Tampa Bay Lightning winger Nikita Kucherov has come a long way since his rookie season in the NHL four years ago. He morphed from a guy who was a healthy scratch in the 2014 Stanley Cup Playoffs into one of the NHL’s biggest stars.
In front of the hometown crowd at Amalie Arena for the 2018 NHL All-Star Game, Kucherov put on a spectacular show, notching the first hat trick since the league switched to a 3-on-3 tournament in January 2016. His efforts guided the Atlantic Division to a 7-4 victory in the first game over the Metropolitan Division. Unfortunately for him, the Pacific Division was a juggernaut, as they bested the Central Division and the Atlantic by identical 5-2 scores in claiming the All-Star tournament for the second time in three years. Vancouver’s Brock Boeser was named the MVP and the entire Pacific Division roster claimed a cash prize of $1 million.
The Central roared off to a quick start in the first game, thanks to the efforts of one of the hottest players in the NHL.
At the 1:47 mark of the opening half of the first game, Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon collected a pass from Winnipeg’s Blake Wheeler. He promptly sniped a shot from the high slot past Vegas’s Marc-Andre Fleury, putting the Central up 1-0.
Despite the quick start, the remainder of the first 10 minutes belonged to Fleury and Pekka Rinne. Rinne stonewalled Edmonton’s Connor McDavid two times, one on a breakaway and another on an opportunity in close. Before that sequence, McDavid fired wide on a breakaway chance.
Fleury also came up large, denying the Central’s Jon Klingberg. The standout defenseman for the Dallas Stars attempted the shootout move that Peter Forsberg made famous in the 1994 Olympics. However, Fleury was up to the task less than 24 hours after winning the Save Streak competition at the skills competition.
Goaltenders Mike Smith and Connor Hellebuyck took over duties in the crease for the second half of the game, which saw the pace increase and more scoring chances generated. The Pacific Division finally tied the game up with 5:47 remaining on the clock when McDavid sprung Drew Doughty for a breakaway. Doughty broke in on Hellebuyck and rang a shot off the post and in to make it a 1-1 game.
Smith, a former Lightning goalie, decided to have a little fun a short time later.
One of the best puck-handling goalies in the league, Smith took the puck near his crease and took off. He joined the rush up to his own blue line before passing it off, earning a loud reaction from the crowd.
The Pacific took the lead when James Neal completed a tic tac toe passing play from Brent Burns and McDavid. One of the best shooters in the league, Neal zipped a shot past Hellebuyck for a 2-1 lead.
That lead didn’t last long, however, as the Central’s P.K. Subban received a pass from MacKinnon and scored on a breakaway to tie it 2-2. Unfortunately for the Central, they would get no closer to taking a lead. Boeser beat Hellebuyck with a beautiful shot high over his right shoulder, giving the Pacific a 3-2 lead. They would tack on a pair of empty net goals from Burns and Neal to give the Pacific squad a 5-2 win over the Central.
When the Atlantic Division took the ice in the second game against the Metropolitan Division, the Atlantic’s starting lineup was no surprise.
Coached by Tampa Bay’s Jon Cooper, the Atlantic began the contest with all four of the Lightning’s representatives, much to the delight of the Amalie Arena crowd. The lineup of Bolts performed well on their first shift, with Steven Stamkos wheeling around behind the net before dishing to Kucherov. Kucherov promptly hit the side of the net. Moments later, Alex Ovechkin found a trailing Sidney Crosby, who skated into the slot and beat Vasilevskiy to put the Metro team up 1-0 at the 1:09 mark.
This game proved to be far more entertaining than the first game, as both teams generated quality chances. Auston Matthews earned a breakaway, only to be denied by the left leg of Metro goalie Henrik Lundqvist. Brian Boyle, the former Lightning center who received another loud ovation before the game, tried to go between his legs with a shot, but Vasilevskiy came up with the save. Eventually, the Atlantic tied it 1-1 as Jack Eichel found Matthews for the goal. Goals by Claude Giroux and Ovechkin gave the Metro a 3-1 lead before Kucherov tallied on a breakaway to cut the Metro lead to 3-2 before the teams switched ends for the second half of the game. Goaltenders Braden Holtby (Metro) and Carey Price (Atlantic) would enter the contest for the final 10 minutes.
