NEW YORK – Tampa Bay Lightning left wing Ondrej Palat, who led all rookies in scoring with 16 points (5-11--16) in 15 games, has been named the NHL Rookie of the Month for January.

Palat edged Lightning center Tyler Johnson (7-7--14 in 15 games), Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (9-4--13 in 14 games), Minnesota Wild goaltender Darcy Kuemper (6-2-1, 2.15 goals-against average, .932 save %) and Anaheim Ducks goaltender Frederik Andersen (5-0-0, 1.86 goals-against average, .939 save %).

Palat registered points in the first five games of the month, extending his point streak to eight games (4-6--10, Dec. 23 to Jan. 9) -- the longest ever by a Lightning rookie. He also tallied points in five consecutive games at the end of the month (2-7--9, Jan. 19-30).

Named to the Czech Republic team for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Palat leads NHL rookie forwards in plus-minus (+20) and ranks second in average ice time per game (17:14). The 22-year-old also ranks third among all rookies in assists (20) and fourth in points (11-20--31).

Palat joins San Jose Sharks forward Tomas Hertl (October), Nashville Predators goaltender Marek Mazanek (November), Los Angeles Kings goaltender Martin Jones (December co-winner) and Chicago Blackhawks goaltender Antti Raanta (December co-winner) as recipients of the award this season.

Ondrej Palat in January