Team Lidstrom edged Team Staal in a rollicking NHL All-Star game on Sunday that ended in an 11-10 score line more likely to be seen at this weekend’s Super Bowl than a hockey game.
A total of 16 different players found the back of net in the wide-open showcase with Team Staal forward Patrick Sharp of the Chicago Blackhawks skating away with All-Star most valuable player honors after scoring a goal and notching two assists.
The game featured a novel format never seen before at an All-Star game, with Carolina Hurricanes center Eric Staal and Detroit Red Wings defenseman Nicklas Lidstrom dividing up the NHL’s best players in an All-Star fantasy draft that paid homage to hockey’s past when kids would line up on the rink and pick sides.
Photo: AFP
While the game had a new packaging, the product on the ice remained the same: little defense, rarely a penalty, no hitting and plenty of scoring as goaltenders were left at the mercy of the game’s top marksmen.
“It [the draft] made it more of an exciting weekend,” said Lidstrom, the Red Wings captain and six-time Norris Trophy winner as the NHL’s top defenseman. “Everybody was anticipating the draft and who was going to get picked first and who was going to be the last guy picked.”
“It created a lot of hype and I think the league is happy with that. But once you get out there, there’s not much difference,” he said.
Team Staal needed just 50 seconds to open the scoring, Washington Capitals sniper Alexander Ovechkin tipping in a feed from Zdeno Chara, who won the NHL’s hardest shot competition for a fourth straight time on Saturday.
The scoring came fast and furious as Team Staal pumped four goals past shaky Pittsburgh Penguins netminder Marc-Andre Fleury in the opening five minutes.
However, Team Lidstrom answered with a four-goal burst of their own to leave the contest deadlocked at 4-4 heading into the first intermission.
Sharp opened the second period scoring as Team Staal regained control, 5-4.
The first 10 goals featured 10 different scorers until the Los Angeles Kings’ Anze Kopitar potted his second of the game to spark another Team Lidstrom rally.
Steven Stamkos, the NHL’s leading scorer, and Danny Briere also found the back of the net to give Team Lidstrom a 7-6 lead after two.
Dallas Stars winger Loui Eriksson’s second goal of the game into an empty net with 1:11 left in the third clinched the win over Team Lidstrom.
The game featured only one penalty but it was a big one, Matt Duchene awarded the first penalty shot ever in an All-Star game after Ovechkin tossed his stick at the Colorado Avalanche forward as he broke in alone on Team Staal netminder Henrik Lundqvist. Duchene failed to score.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB