Home-rink advantage paid off for Matthew Tkachuk and the rest of the Atlantic Division squad at the NHL All-Star Game on Saturday in Sunrise, Fla.
Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers was named the most valuable player of the three-on-three tournament that ended with a 7-5 victory over the Central Division in the championship final.
Tkachuk collected one goal and one assist in the final after a three-goal, five-point outing in the semifinal. It was a fitting performance from the player who became the face of the event.
"It's great that the other players in the league can see what a great place this is to play," said Tkachuk, who was acquired via trade from the Calgary Flames last summer. "I'm as happy as can be here."
Dylan Larkin of the Detroit Red Wings scored three goals in the final. He also scored twice and added an assist in his side's 10-6 semifinal victory over the Metropolitan Division.
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The champions staked a 6-2 lead and coasted to the finish line in the final. The nine skaters and two goaltenders share a $1 million prize pool.
Matthew Tkachuk (@TKACHUKycheese_) wastes no time getting on the board to make the home crowd happy! 😁 #NHLAllStar
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"It was so much fun," Larkin said. "I'm proud of how we won it. What a great group of guys."
Nikita Kucherov of the Tampa Bay Lightning scored once and added an assist in the final, while David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins and Rasmus Dahlin of the Buffalo Sabres tallied once. Mitch Marner of the Toronto Maple Leafs added three assists. He also collected a trio of helpers in the semifinal.
Linus Ullmark of the Boston Bruins stopped all six shots he faced in the opening half of the final game, while Andrei Vasilevskiy of the Tampa Bay Lightning stopped 11 of 16 shots he faced in the second half.
Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon of the Stanley Cup-champion Colorado Avalanche both collected one goal and two assists for the Central Division, which advanced to the final by beating the Pacific Division 6-4. Their Colorado teammate Mikko Rantanen posted one goal and one assist. Jason Robertson of the Dallas Stars and Clayton Keller of the Arizona Coyotes also scored in the loss.
Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators blocked 11 of 14 shots in the first half, while Connor Hellebuyck of the Winnipeg Jets surrendered four goals on 11 shots in the second half.
After Tkachuk opened the scoring 37 seconds into the clash, Kucherov doubled the lead at the 4:05 mark.
Then Larkin stepped forward. He scored on a partial breakaway set up by Marner with 42.2 seconds remaining in the first half and scored two minutes into the second half to make it a 4-0 game.
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Rantanen finally put the Central squad on the board at 4:09, but Pastrnak scored on a breakaway with 2:46 remaining in the clash.
Robertson kicked off a crazy final couple of minutes by scoring with 73 seconds on the clock. only to see Larkin complete his hat trick seven seconds later.
Keller scored to make it 6-3, but Dahlin -- seconds after failing to convert on a penalty shot -- tallied with 36 seconds on the clock. MacKinnon and Makar scored in the dying seconds but it was far too little and too late.
"Kind of a disappointing loss," Robertson said on a video message to fans via the Stars' Twitter account. "We move on."
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