The NHL's Atlantic Division was the best in the league Saturday afternoon with a 7-5 win over the Central Division in the title matchup of the 2023 NHL All-Star Game.
Matthew Tkachuk continued his dominance from the Atlantic's 10-6 victory over the Metropolitan, needing just 37 seconds for the opening goal of the contest. It would be an all-ATL 1st half, as they logged 2 additional goals from the Lightnings' Nikita Kucherov and the Red Wings' Dylan Larkin at 4:05 and 9:17, respectively, for a 3-0 lead heading to the 2nd period.
Larkin himself would begin the scoring in half number 2 at 2:03 for his 2nd of the game on the way and a 4-0 ATL lead en route to a hat trick performance. The Avalanche's Mikko Rantanen at 4:09 finally got the Central on the board, only for Boston's David Pastrnak to make it 5-1 at the 7:14 mark. The Stars' Jason Robertson would respond to that tally at 8:47 to make it 5-2. Larkin would complete his hat trick for the ATL squad less than 10 seconds later, though, erasing Robertson's effort like it was nothing. However, the CEN team got the last laugh, as they made it 6-3 at 9:07 thanks to Arizona's Clayton Keller. From there, it was a contest to see who could score the next goal the fastest for their team, as the final 3 tallies, 1 by the Sabres' Rasmus Dahlin at 9:24, Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon at 9:37, and by fellow Av Cale Makar at 9:52. It was not enough, as the ATL squad hung on in the end.
As expected, the Florida Panthers' Matthew Tkachuk took home MVP honors, no doubt thanks to his hat trick in the ATL's 10-6 semifinal victory and his penchant for scoring goals less than a minute into periods. The ATL also outshot the CEN squad 25-22 and won 11 faceoffs to the CEN's 8. And once again, neither side logged any official hits or penalty minutes.
NHL regular-season action resumes on Monday, February 6 with a 6-game slate, the first two of which is a 7:00 double-header with the New York Islanders visiting the Philadelphia Flyers and the Tampa Bay Lightning going right back to FLA Live Arena to face the Panthers.
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