Remember how everyone thought a 3-on-3 All-Star Game would result in ridiculous goal totals, and shellshocked netminders curled into the fetal position?
Things didn’t go exactly to plan.
In a tightly-contested finale, the Pacific Division captured the first-ever NHL All-Star 3-on-3 tournament with a narrow 1-0 win over the Atlantic — a game in which defense and goaltending both outshone the offense.
Corey Perry‘s marker early in the second period proved the eventual game-winner, on assists from Daniel Sedin and Brent Burns.
And that was it for the offense.
The first period was a legitimate goalie duel, with Roberto Luongo and Jonathan Quick matching each other save-for-save. Luongo finished with 12 saves on 12 shots — Quick 10 on 10 — but it was Luongo that stole the show with an acrobatic, sprawling denial of Drew Doughty.
The second period didn’t have as many shots — both teams seemed to take a more vested interest in defensive positioning and limiting chances on goal — but still featured some strong netminding, especially from Anaheim’s John Gibson, who stopped all seven shots faced.
With just over a minute to go, the Atlantic pulled its goalie for an extra attacker, but to no avail. All that was left was for the Pacific to collect their $1M winners’ check, and for the All-Star MVP to be named.
Fittingly, it went to the guy that really won the entire weekend:
John Scott.
No comments:
Post a Comment