2017 NHL All-Star skills competition recap: Atlantic captures title in shootout

LOS ANGELES — The Atlantic Division captured the overall Skills Competition title by beating the Pacific in a shootout on Saturday night. Brent Burns, Joe Pavelski and Martin Jones were all key contributors on the night with Jones making four saves, Burns scoring a long-distance goal in the four-line challenge and Pavelski making nifty passes in the relay challenge.

I updated this post throughout the day so the format of the post is chronological. You can scroll through to see the scores as they changed and some highlights of each of the events.

The Atlantic chose to take on the Metropolitan in the second game tomorrow. That means the Pacific will face the Central when the NHL All-Star Game gets going at 12:30 p.m.

You can learn more about the various formats here and by watching the videos below.

Let’s get it on.

Relay Challenge

Central vs. Pacific

Central: Ryan Suter failed to score and that ate up all 30 seconds of the one-timer portion. Jonathan Toews crushed the passing portion of the relay and P.K. Subban cruised through the puck-control portion. Devan Dubynk scored quickly from the goal line for a time of 1:44.03.

Pacific: Everything started so well for the Pacific. Ryan Kesler and Joe Pavelski each scored immediately and Jeff Carter scored relatively quickly to get things over to Drew Doughty. It took Doughty a very long time to complete the passing portion of the relay and Johnny Gaudreau struggled as well. The Pacific finished with a time of 2:03.120.

Winner: The Central got the first point of the day.

Atlantic vs. Metropolitan

Atlantic: The Atlantic hit the one-timer time limit thanks to Kyle Okposo and Auston Matthews didn’t blow anyone away with his stick-handling, but Carey Price scored on his first attempt to give the division the overall lead. Time: 1:39.69.

Metropolitan: Then the Metro blew everyone away. Not only did it only take one try for all of the one-timer shooters, future-Shark John Tavares did well passing the puck and Sidney Crosby breezed through the stick-handling. The Metro posted the best overall time of the day and won two points.

Winner: Metro gets two points for best overall time.

Points: Metro 2, Central 1, Pacific 0, Atlantic 0

Four Line Challenge

The Pacific Division got back in the race in the Four Line Challenge thanks to Brent Burns and Mike Smith. Burns scored from center ice and Smith scored from the far goal line, naturally.

Ryan Suter scored from the blue line for the only point to give the Central a one-point lead. and Wayne Simmonds scored from the center ice (lower) for the metro to tie things at one. Burns snagged three points for the Pacific by scoring in the upper corner from center ice.

No one scored from the far blue line, though Ryan Kesler let his kid take a crack at net. It went far wide.

Points: Metropolitan 2, Pacific 1, Central 1, Atlantic 0

Accuracy Challenge

The Pacific picked up a pair of points by beating the Central twice thanks to Joe Pavelski’s passing and the shooting by Jeff Carter and Connor McDavid. It didn’t hurt that both Patrick Kane and Patrik Laine took their sweet time hitting the targets. The Atlantic and Metropolitan split the points and Sidney Crosby bagged the bonus point for the Metro.

Atlantic vs. Metropolitan

Kyle Okposo (15.97) vs. John Tavares (26.81)

Point: Atlantic

Pacific vs. Central

Connor McDavid (15.64) vs. Patrik Laine (21.42)

Point: Pacific

Overall Points: Metropolitan 2, Pacific 2, Central 1, Atlantic 1

Atlantic vs. Metropolitan

Auston Matthews (12.28) vs. Crosby (10.73)

Point: Metropolitan

Pacific vs. Central

Jeff Carter (17.66) vs. Patrick Kane (18.95)

Point: Pacific

Bonus Point: Metropolitan thanks to Sidney Crosby.

Points: Metropolitan 4, Pacific 3, Atlantic 1, Central 1

Fastest Skater Competition

Connor McDavid helped the Pacific jump to first place by posting the fastest overall time. He wasn’t able to beat Dylan Larkin’s record to get the Pacific a bonus point, but his two points put the Pacific on top.

Full results are as follows:

Atlantic vs. Metro

Nikita Kucherov (13.16) vs. Cam Atkinson (13.30)

Point: Atlantic

Pacific vs. Central

Bo Horvat (14.30) vs. Patrik Laine (14.20)

Point: Central

Atlantic vs. Metro

Vincent Trochek (13.32) vs. Wayne Simmonds (13.65)

Point: Atlantic

Pacific vs. Central

Connor McDavid (13.02) vs. Nathan MacKinnon (13.620)

Point: Pacific

Total Points: Pacific 5, Metropolitan 4, Atlantic 3, Central 2

Hardest Shot Competition

Brent Burns lost to Patrik Laine in the first round, which is a little disappointing based on the size and stature of the two players. The Staples Center crowd made sure to let Burns know how they felt as the Wookiee skated back to his team following the event as he hung his head in shame. Still, the Pacific retained its one-point lead as we head to the final event.

Pacific vs. Central

Brent Burns (97.7) vs. Patrik Laine (101.6)

Point: Central

Atlantic vs. Metropolitan

Victor Hedman (94.2) vs. Seth Jones (98.1)

Point: Metropolitan

Pacific vs. Central

Drew Doughty (94.6) vs. Nathan MacKinnon (92.3)

Point: Pacific

Atlantic vs. Metropolitan

Shea Weber (102.8) vs. Alex Ovechkin (97.8)

Point: Atlantic

Bonus Point: Atlantic

Final Points: Pacific 6, Atlantic 5, Metropolitan 5, Central 3

NHL Shootout

The Atlantic downed the Pacific thanks to goals from Sidney Crosby, Shea Weber and Brad Marchand as only a goal by Ryan Kesler’s child got the Pacific on the board. Martin Jones made four saves between the pipes as the Pacific’s finest performer.

Joe Pavelski had his shot saved by Carey Price as he tries to beat the Montreal goaltender to his right. Brent Burns nearly defeated Tuukka Rask with a nifty move between his own legs but the shot went off the corner of the crossbar and post and stayed out of the net.

The Atlantic chose to take on the Metropolitan in the second game tomorrow. That means the Pacific will face the Central when the NHL All-Star Game gets going at 12:30 p.m.