Arguably the most-anticipated event of the 2016 NHL All-Star Weekend took place on Saturday, as the Eastern Conference faced the Western Conference in a skills competition. Although the Nashville Predators of the West hosted the event, the Eastern Conference came out on top with a huge 29-12 win. There were six events:
NHL Skills Competition 2016: Eastern Conference earns an entertaining 29-12 victory
The NHL’s stars came out to play on Saturday night.
Christopher Hanewinckel-USA TODAY Sports
- Fastest Skater
- Breakaway Challenge
- Accuracy Shooting
- Skills Challenge Relay
- Hardest Shot
- NHL Shootout
Fastest Skater: Dylan Larkin wins overall best time, sets new record
The East won three heats and the West won one.
Dylan Larkin was just the latest rookie to win the challenge with the best time. He even capped it off by beating Mike Gartner’s record of 13.386 with a full rink lap. He did and even tripped along the way!
Full heat times:
East
- Heat 1: Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings / 12.894
- Heat 2: Brandon Saad, Columbus Blue Jackets / 13.634
- Heat 3: Erik Karlsson, Ottawa Senators / 14.630
- Heat 4: Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins / 14.081
West
- Heat 1: Roman Josi, Nashville Predators / 13.527
- Heat 2: Matt Duchene, Colorado Avalanche / 14.026
- Heat 3: Taylor Hall, Edmonton Oilers / 13.654
- Heat 4: Dustin Byfuglien, Winnipeg Jets / 14.203
stats via NHL.com
NHL Breakaway Challenge: Jaromir Jagr P.K. Subban wins.
This was by far the best event of the night, full of funny bits and gags. P.K. Subban ultimately won the fan vote thanks to his Jaromir Jagr impression.
Subban does the Jagr salute pic.twitter.com/9kw78sk5yT
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 31, 2016
He somehow beat out Brent Burns, who tried to steal the show twice with hilarious tricks. The first involved his son, Joe Pavelski and his son, Roberto Luongo and Corey Schneider.
LIL PAVELSKI + LIL BURNS = PERFECTION!#NHLAllStar https://t.co/eAEqyqREIk
— NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) January 31, 2016
And his final shot included a Wookie.
Brent Burns rules. pic.twitter.com/W4bctAT3jp
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 31, 2016
Accuracy Shooting: John Tavares earns the best overall time.
Four pairs of players faced off, and the fastest overall time to knock out all four targets earned a bonus point. That extra point went to Anaheim Ducks winger Corey Perry.
Totals:
- Round 1: John Tavares, New York Islanders / 12.294, Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks / TBD
- Round 2: Patrice Bergeron, Boston Bruins / 23.362, Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks / 14.088
- Round 3: Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers / 17.254, Corey Perry, Anaheim Ducks / 13.771
- Round 4: Evgeni Malkin, Pittsburgh Penguins / 16.179, Jamie Benn, Dallas Stars / 16.664
Skills Challenge Relay: Teams split, each earn point.
All four divisional teams relayed through a course including one-timers, shooting pucks into very tiny nets, puck control drills, stick handling and goalies shooting ice-length goals. None of the goalies were very good at that, as you might imagine.
- Heat 1: East / 1:38.410 def. West / 2:15.371
- Heat 2: West / 1:27.687 def. East / 1:44.446
Hardest Shot: Surprise! Shea Weber wins with 108.1 mph
Each conference provided four players who went head-to-head until the hardest shot couldn’t be beat. Dustin Byfuglien set the early mark, defeating Aaron Ekblad. Shea Weber naturally ended up with the hardest shot at 108.1 mph, just short of Zdeno Chara’s record of 108.8 mph.
- Dustin Byfuglien (99.6 / 99.4) def. Aaron Ekblad (91.9 / 93.4). West earns point.
- Evgeni Malkin (97.0 / 94.1) def. Tyler Seguin (91.2 / 95.0). East earns point.
- Steven Stamkos (98.5 / 103.9) def. John Scott (92.6 / 95.9). East earns point.
- Shea Weber (105.3 / 108.1) def. P.K. Subban (102.3 / 101.3). West earns two points.
108.1 https://t.co/vXjAWtkeIC
— Pete Blackburn (@PeteBlackburn) January 31, 2016
NHL Shootout
This got a little chaotic. Each team offered 18 shooters in a shootout, and each goal counted as a point. The first and third shooters in each round were worth two points each. The event got busy, since every player participated. This is where the Eastern Conference pulled ahead with a commanding lead.
Round 1: East 4, West 0.
- Patrick Kane (two points): miss, miss
- Evgeni Malkin (two): goal, goal
- Matt Duchene: miss, miss
- Jaromir Jagr: miss, miss
- Brent Burns (two): miss, miss
- P.K. Subban (two): miss, miss
- Mark Giordano: miss
- Ryan O’Reilly: miss
- Vladimir Tarasenko: miss
- Leo Komarov: miss
- Daniel Sedin: miss
- Aaron Ekblad: miss
Round 2: East 9, West 2.
- Joe Pavelski (two): goal, miss
- Patrice Bergeron (two): goal, goal
- Taylor Hall: miss, miss
- Nicklas Backstrom: goal, miss
- Jamie Benn: miss, miss
- Steven Stamkos (two): goal
- James Neal: miss
- Evgeny Kuznetsov: miss
- Johnny Gaudreau: miss
- Ryan McDonagh: goal
- Dustin Byfuglien: miss
- Justin Faulk: goal
Round 3: East 4, West 2.
- John Scott (two): miss, miss
- Claude Giroux (two): goal, miss
- Shea Weber: miss, miss
- Dylan Larkin: goal, goal
- Tyler Seguin (two): goal, miss
- John Tavares (two): miss, miss
- Corey Perry: miss, miss
- Kris Letang: miss
- Drew Doughty: miss
- Erik Karlsson: miss
- Roman Josi: miss
- Brandon Saad: miss
Final Score: East 29, West 12
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