NHL All-Star Game preview: Metropolitan at Atlantic
The NHL All-Star Game endured a handful of format changes in its history - most resulting in a pedestrian game with little effort, especially on defense - but it appears to have found its niche by switching to a 3-on-3 game with a mini-tournament format among the four divisions. The rise in popularity also brought the contest back to network television for the first time since 2004 as NBC broadcasts the 2017 All-Star Game on Sunday at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
The semifinals - a pair of 20-minute games in which the teams switch ends after 10 minutes - pits the Central against the Pacific in the first and the Atlantic versus the Metropolitan in the second, with the winners returning to play a 20-minute championship with a $1 million winner-take-all prize at stake. The Atlantic earned the right to play when it wanted and to pick its semifinal opponent by winning the All-Star Game Skills Competition on Saturday night. The Pacific is the defending champion after defeating the Atlantic 1-0 in last year's final on a goal by Anaheim's Corey Perry after dispatching Central 9-6 in the semifinals while Atlantic reached the title game with a 4-3 semifinal victory. Columbus coach John Tortorella will miss the All-Star Game to tend to his sick dog and under NHL rules was forced to skip Thursday's game against Nashville because of his absence this weekend, but the league found a suitable replacement as Wayne Gretzky will coach the Metropolitan.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, NBC
ABOUT THE METROPOLITAN DIVISION: Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby has an NHL-most 28 goals despite missing six games earlier this season and captains a squad that includes Columbus' Cam Atkinson (24 goals) and Washington's Alex Ovechkin (23). Atkinson, who is tied for second in the NHL in goal scoring, was named to replace Evgeni Malkin (54 points, third-most in the league) as the Pittsburgh superstar is out with a lower-body injury. The club sports a strong goaltending tandem in the Blue Jackets' Sergei Bobrovsky (28 victories) and the Capitals' Braden Holtby (1.96 goals-against average, .930 save percentage).
ABOUT THE ATLANTIC DIVISION: Montreal goalie Carey Price captains a team that includes the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NHL draft and the top two defensemen in the league in assists. Toronto's Auston Matthews is tied for fourth in the league and leads all rookies with 23 goals after bursting onto the scene with four in his first career game in October while Ottawa's Erik Karlsson (32 assists) and Tampa Bay's Victor Hedman (31) are joined on the blue line by the Canadiens' Shea Weber (12 goals, second-most in the NHL among defenseman). Boston's Brad Marchand (21 goals) and the Lightning's Nikita Kucherov (19) add scoring punch.