While the first 10 minutes were fun, the final 10 minutes were downright thrilling thanks to Kucherov and Eichel
Kucherov tied the game 3-3 after an incredible behind-the-back pass from Eichel, bringing the Amalie Arena crowd to their feet.
Eichel and Kuch team up for a BEAUTY on 86’s second. ???? #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/PQDbXJb8uD
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) January 28, 2018
The Metro wasted little time responding, as John Tavares found Kris Letang in front, who beat Price just 1:04 after Kucherov’s goal to give the Metro a 4-3 lead. However, that would be the final goal for the Metro team this afternoon. Tampa Bay’s Brayden Point finished off a back-and-forth passing sequence with Boston’s Brad Marchand on a 2-on-1 to tie the game 4-4.
Even though this was an All-Star game, the NHL’s much-maligned offside review challenge reared its head.
Following what appeared to be the go-ahead goal for the Atlantic team off the stick of Erik Karlsson, Metropolitan head coach Barry Trotz challenged that the play was offside. The officials ruled in his favor and the game remained tied, much to the chagrin of the fans in attendance. However, the Atlantic got the goal back about a minute later, as Eichel buried a feed from Aleksander Barkov past Holtby to make it 5-4. Eichel punctuated the tally by enthusiastically pointing at the net like Matthews did in a recent game. Tampa Bay’s favorite villain, Marchand, promptly extended the Atlantic’s lead to 6-4, waving to the crowd that had gleefully booed him the entire weekend.
With the Atlantic Division in control, Kucherov decided to bring down the house.
After collecting a pass from Stamkos, Kucherov skated in alone on Holtby, deked and waved his stick over the puck, fooling Holtby as the puck slid by him and into the net. The goal gave Kucherov the hat trick, put the Atlantic team up 7-4, and nearly blew the roof off Amalie Arena as hats rained down on the ice. If you remember, Kucherov pulled off the same move to win a shootout in Buffalo late last season. Everything was set up for a showdown between the Atlantic and Pacific Division teams in the final game.
We’ve seen this one before. ???? #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/8OhxWuxQET
— Tampa Bay Lightning (@TBLightning) January 28, 2018
The Pacific squad didn’t waste much time picking up right where they left off after the first game.
Only 59 seconds in, Anze Kopitar powered down the middle of the ice, skating in alone on Vasilevskiy, who was making the start for the Atlantic. The Lightning netminder made the save, but Rickard Rakell cleaned up the rebound for a 1-0 Pacific lead.
Marchand put on a dazzling individual effort that nearly led to a goal, but Fleury, who was once again making the start for the Pacific, came up with a huge glove save. McDavid later sped in alone on a breakaway, but Vasilevskiy denied him. However, he wasn’t able to stop Boeser, who put the Pacific up 2-0 with 4:55 left on the clock in the first half. Johnny Gaudreau pounced on a turnover by Eichel and put a shot on net leading to a rebound. With nobody around to clean up that rebound, Boeser notched his second goal of the afternoon.
The Atlantic would get one back as Point dished to Marchand, who fed it to Mike Green for an easy one-timer goal, cutting their deficit to 2-1. Stamkos nearly tied it with a spectacular between-the-legs shot, but it rang off the post, immediately leading to another McDavid breakaway. Once again, Vasilevskiy was up to the task and made the save.
With time winding down in the first half of the game, Drew Doughty ripped a one-timer past Vasilevskiy for a 3-1 Pacific lead. Gaudreau took a penalty 15 seconds later, giving the Atlantic a power play. The closest they would come to a goal would be a Stamkos blast that rang off the iron.
Gaudreau made up for his error after the team’s switched ends and changed goaltenders for the final 10 minutes.
Stepping out of the box and into an immediate breakaway chance, Gaudreau beat Price with a shot that Price probably wanted back, extending the Pacific lead to 4-1. Green would narrow the deficit to 4-2 when he roofed a shot top shelf past Smith with 6:34 remaining.
The Atlantic’s best remaining scoring chance occurred when Stamkos blasted a one-timer that Smith knocked away. Smith emphatically waved his arms as if he were a referee gesturing no-goal after a video review. Rakell would put the final cherry on top when he beat Price with a fantastic individual effort to make it a 5-2 score. As a result, the Pacific came out on top, and Boeser won himself a new car as the MVP.
