Sidney Crosby had
two goals and three assists, and Henrik
Lundqvist pitched a first-half shutout to lead the Metropolitan
Division to a 10-5 victory over the Central Division in the championship round
of the NHL All-Star game Saturday night.
Selected the MVP, Crosby finished the night with four
goals and four assists in two games on the same ice where he won the Conn
Smythe Trophy and Stanley Cup three years ago for Pittsburgh. Lundqvist stopped
11 of 13 shots in his two games to give the Metropolitan Division its second
title in four years of the three-on-three All-Star format and the $1 million
prize shared by the winners of the four-team divisional tournament.
Mathew Barzal of
the New York
Islanders added two goals and three assists in the final game.
Mikko
Rantanen had two goals and Colorado teammate Gabriel
Landeskog added one for the Central. Landeskog finished with
four goals and three assists, while Rantanen had four goals and two assists.
Crosby assisted on Barzal's goal against Devan Dubnyk just
22 seconds into the championship game and then made it 5-0 in the closing
seconds of the first half off a pass from Barzal. Crosby also assisted on
Pittsburgh teammate Kris Letang's
goal in the first half and then helped seal the game with a goal in the second
half that made it 6-2.
Lundqvist made big saves against Landeskog and Claude Giroux in
the period one night after winning the save streak competition in the skills
challenge.
The first time the All-Star game came to San Jose in
1997, hometown favorite Owen Nolan
capped the night by calling his shot and pointing to the spot where he
completed a hat trick that delighted the Shark Tank.
Sharks fans didn't have as much to cheer for in the
return, even though their three All-Stars started the night on the ice together
for the Pacific. The Central blitzed the Pacific early for its first win in
four years in this format, scoring seven goals on nine shots against John Gibson in
the first half of the period in a 10-4 victory.
Gibson, who plays for the rival Anaheim Ducks,
drew derisive chants from the fans who later called for Vegas' Marc-Andre
Fleury to take over.
Anytime you play it's a rivalry and the fans take it personally.
That's what makes the game fun. You're still at All-Star game and you're out
there with some of the best players in the league. Stuff's going to happen.
Landeskog had a hat trick and an assist and Roman Josi had
three assists and a goal for the Central.
Pekka Rinne and
Dubnyk combined to stop 23 of 27 shots with Dubnyk providing one of the biggest
highlights with a glove save that robbed Connor
McDavid on a breakaway.
The Metropolitan Division won the second semifinal 7-4
thanks to a tiebreaking goal by Letang with 3:38 to play. Sebastian Aho added
an insurance goal seconds after Braden Holtby stopped John Tavares in
close.
GAME
NOTES
The NHL honored four women's hockey players who participated in All-Star
weekend, Kendall Coyne Schofield and Brianna Decker of the United States, and
Rebecca Johnston and Renata Fast of Canada. The four women got a standing
ovation and a $25,000 donation in their name to a hockey charity of their
choice. Coyne Schofield was the first woman to compete in the skills
competition on Friday night, finishing seventh in the fastest skater
competition.
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