Pacific tops Atlantic 5-2 in All-Star Game

[January 29, 2018]  Anaheim's Rickard Rakell tallied two goals and added an assist in the championship period Sunday as the Pacific Division bested the Atlantic Division 5-2 to win the NHL's All-Star Game at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Fla.

It was the second time in three years that the Pacific won the game since it was switched to a 3-on-3 format with each of the NHL's four divisions involved. The team's 11 players split $1 million for the win, earning just over $90,000 apiece.

Brock Boeser (Vancouver) and Drew Doughty (Los Angeles) and Johnny Gaudreau (Calgary) each tallied a goal and an assist for the winners. Marc-Andre Fleury (Vegas) made three saves in the first 10 minutes and Mike Smith (Calgary) added six in the second 10 minutes.

Detroit's Mike Green scored both goals for the Atlantic Division, which lost despite the presence of four players from the home team, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Tampa Bay goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy stopped eight shots in the first 10 minutes and Montreal's Carey Price made six saves in the final 10 minutes.

The Pacific qualified for the championship period by scoring five goals in the final 5:47 of its 5-2 decision over the Central Division. Boeser potted the tie-breaker at 18:14 with a wrister from the slot that beat Winnipeg's Connor Hellebuyck to the blocker side.

 

Brent Burns (San Jose) and James Neal (Vegas) added empty-net tallies in the last 1:22 for the Pacific. Neal was the only player in the period who scored twice. Doughty also scored for the Pacific, while Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado) and P.K. Subban (Nashville) lit the lamp for the Central.

Nikita Kucherov of the host Lightning potted a hat trick in the Atlantic's 7-4 semifinal win over the Metropolitan Division. Buffalo's Jack Eichel scored the tie-breaking goal at 16:40, while Brayden Point (Tampa Bay), Auston Matthews (Toronto) and Brad Marchand (Boston) also tallied.

Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh), Alex Ovechkin (Washington), Claude Giroux (Philadelphia) and Kris Letang (Pittsburgh) scored goals for the Metropolitan. The Metro won last year's All-Star Game, edging the Pacific 4-3 in the championship period.

--Field Level Media

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