Atlantic 7, Metropolitan 4
When: 4:30 PM ET, Sunday, January 28, 2018
Where: Amalie Arena, Tampa, Florida
Referees:
Dave Jackson, Wes McCauley
Linesmen:
Brian Mach, Mark Shewchyk
Attendance:
19092
By Field Level Media
Tampa Bay Lightning forward Nikita Kucherov scored three goals for the Atlantic Division in a 7-4 victory over the Metropolitan Division in the semifinals of the NHL All-Star Game at Tampa's Amalie Arena on Sunday.
The Buffalo Sabres' Jack Eichel chipped in with three points to help advance the Atlantic squad to the final against the Pacific Division, a 5-2 winner over the Central Division to begin the day.
Eichel broke a 4-4 tie on a goal with 3:20 remaining after an apparent go-ahead goal by the Ottawa Senators' Erik Karlsson was overturned on an offside call.
Boston Bruins forward Brad Marchand followed with a goal 1:01 later, and Kucherov completed his hat trick against Washington Capitals goaltender Braden Holtby with 2:04 to go to close out the scoring.
Sidney Crosby got the Metropolitan Division on the board 1:09 in, beating Tampa Bay Lightning goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy.
Vasilevskiy turned aside 10 shots in the first period and gave way to Montreal Canadiens goaltender Carey Price in the second, who made eight saves.
After Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews tied off an Eichel feed, the Metropolitan regained the lead at the 7:43 mark as Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux scored on a breakaway.
Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin scored 33 seconds later off a pass from Crosby to make the lead 3-1.
Kucherov connected 11 seconds later on a breakaway against New York Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist, then worked a pretty pass sequence with Eichel and tapped the puck into an open net to forge a 3-3 tie at 2:13 of the second period.
The Pittsburgh Penguins' Kris Letang gave the Metropolitan the lead again at 3:17, but the Atlantic stars dominated the rest of the way. Brayden Point of the host Lightning scored 1:16 later to tie the game at 4-4, setting the stage for Eichel's go-ahead goal.
The Metropolitan stars finished with a 22-17 edge in shots on goal.
-- Field Level Media
Top Game Performances
| Metropolitan |
|
Atlantic |
|
Sidney Crosby 2 |
Points |
Nikita Kucherov 3 |
|
Sidney Crosby 1 |
Goals |
Nikita Kucherov 3 |
|
Sidney Crosby 1 |
Assists |
Erik Karlsson 3 |
|
N/A |
Power Play Goals |
N/A |
|
N/A |
Short Handed Goals |
N/A |
|
Henrik Lundqvist .714 |
Save Percentage |
Carey Price .889 |
|
Henrik Lundqvist 5 |
Saves |
Andrei Vasilevskiy 10 |
Team Stats Summary
| Team |
Shots |
Goals |
Power Play |
Penalty Kill |
Penalty Mins |
Face Offs Won |
| Metropolitan |
22 |
4 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
5 |
| Atlantic |
17 |
7 |
0-0 |
0-0 |
0 |
10 |