01/13/2022 – CanucksBanter

Canucks Thatcher Demko one of 18 first time selections; will be played in Las Vegas on February 5.

by David Satriano @davidsatriano / NHL.com Staff Writer

Kirill Kaprizov, Adam Fox and Cale Makar were among 18 first-time selections for the 2022 Honda NHL All-Star Game at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas on Feb. 5 (3 p.m. ET; ABC, SN, TVAS).

Kaprizov, a forward (Minnesota Wild), and defensemen Fox (New York Rangers) and Makar (Colorado Avalanche) were among 36 players selected by the NHL Hockey Operations Department on Thursday to represent their respective divisions.

Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin (Metropolitan Division), Toronto Maple Leafs forward Auston Matthews (Atlantic Division), Colorado Avalanche forward Nathan MacKinnon (Central Division) and Edmonton Oilers forward Connor McDavid (Pacific Division) were named captains following the 2022 NHL All-Star Fan Vote.

The 11th player for each division will be selected by fans via the Last Men In vote at NHL.com/lastmenin or on a mobile interactive ballot on the NHL app. Voting runs through 11:59 p.m. ET Monday.

Ovechkin will be making his eighth appearance, the most among players chosen. McDavid will be making his fifth appearance, and Matthews and MacKinnon will each be there for the fourth time.

Forward Mark Stone and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo will represent the host Vegas Golden Knights in the Pacific Division. It will be the first All-Star Game for Stone and third for Pietrangelo (2018, 2020 with the St. Louis Blues).

Ten of the top 14 players in the NHL in points were selected: McDavid (53), Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl (53), Ovechkin (52), Florida Panthers forward Jonathan Huberdeau (47), Kaprizov (40), San Jose Sharks forward Timo Meier (39), Calgary Flames forward Johnny Gaudreau (38), Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman (38), Matthews (38) and Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebastian Aho (37).

In addition to the Golden Knights, seven other teams had two players selected: the Hurricanes (Aho, goalie Frederik Andersen) and the Rangers (Fox, forward Chris Kreider) in the Metropolitan; the Lightning (Hedman, goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy) and the Maple Leafs (Matthews, goalie Jack Campbell) in the Atlantic; the Avalanche (MacKinnon, Makar) and the Wild (Kaprizov, goalie Cam Talbot) in the Central; and the Oilers (McDavid, Draisaitl) in the Pacific.

Rod Brind’Amour of the Hurricanes (Metropolitan), Andrew Brunette of the Panthers (Atlantic), Jared Bednar of the Avalanche (Central) and Peter DeBoer of the Golden Knights (Pacific) were named coaches for their respective divisions Tuesday.

The All-Star Game will feature a three-game tournament, played in a 3-on-3 format, showcasing teams from each NHL division. Each of the four teams will include nine skaters and two goalies.

The 2022 NHL All-Stars Skills presented by DraftKings Sportsbook will take place on Feb. 4 (7:30 p.m. ET; ESPN, SN, TVAS).

Here are the rosters:

Metropolitan Division (All-Star appearances)

F Sebastian Aho, CAR (2nd)

F Claude Giroux, PHI (7th)

F Jack Hughes, NJD (1st)

F Chris Kreider, NYR (2nd)

F Alex Ovechkin, WSH (8th)*

D Adam Fox, NYR (1st)

D Adam Pelech, NYI (1st)

D Zach Werenski, CBJ (2nd)

G Frederik Andersen, CAR (2nd)

G Tristan Jarry, PIT (2nd)

Atlantic Division (All-Star appearances)

F Drake Batherson, OTT (1st)

F Patrice Bergeron, BOS (3rd)

F Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA (2nd)

F Dylan Larkin, DET (2nd)

F Auston Matthews, TOR (4th)*

F Nick Suzuki, MTL (1st)

D Rasmus Dahlin, BUF (1st)

D Victor Hedman, TBL (3rd)

G Jack Campbell, TOR (1st)

G Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (4th)

Pacific Division (All-Star appearances)

F Leon Draisaitl, EDM (3rd)

F Jordan Eberle, SEA (2nd)

