During the long road to the Stanley Cup, teams and players strive to both heights and doldrums in the quest to bring glory and success home .  At Chiller Instinct, we take a look at how teams fare throughout the year, and more specifically, which players perform at the highest level during the NHL's primetime games on Saturdays and Sundays.  We focus in on the official 'Three Star' selections to calculate the top performer for each month.

San Jose Shark Joe Thornton is named the Primetime Performer for October 2009.  During those weekend games, 'Jumbo Joe' had his finest performances of the opening month, registering all three of his regular season goals and adding five assists in five games.  Thornton fired 12 shots at goalies in the games and figured a +3 rating.  He was named First Star in three of the five contests.

San Jose goaltender Evgeni Nabokov was also in the running, snaring the First Star nod in the other two games and adding a Second Star selection.  The Sharks sit in first place in the Pacific Division and fourth overall, partially on the strength of these five games.

New Jersey Devils' netminder Martin Brodeur and Minnesota keeper Niklas Backstrom also had strong performances each being named a First Star twice and Third Star once.

1 November 2009 / Robin Keith Thompson