Buffalo, NY (WBEN) Another post on the resume for Buffalo Sabre rookie Victor Olofsson: he's December's NHL Rookie of the Month.
He led all rookies in goals (6), points (14), power-play goals (3), power-play points (5) and game-winning goals (2; tied) in 14 games in edging out Montreal center Nick Suzuki (1-9—10 in 14 GP), Columbus center Alexandre Texier (3-6—9 in 14 GP), Chicago left wing Dominik Kubalik (5-3—8 in 15 GP), Minnesota defenseman Carson Soucy (4-4—8 in 15 GP), Detroit left wing Filip Zadina (3-5—8 in 12 GP) and Washington goaltender Ilya Samsonov (4-0-0, 1.71 GAA, .927 SV%) for the honor.
Olofsson started December with three straight multi-point games (2-4—6 in 3 GP), marking the eighth time in franchise history that a rookie posted multiple points in three or more consecutive games. It was the first such instance by a Buffalo rookie since Tyler Ennis from Jan. 15-20, 2011 (2-4—6 in 3 GP); Vancouver Canucks center Elias Pettersson (Dec. 6-11, 2018: 3-6—9 in 3 GP) was the last NHL rookie to accomplish the feat prior to Olofsson.
Olofsson, who led rookie forwards in average time on ice (20:31) in December, became the first Sabres rookie with 14 or more points in a calendar month since Tyler Myers had 3-11—14 in March 2010 (16 GP) en route to claiming the Calder Memorial Trophy.
Olofsson (1.00 P/GP) is one of three Sabres rookies in the past 27 years to average at least one point-per-game in a calendar month (min. 10 GP), joining Marcus Foligno (March 2012: 1.00) and Richard Smehlik (December 1992: 1.17).
The 24-year-old native of Ornskoldsvik, Sweden leads all rookies in goals (16) and points (34) across 41 contests overall in 2019-20. Buffalo's ninth and final choice in the 2014 NHL Draft (181st overall), Olofsson also was the October winner of the "Rookie of the Month"
