In the 2018 NHL All-Star mini tournament, it was the Pacific Division that reigned supreme, defeating the Central Division in the first game, 5-2 and then taking the final over the Atlantic Division by the same score.
In the first game, the Central got goals from Nathan MacKinnon and PK Subban while the Pacific got goals from Drew Doughty, two from James Neal, Brock Boeser and Brent Burns. Marc-Andre Fleury made seven saves on eight shots while Mike Smith (playing the second ten minute half of the game) also made seven saves on eight Central shots.
In the second game, Brian Boyle was put on the ice by Metro coach Barry Trotz to start things out. It was a nice gesture and great for the fans and Boyle. The Atlantic started out with four Tampa Bay Lightning representatives on the ice (the game was played three-on-three plus goalies).
The Metropolitan Division jumped out to an early lead when Alex Ovechkin fed Sidney Crosby to make it 1-0 Metro. The Atlantic tied things up when Auston Matthews scored 4:29 after Crosby’s goal. Claude Giroux and Ovechkin then quickly put the Metro up 3-1 before Nikita Kucherov scored his first of three just before time expired in the first half to make it 3-2, Metro.
In the second half, Kucherov tied things 2:13 in with his second of the game. Kris Letang briefly gave the Metro back the lead until Brayden Point scored at 4:33. From there, Jack Eichel scored to make it 5-4. Then arch-villain Brad Marchand scored to make it 6-4. Finally, Kucherov, of the Tampa Bay Lightning, completed his hat trick in front of his hometown fans at 7:56 to make the final 7-4 Atlantic Division. That would set up a final of the Atlantic versus the Pacific. Carey Price made eight saves on nine shots while Andrei Vasilevskiy (also of the Lightning) made ten saves on thirteen shots faced.
Brian Boyle finished up with two shots on goal and a takeaway. He also won 50-percent of his faceoffs all in 6:46 of ice time.
The Atlantic Division actually had a goal called back in this one. At the 4:32 mark of the second half, Erik Karlsson had seemingly made it 5-4, but Metro coach Trotz alleged that he was offside of the play and so, after the play was reviewed, the call on the ice of goal was waved off and the game remained tied up at four.
In the final, Rickard Rakell and Boeser got the Pacific out to a quick 2-0 lead, with Rakell scoring just 59 seconds into the game. Mike Green cut the lead in half to make it 2-1, but Drew Doughty scored prior to the end of the first half to make it 3-1 Pacific.
In the second half, Johnny Gaudreau scored early (off an assist from eventual MVP Boeser) to make it 4-1. Green scored his second of the game to make it 4-2 but Rakell’s second of the game put it out of reach, 5-2 Pacific Division.
Pacific goalie Mike Smith, who played the second half tried a few times to put one into the empty Atlantic Division net – after they pulled Price – but shot wide on both attempts. Also of note in this game, Gaudreau was actually called for tripping Marchand, taking a penalty in a game where penalties are rarely called.
For the Pacific, Fleury made three saves on four shots while Smith made six saves on seven shots faced.
Boeser, the rookie from the Vancouver Canucks, won the game’s MVP award for his three points on the afternoon and the Pacific Division team split the $1 million prize money.