NHL All-Star Game 2020: Tomas Hertl, Leon Draisaitl lead Pacific Division to victory

Rudi Schuller

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NHL All-Star Game 2020: Tomas Hertl, Leon Draisaitl lead Pacific Division to victory image

The Pacific Division has claimed bragging rights after winning the 2020 NHL All-Star Game's 3-on-3 tournament.

Led by big performances from Tomas Hertl and Leon Draisaitl, Pacific dominated its opening contest against the Central Division before edging past Atlantic in the final on Saturday in St. Louis. Fittingly, it was Hertl who netted the winning goal in the dying minutes of the final, giving his team the victory while also cementing the night's scoring title for himself.

As with every All-Star Game, goals were easy to come by as players forgot about defense in favor of attempting dazzling offensive displays on the wide-open ice. There were some unconventional combinations as rivals came together as temporary teammates — most notably Edmonton Oliers star Draisaitl and Matthew Tkachuk of the Calgary Flames in Pacific's 10-5 destruction of Central in the semifinals.

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Despite Pacific's victory and large outputs by the likes of Draisaitl and Hertl, it was Atlantic's David Pastrnak who claimed MVP honors. The Boston Bruins star racked up four goals and two assists on the night while displaying a sublime pair of mitts.

Sporting News tracked all the action from Saturday's showcase. Here's how it all went down:

NHL All-Star Game 2020: Updates, highlights from the 3-on-3 tournament

Final: Pacific 5, Atlantic 4

10:52 p.m. ET — The horn goes amid a flurry of activity as Atlantic pulled the goalie in order to push for a last-minute goal. Pacific held on, and take the crown.

10:49 p.m. ET — GOAL. Tomas Hertl, Goal Machine! Yet another one for the Sharks sniper puts Pacific aead. 5-4 Pacific.

10:43 p.m. ET — GOAL. Pettersson levels things up with a quick, low wrister. 4-4.

10:41 p.m. ET — GOAL. Bertuzzi saves his first of the night for a go-ahead goal in the final. 4-3 Atlantic.

10:39 p.m. ET — GOAL. Draisaitl ties it up seconds after the Pettersson goal. What a quick release by the Oilers star. 3-3.

10:38 p.m. ET — GOAL. After some Tkachuk on Tkachuk robbery, Matthew feeds Pettersson for a breakaway that gets converted. 3-2 Atlantic.

10:37 p.m. ET — 10 minutes remaining. There will be more goals.

10:33 p.m. ET — First period over. Atlantic looks up for this one, including goalie Freddie Andersen.

10:32 p.m. ET — GOAL. Pastrnak continues his great night with a nasty set of moves leading to a backhanded effort that bulges the net underneat the crossbar. 3-1 Atlantic.

10:28 p.m. ET — GOAL. Pacific's on the board as Pacioretty scores on a bit of a comebacker. 2-1 Atlantic.

10:20 p.m. ET — GOAL. Another one for Atlantic, this time from Huberdeau who showed good hands in close. 2-0 Atlantic.

10:19 p.m. ET — GOAL. Less than 30 seconds in and Hedman does well to finish a Pastrnak feed. 1-0 Atlantic.

10:18 p.m. ET — Here we go, the final is underway.

10:10 p.m. ET — Still a few minutes to go before the final. Arena workers are great at what they do.

10:03 p.m. ET — Green Day update: Three uncensored F-bombs on live TV. None in this clip, though.

9:57 p.m. ET — In the meantime, Green Day made their way to the arena. They're kicking it like 1994 with "Basket Case" as their opening number.

9:55 p.m. ET — So it'll be the two division named after oceans in the final. Atlantic vs. Pacific. Puck drop set for 10:15 ET. Bring it on.

Pacific 10, Central 5

9:47 p.m. ET — That's it! A five-goal win for the Pacific Division.

9:45 p.m. ET — GOAL. Hertl gets his fourth. The Sharks man is on fire! 10-5 Pacific.

