We're now into the February portion of the NHL schedule, so let's take a look back at some of the best players from the month of January -- however brief it may have been.

It's actually pretty easy to pick out the three best players of the month.

No. 3: Craig Anderson, Ottawa Senators
The Ottawa Senators opened up the season with wins in five of their first seven games (and only one loss in regulation), and goaltender Craig Anderson has been sensational between the pipes. In his six starts, he has posted a league-best .967 save percentage.

He's allowed more than one goal just once (he gave up two in a 3-2 win against the Washington Capitals) and had a shutout. He hasn't really gone up against any of the NHL's offensive superpowers yet (with the exception of one game, a shootout loss to Pittsburgh), but he's been great for the Senators.

Throughout his career with Florida, Colorado and Ottawa, he's been a steady league average goaltender (and given the current state of goaltending in the NHL, that's not always a bad thing) and is a fine bargain in net for the Senators, counting $3 million against the cap through the end of the 2014-15 season.

No. 2: Patrick Marleau, San Jose Sharks
So it only took a historically-fast start for people to actually give San Jose Sharks forward Patrick Marleau some respect and attention for being the great player he is.

http://www.cbssports.com/nhl/blog/ey...rs-for-january