ST. LOUIS, MO – Heading into the final period, the Atlantic held a 3-1 lead over the Pacific, but trailing in shots 9-7. The Pacific would embark on a tear to get back into the game.
In net for the Atlantic to start the second period were Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy while the Pacific went with Calgary’s David Rittich.
The Pacific had other thoughts. With just more than a minute in, Matthew Tkachuk accepted a stretch pass down the right side and broke alone on the Atlantic net, shooting just wide. But Elias Pettersson did his part when he corralled a long pass from Tkachuk and sent one into the net after his breakaway opportunity.
At this stage, the Pacific had mustered up 15 shots against 8 for the Atlantic.
Seven seconds after the Pettersson goal, Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl accepted a lead pass from Calgary’s Mark Giordano, puting the puck in the top left corner, to knot the score at 3.
The Atlantic answered 91 seconds later when Tyler Bertuzzi received a cross-ice pass from Ottawa’s Anthony Duclair streaking down the right side. His perfectly timed pass enabled Bertuzzi to lift it over Rittich to retake the lead.
But that was all the scoring from the Atlantic for the night. The Pacific had more firepower in their arsenal, and they began to show just how much at 5:04 of the frame.
Pettersson tied the game from the left circle with just 4:56 to play, getting assists from Hughes and Tkachuk.
The deadlock was broken at 7:24 when Tomas Hertl accepting a nice cross-ice pass from Draisaitl and netted his 5th of the night, giving the Pacific their first lead of the game.
With 45 seconds left, the Atlantic pulled Vasilevskiy, but could not get the equalizer and lost 5-4. It was the third triumph for the Pacific under the 3-on-3 tournament format at the All-Star Game. 18,112 witnessed the attendance, a sellout
It was the third All Star Game triumph for the Pacific under the 3-on-3 tournament format. Boston’s David Pastrnak captured the MVP trophy, driven by a fan-inspired vote.
Match report by Dennis Morrle who can be reached at dennis.morrell@prohockeynews.com and you can follow him on Twitter at DMMORRELL.
All images by Les.Stockton@prohockeynews.com
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