F Johnny Gaudreau, CGY (6th)

F Adrian Kempe, LAK (1st)

F Connor McDavid, EDM (5th)*

F Timo Meier, SJS (1st)

F Mark Stone, VGK (1st)

D Alex Pietrangelo, VGK (3rd)

G John Gibson, ANA (3rd)

G Thatcher Demko, VAN (1st)

Central Division (All-Star appearances)

F Kyle Connor, WPG (1st)

F Alex DeBrincat, CHI (1st)

F Kirill Kaprizov, MIN (1st)

F Clayton Keller, ARI (2nd)

F Jordan Kyrou, STL (1st)

F Nathan MacKinnon, COL (4th)*

F Joe Pavelski, DAL (4th)

D Cale Makar, COL (1st)

G Juuse Saros, NSH (1st)

G Cam Talbot, MIN (1st)

* Fan-elected captain

Thursday brought two KHL games, with Avtomobilist playing for the first time this year and getting a valuable 5-2 win over Severstal. SKA edged Sochi 2-1 to go four points clear at the top of the Western Conference.

Motormen return with win

Avtomobilist Yekaterinburg 5 Severstal Cherepovets 2 (2-0, 2-2, 1-0)

Avtomobilist returned to action with a bang after the Motormen got a clean bill of health following the recent COVID outbreak on the team. Nikolai Zavarukhin’s team dropped to 10th in the Eastern Conference during that period of inactivity, and despite having three games in hand on eight-placed Barys and five on Neftekhimik in seventh, there’s a lot of work to do to get into the playoff picture.

That work started today against Severstal, and the first assignment was completed successfully. Avtomobilist snapped its six-game losing streak, serving notice that it was still an active player in the battle for the top eight. The home team made a strong start to the game, opening the scoring in the ninth minute through Stanislav Bocharov and doubling that lead before the intermission thanks to Shane Prince.

Severstal, looking to build on a three-game winning streak, came out hard in the second period. Daniil Vovchenko potted a spectacular lacrosse goal to reduce the deficit and post an early contender for goal of the year. Then, just before the midway point Ivan Yemets tied the scores. However, the home imports rallied to restore that two-goal lead before the second break. First, Prince got his second of the game, then he released Brooks Macek for a one-on-one with goalie Dmitry Shugayev. Macek converted the chance, Severstal challenged the play but the video found no evidence of offside and the visitor was left to kill a penalty. Shugayev made way for Vladislav Podyapolsky, but the understudy goalie could do nothing to stop Bocharov getting his second of the game in the third period.

SKA edges past battling Sochi

SKA St. Petersburg 2 HC Sochi 1 (1-0, 0-0, 1-1)

SKA moved four points clear at the top of the Western Conference thanks to its second victory over Sochi this season.

The home team had the better of the first period and got its reward with the opening goal in the 16th minute. SKA won an attacking face-off and after Maxim Tretyak blocked Alexander Volkov’s shot, Marat Khusnutdinov followed up to convert the rebound.

Tretiak pulled off a big save at the start of the second period, robbing Mat Robinson of a power play goal. After that, the visiting defense began to tighten up its play: SKA was limited to seven shots on goal in the middle session, with Sochi blocking 10 efforts.

That stalwart defensive effort kept the visitor alive in this game, and not even a 5-on-3 power play helped SKA to extend its lead. Nikita Zorkin — one of several former SKA players on the Sochi team — did superbly to prevent Andrei Kuzmenko from firing into an unguarded net, and subsequently Tretyak kept the home offense at arm’s length until the teams were back at full strength.

However, the Leopards were unable to generate the necessary offense to find a way back into the game there was always a sense that SKA would successfully finish the job. Kirill Marchenko almost settled it with a shot against the piping before Mikhail Vorobyov added a second goal in the 56th minute.

Earlier in the season, Sochi failed to score in its home game against SKA. Today the visitor at least escaped a second blank thanks when Kuzmenko’s error led to a late consolation goal for Dmitry Kolgotin’s. Briefly, the visitor threatened to drag the issue into overtime, but the Army Men responded with a disciplined finish to seal a 2-1 victory.