9:43 p.m. ET — GOAL. Hertl again. He receives a drop pass from Draisaitl and pulls everyone the wrong way before depositing the puck into the open net. That was pretty. 9-5 Pacific.

9:40 p.m. ET — GOAL. Hertl is Johnny-on-the-Spot and knocks it home. 8-5 Pacific.

9:37 p.m. ET — GOAL. Draisaitl again. He cuts in on Hellebuyck and puts a wrister high. 7-5 Pacific.

9:35 p.m. ET — GOAL. Tkachuk pulls the puck around Hellebuyck before lifted a backhander over the sprawled netminder. 6-5 Pacific.

9:33 p.m. ET — GOAL. Kane gets a breakaway and makes no mistake, drawing another cheer from the St. Louis crowd. 5-5.

9:32 p.m. ET — GOAL. Draisaitl hits a one-timer off a feed from McDavid. Those guys know how to play together. 5-4 Pacific.

9:31 p.m. ET — Second period has started.

9:27 p.m. ET — GOAL. They keep coming now as Seguin combines with Scheifele for a nice tally. Tie game again, just before the intermission. 4-4.

9:26 p.m. ET — GOAL. Pacific regains the lead as Quinn Hughes showed some good handles to get the goalie going the wrong way. 4-3 Pacific.

9:23 p.m. ET — GOAL. Tie game as Kane gets his first cheer of the weekend with a successful snipe. Kane cups his ear as he hears it from the crowd.  3-3.

9:23 p.m. ET — GOAL. The biggest cheer of the night comes as the Blues' Perron slides the puck under the goalie and into the net. 3-2 Pacific.

9:20 p.m. ET — GOAL. Central finally gets on the board as Scheifele wires one top corner on a 2-on-1. Game on. 3-1 Pacific.

9:17 p.m. ET — GOAL. Hertl has a long breakaway and goes top shelf after a few fakes. 3-0 Pacific.

9:15 p.m. ET — GOAL. The Pacific lead is doubled as Draisaitl finishes a Tkachuk feed. Spicy. 2-0 Pacific.

9:13 p.m. ET — GOAL. Matthew Tkachuk gets the scoring underway. 1-0 Pacific.

9:11 p.m. ET — Game #2 of the night has started.

8:59 p.m. ET — The Western teams are up next, with Central vs. Pacific. Here are the squads, courtesy NHL.com :

Central Division

  • F Nathan MacKinnon, COL (4th appearance) -- captain
  • F Patrick Kane, CHI (9th)
  • F Ryan O'Reilly, STL (3rd)
  • F David Perron, STL (1st)
  • F Mark Scheifele, WPG (2nd)
  • F Tyler Seguin, DAL (6th)
  • F Eric Staal, MIN (6th)
  • D Roman Josi, NSH (3rd)
  • D Alex Pietrangelo, STL (2nd)
  • G Jordan Binnington, STL (1st)
  • G Connor Hellebuyck, WPG (2nd)

Pacific Division

  • F Connor McDavid, EDM (4th appearance) -- captain
  • F Leon Draisaitl, EDM (2nd)
  • F Tomas Hertl, SJS (1st)
  • F Anze Kopitar, LAK (5th)
  • F Max Pacioretty, VGK (1st)
  • F Elias Pettersson, VAN (2nd)
  • F Matthew Tkachuk, CGY (1st)
  • D Mark Giordano, CGY (3rd)
  • D Quinn Hughes, VAN (1st)
  • G Jacob Markstrom, VAN (1st)
  • G David Rittich, CGY (1st)
  • F Jakob Silfverberg (personal), ANA; F Logan Couture (injury), SJS; and G Darcy Kuemper (injury), ARI, were replaced. G Marc-Andre Fleury, VGK, has chosen not to play.

