Vegas Golden Knights forward Mark Stone was name the NHL’s ‘Third Star’ for the week ending April 18. Rounding out the “Three Stars” of the week are Buffalo Sabres goaltender Dustin Tokarski, who earned ‘First Star’ honors and New York Rangers left wing Artemi Panarin, who was named ‘Second Star.’
Stone ranked second in the NHL with 3-5—8 in four games to lift the Golden Knights (31‑11-2, 64 points) to a perfect week and their sixth straight win dating to April 9. The 28-year-old Winnipeg native tops Vegas and places 12th in the NHL with 15-35—50 through 43 contests this season.
He also sits among the League leaders in plus/minus (3rd; +25), game-winning goals (t-3rd; 7), shooting percentage (7th; 20.3%) and assists (t-8th; 35).
Throughout the 2020-21 season the NHL is celebrating the remarkable efforts of the off-ice stars who make it possible for us to play our games amid a pandemic by honoring frontline healthcare heroes from the regions represented by the League’s weekly and monthly “Stars.”
In conjuction with Tokarski earning the ‘First Star’ for the week, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center RN Michaela Pastorius has also been named the NHL’s “First Star” for the week ending April 18.
Pastorius works as a nurse at Buffalo’s Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, where just a few years ago she was walking the same halls as a patient battling a cancer diagnosis.
Pastorius put nursing school on hold while going through treatment, but vowed to finish her degree and now works alongside the nurses who once cared for her as a patient.
The inpatient unit at Roswell Park where Pastorius works – known as 6West – is typically for cancer patients with solid tumors, but has become a designated COVID-19 space over the past year.
Pastorius understands what these patients are going through and brings a positive attitude to the floor despite the incredibly challenging and emotional experience of the pandemic on both patients and staff.
