ST. LOUIS, MO—With a million dollars on the line it was up to the Pacific and Atlantic Divisions to decide who would take it home.
Historically the team that played most recently tended to look stronger in the finals. The Atlantic Division changed that narrative right away.
Tampa’s Victor Hedman took a pass from Sabres captain Jack Eichel on the first shift to open up the scoring. Johnathan Huberdeau, who’s Panthers will host the 2021 All-Star Game, used some fancy stick work on top of the crease to give his team a 2-0 only 1:29 into the game.
Anze Kopitar showed the fans you can play defense, somewhat, in the All-Star game. He stole the puck below the circle and flipped it to Golden Knight Max Pacioretty who went forehand-backhand to put the Pacific Division on the board.
David Pastrnak continued his big night using fancy hands for his fourth goal. A play that started with a Frederik Andersen save and pass to Huberdeau. Pastrnak took it to the net, shimmied Jacob Markstrom away and flipped a backhand under the cross bar, making it 3-1.
Check back on PHN for the second half recap.
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