The Atlantic Division, led by crowd favorites Matthew Tkachuk and Aleksander Barkov, won the 2023 edition of the National Hockey League (NHL) All-Star Game by beating Central 7-5 in the finals on Saturday at the FLA Sunrise Live Arena.
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Among the winners is Montreal Canadiens captain Nick Suzuki, who particularly distinguished himself with two goals in the semifinals against the Metropolitan. Notably, Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs gave him one of his six assists. This is a situation you won’t see often…
With things going well, Matthew Tkachuk was voted the tournament’s most valuable player thanks to his cumulative collection of four goals and three assists. He and Barkov represented the Florida Panthers that weekend, and they were paired with each other’s brother Brady Tkachuk. With the captain of the Ottawa Senators, the trio were undoubtedly the most popular on the ice.
Dylan Larkin did very well in the final and scored a hat trick. He helped Atlantic take a 3-0 lead in the first period. The other nine goals were scored in the second period when the games were already over.
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Led by their trio of Colorado Avalanche players, the Central Section won the first game of the day 6-4.
Nathan MacKinnon, Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar were brought together by head coach Peter DeBoer and they shone in both games. Clayton Keller and MacKinnon finished with three goals each.
Despite the setback, Bo Horvat also had a great time. Whoever is now a member of the New York Islanders has allied with the Pacific for this meeting. The former Vancouver Canucks captain combined a goal with ex-teammate Elias Pettersson.
In the Eastern Conference clash, Atlantic defeated Metropolitan 10-6. Matthew Tkachuk shook the ropes three times while Suzuki and Larkin scored twice.
After stealing the show in a skill contest with little Sergei Ovechkin, Alexander Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby once again showed their incredible chemistry. A tic-tac-toe between these two future Hall of Famers resulted in the No. 87 eclipsing the scorer chart. “Ovi” and “Sid” both accumulated four points in the loss.
Columbus Blue Jackets star Johnny Gaudreau also stood out in this low-intensity game. He scored a hat-trick for the Metropolitan section.