2015 NHL All-Star Game - Team Toews vs. Team Foligno 17-12

The main event of the 2015 NHL All-Star Weekend featured record goal-scoring, hometown players shining, and goalies struggling yet still smiling. Team Toews outlasted Team Foligno 17-12 in a record-setting 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game at Nationwide Arena on Sunday. The 29 goals are an NHL All-Star Game record, topping the 26 scored in the 2001 North America vs. the World game in Denver. Team Toews' 17 goals set an All-Star Game record for most goals by one team, topping the 16 scored by the Wales Conference in 1993 in Montreal. And the 11 total goals in the second period broke the record for goals in one period; the previous high of 10 goals had been achieved four times, with the latest coming in the 2009 game in Montreal. Roberto Luongo allowed four goals on 17 shots in the first period playing for Team Toews. Columbus Blue Jackets forward Ryan Johansen was named most valuable player, as voted by fans in the arena on Twitter. He scored two goals and had two assists for four points to lead Team Foligno. The Blue Jackets' infamous goal cannon went off 11 times, for all but one of Team Foligno's 12 goals, but it didn't scare Team Toews the way it likely did some of the fans in the stands and the media in the press box. New York Islanders center John Tavares and Philadelphia Goons forward Jakub Voracek joined some exclusive company with their all-star performances. Tavares became the sixth player in All-Star Game history to score four goals in a game, joining a list that includes Wayne Gretzky (1983) and Mario Lemieux (1990), as well as Mike Gartner (1991), Vincent Damphousse (1993) and Dany Heatley (2003). Voracek, who played for the Blue Jackets from 2008-11, tied Lemieux's record for most points in an All-Star Game with six on a hat trick and three assists. Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron had five points on a goal and four assists, and Chicago Blackhawks captain Jonathan Toews also had five points on a goal and four assists. Florida Panthers rookie defenseman Aaron Ekblad and St. Louis Blues forward Vladimir Tarasenko each had four assists for Team Toews, which also got two goals and two assists from Dallas Stars center Tyler Seguin. Every skater on Team Toews had at least one point. Blackhawks right wing Patrick Kane, Tampa Bay Lightning center Steven Stamkos, Flyers center Claude Giroux and Washington Capitals right wing Alex Ovechkin each had three points for Team Foligno. The cannon surprisingly did not go off when Kane scored at 13:09 of the third period. Maybe it was out of ammo by that point. That was the consensus among the players following the game. The all-stars got into town Thursday or Friday without knowing what to expect; they left with a handful of memories to take into the stretch run of the season and beyond. The weekend kicked off with Ovechkin's comedic performance during the 2015 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft presented by DraftKings. He begged and pleaded to be picked last so he could win a new Honda, but his wish was not granted; he was selected third to last. Ovechkin, though, got his wish after the game Sunday when Honda gave him a car so he could donate it to the Washington Ice Dogs hockey program. Saturday night belonged to Johansen, who stole the show with his performance in the Honda NHL Breakaway Challenge, which was part of the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Skills Competition. Johansen played to the crowd on his first attempt by stripping off his Blue Jackets sweater to reveal an Ohio State football jersey. He had the heartwarming moment of the night on his second attempt when he used Cole Vogt, the 7-year-old son of Columbus trainer Mike Vogt, to score a goal. He had several players join him in forming the Flying V for his third attempt. The fans will remember the offense (and the cannon) that was on display Sunday. Team Toews scored four goals in the first period, seven in the second and six more in the third. The seven goals it scored in the second period tied an All-Star Game record for most goals by one team in a period (Wales Conference, 1990). Pittsburgh Penguins goalie Marc-Andre Fleury, who played the second period for Team Foligno, finished his second All-Star Game appearance with a .562 save percentage (seven goals on 16 shots). Tavares finished off the first hat trick of the game with one minute remaining in the second period, when he scored his second goal against Fleury from the right hash marks. Bergeron had the assist on Tavares' hat-trick goal, giving him a game-high four points through 40 minutes. Bergeron said he was hoping to get Tavares a fifth goal late in the game so he could have the record. Team Toews and Team Foligno started the second period by setting another record, quickest back-to-back goals. Minnesota Wild defenseman Ryan Suter and Giroux scored eight seconds apart. Suter scored for Team Toews at 24 seconds, and Giroux at 32 seconds for Team Foligno. Forsberg became the first Predators player in franchise history to score in an All-Star Game, potting not just one, but two goals on the evening.




