Pacific vs. Central
There will be a strong local flavor and plenty of newcomers to the event when 44 players visit the Enterprise Center in St. Louis for the 66th NHL All-Star Game on Saturday. The reigning Stanley Cup champion St. Louis Blues will have four players on the Central Division roster for the 3-on-3 tournament, including goaltender Jordan Binnington and veteran forward David Perron - two of the 20 first-year All-Star Game participants.
“You don’t know if you’re going to get many opportunities,” Perron, who leads the Blues with 21 goals and 49 points, told NHL.com. “You always watched the All-Star Game as a kid, as a hockey fan. You see the best players play each other. We all know that the intensity is not the same, but it’s still pretty cool to be named there one time.” The Atlantic Division owns the league’s top goal scorer in David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins (37) while the Pacific Division features the NHL point leaders in the Edmonton Oilers' Connor McDavid (76) and Leon Draisaitl (75). “It’s nice to see guys that you battle against, guys you usually go up against head-to-head and see what great guys they are away from the rink,” Draisaitl told NHL.com of his upcoming second appearance. “I’m excited to go back.” The Metropolitan Division won last season’s four-team tournament for its second victory in the event, tying the Pacific for the most in the first four years of the 3-on-3 format, and hopes to break the tie led by the NHL’s point leader among defensemen, John Carlson of the Washington Capitals (60).
TIME: 9:15 p.m. ET. TV: NBC
ABOUT THE PACIFIC: McDavid is the captain for the team, which will be coached by Rick Tocchet of the Arizona Coyotes after he replaced the recently fired Gerard Gallant from the Vegas Golden Knights. McDavid, Draisaitl and Los Angeles Kings’ veteran Anze Kopitar join 21-year-old Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks along with newcomers Matthew Tkachuk of the Calgary Flames, Vegas’ Max Pacioretty and Tomas Hertl of the San Jose Sharks up front. Calgary captain and reigning Norris Trophy winner Mark Giordano along with Vancouver rookie Quinn Hughes are the two defensemen and first-year participants Jacob Markstrom from Vancouver and Calgary’s David Rittich will man the net for the Pacific.
ABOUT THE CENTRAL: Defenseman Alex Pietrangelo and center Ryan O’Reilly join Perron and Binnington as hometown heroes at the event in St. Louis and Colorado Avalanche superstar Nathan MacKinnon is the team’s captain. MacKinnon (30 goals, 72 points) leads the forward crew along with Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks, who is making his ninth appearance while Tyler Seguin of the Dallas Stars and Minnesota Wild center Eric Staal will play in their sixth All-Star Game, and Mark Scheifele of the Winnipeg Jets in his second. Pietrangelo and Roman Josi (48 points) of the Nashville Predators are the defensemen on the roster and Connor Hellebuyck (21 wins) joins Binnington (22) between the pipes.