain led all NHLers in scoring this past week with eight points, even though Philadelphia played just two games.

On Thursday, Buffalo rolled into Philadelphia; Richards and the Flyers showed the Sabres no brotherly love in a 6-3 drubbing. For his part, the 24th pick in the 2003 draft picked up two goals, five points, another shorthanded goal and was an astounding plus-5 on the night, while logging 22:22 of ice time.

The Flyers stumbled a bit on Saturday when the slumping Penguins waddled into town and left with a 5-4 victory. Richards, however, kept on keeping on. He tallied another shorthanded goal, the 19th of his short NHL career, and added two assists in 21:43 of ice time.

For the week, the Kenora, Ont., native tallied three goals – including two shorthanded markers – and eight points, was a plus-5 and averaged 22:02 of ice time.