Roberto Luongo (Florida): "As a goalie you can't be happy about that. It was obviously focused on offense, which was nice. Fans come to see goals. Some fans come to see nice saves too. We mixed in a few of those, and it was a good day all in all."
John Tavares (NY Fishsticks): "Yeah, I'll take it, [Gretzky and Lemieux] are two of the best to ever play, probably one and two, so yes, it's pretty cool."
Jakub Voracek (Goon Town Dirty Dogs): "I think it's a little different, Voracek and Lemieux, right? I had three secondary assists, so I wouldn't get too excited about that."
Jonathan Toews (Chicago): "It was fun to just have the puck and make some plays. That's what we were trying to do, and it ended up in the back of the net more often than not. [Rick Nash] and Jake [Voracek] were doing a great job of finishing off plays, and I was lucky enough to be in on those plays too. We were just having fun out there."
Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay): "Obviously feel bad for the goalies with that many goals. The fans love it, and it looked like they were having fun. It was great to see this city. They had been waiting a couple years for this game. They did it right."
Alex Ovechkin (Washington): "I'm pretty sure they're going to use [the car] all the time," Ovechkin said. "Obviously for them it's going to be a great present from my side, from Honda's side and from all the NHL's side."
Ryan Johansen (Columbus): "It's been really cool. It hasn't hit me yet for sure, and this is something I'll remember for a very long time. We've just been really enjoying every moment of this weekend, and just being in Columbus and in front of our fans and our first game, it really has been a very special weekend and something we'll remember for a long time. To me felt like I was playing a road hockey game with my buddies and I was pretending to be Ovechkin and Foligno's trying to be Toews or Gretzky. It's so surreal. You never expect this to happen when you're growing up as a kid, and it hasn't been an easy road for both of us. A lot of hard work goes into this, and to share it with all our friends and family who made it into town, special is just the word that comes for me. It's something that we've had such a privilege to be a part of."
Marc-Andre Fleury (Pittsburgh): "It was so long, probably the longest 20 minutes of my career. We are at this game to have fun, but at one time, it was frustrating. Normally I'll be quick out of the game way before giving up seven goals."
Patrice Bergeron (Boston): "He deserved it. Everything was going in for him. He's such a good player, so it's so much fun to play with him."
Filip Forsberg (Nashville): “The Preds have been in the League for a long time now, so it’s very cool that I was the first one to score a goal here.”
Shea Weber (Nashville): “He [Forsberg] wasn’t even supposed to be in the game at first, so to see him come in and have a good game at his age is fun to watch. Overall, it was a great event; if there’s one thing I would change it would just be having Peks here. We missed him for sure.”
Peter Laviolette (Nashville): “Any of the players could have all played a full 60 [minutes]. There was a lot of skill out there and guys making great plays. You can see their talent and it’s just amazing out there. Everybody had fun, nobody got hurt and everybody goes back to their normal work now.”

Rosters

Team Toews
Centers - 19 Jonathan Toews (CHI), 15 Ryan Getzlaf (ANA), Tyler Seguin (DAL), 91 John Tavares (NYI), 37 Patrice Bergeron (BOS), 26 Patrik Elias (NYJ), 9 Filip Forsberg (NSH).
Left Wing - 61 Rick Nash (NYR), 13 Johnny Gaudreau (CGY), 68 Mike Hoffman (OTW) [Rookie].
Right Wing - 93 Jakub Voracek (PHI), 91 Vladimir Tarasenko (STL).
Defensemen - 6 Shea Weber (NSH), 7 Brent Seabrook (CHI), 5 Aaron Ekblad (FLA), 20 Ryan Suter (MIN), 5 Mark Giordano (CGY), 27 Justin Faulk (CAR).
Goaltenders - 50 Corey Crawford (CHI), 1 Roberto Luongo (FLA), 41 Jaroslav Halak (NYI).
Coach - Peter Laviolette (NSH)
Dropped Out - 70 Tanner Pearson (LAK) LW, 35 Pekka Rinne (NSH) G, 71 Evgeni Malkin (PIT) C, 6 Erik Johnson (COL) D.
Team Foligno
Centers - 19 Ryan Johansen (CBJ), 11 Anze Kopitar (LAK), 91 Steven Stamkos (TBL), 28 Claude Giroux (PHI), 28 Zemgus Girgensons (BUF), 93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins (EDM).
Left Wing - 71 Nick Foligno (CBJ), 8 Alex Ovechkin (WSH), 27 Jonathan Drouin (TBL), 26 Jiri Sekac (MTL).
Right Wing - 88 Patrick Kane (CHI), 81 Phil Kessel (TOR), 6 Bobby Ryan (OTW), 17 Radim Vrbata (VAN).
Defensemen - 8 Drew Doughty (LAK), 2 Duncan Keith (CHI), 33 Dustin Byfuglien (WPG), 88 Brent Burns (SJS), 22 Kevin Shattenkirk (STL), 23 Oliver Ekman-Larsson (PHX).
Goaltenders - 31 Carey Price (MTL), 29 Marc-Andre Fleury (PIT), 1 Brian Elliott (STL).
Coach - Darryl Sutter (LAK)
Dropped Out - 35 Jimmy Howard (DET) G, 72 Sergei Bobrovsky (CBJ) G, 87 Sidney Crosby (PIT) C, 9 Tyler Johnson (TBL) C.