Atlantic 9, Metropolitan 5

8:55 p.m. ET — GOAL. Now it's Duclair who gets a hat trick as the Metros kept their net empty, allowing the Senators man to easily score his third. 9-5 Atlantic.

8:54 p.m. ET — GOAL. Hatty for Pasta as the Bruins star slots into the empty net. This one is over. 8-5 Atlantic.

8:50 p.m. ET — GOAL. Third straight goal for Atlantic as Duclair gets his second of the game, outwaiting the netminder. 7-5 Atlantic.

8:49 p.m. ET — GOAL. Hedman caps off some end-to-end action with a low shot that suck in past Jarry. 6-5 Atlantic.

8:48 p.m. ET — GOAL. A bit of persistance and a nice piece of skill by Brady Tkachuk leads to a point-blank chance for Huberdeau, who buries it. Tie game again. 5-5.

8:45 p.m. ET — A TV timeout allows us to appreciate a rare big save, this one from Brayden Holtby.

8:42 p.m. ET — GOAL. Hischier gets on the board again after he and Konecny executed a patient passing play to pull the goalie out of position. 5-4 Metropolitan.

8:39 p.m. ET — The second period is underway.

8:35 p.m ET — The horn sounds to end the first period. It was a low-scoring one, with only eight goals scored. 😏

8:33 p.m. ET — GOAL. Pasta time. Pastrnak goes five hole to restore the tie, and guest coach Jenna Fischer is happy.  4-4.

8:33 p.m. ET — The refs blow the whistle for an offside with 1:41 left. I was beginning to wonder if the officials even hade whistles on them tonight.

8:30 p.m. ET — GOAL. Atlantic hits right back as Duclair pots one into a yawning cage with the goalie out of position. 4-3 Metropolitan.

8:29 p.m. ET — GOAL. Seth Jones gives Metro its fourth straight goal, going high over Andersen. 4-2 Metropolitan.

8:26 p.m. ET — GOAL. Oshie hits a beauty of a writer from the slot to beat Andersen high. Metro takes the lead after scoring three straight. 3-2 Metropolitan.

8:24 p.m. ET — GOAL. Tie game as Hischier easily walks in on Andersen and slides it under the Leafs goalie. 2-2.

8:22 p.m. ET — GOAL. Metropolitan gets on the board as Carlson finishes a nice Barzal feed. 2-1 Atlantic.

8:20 p.m. ET — GOAL. Weber hits a knuckling one-timer and Atlantic goes up by two. 2-0 Atlantic.

8:19 p.m. ET — GOAL. Atlantic opens the scoring with Pastrnak putting home a 2-on-1. 1-0 Atlantic.

8:18 p.m. ET — Puck drop! Here we go.

8:14 p.m. ET — Laila Anderson announced the four Blues players. Great touch, there.

8:01 p.m. ET — The night's first game is scheduled for 8:15 ET with the Metropolitan and Atlantic Divisions facing off in an all-Eastern Conference matchup. Here are the rosters for both squads, courtesy NHL.com :

Metropolitan Division

  • D Kris Letang, PIT (6th appearance) -- captain 
  • F Mathew Barzal, NYI (2nd)
  • F Nico Hischier, NJD (1st)
  • F Travis Konecny, PHI (1st)
  • F Chris Kreider, NYR (1st)
  • F T.J. Oshie, WSH (1st)
  • D John Carlson, WSH (2nd)
  • D Seth Jones, CBJ (3rd)
  • D Jaccob Slavin, CAR (1st)
  • G Braden Holtby, WSH (5th)
  • G Tristan Jarry, PIT (1st)
  • F Jake Guentzel, PIT; F Kyle Palmieri, NJD; D Dougie Hamilton, CAR; G Joonas Korpisalo, CBJ; and F Artemi Panarin, NYR, were replaced because of injury. F Alex Ovechkin, WSH (captain), has chosen not to play.

Atlantic Division

  • F David Pastrnak, BOS (2nd appearance) -- captain
  • F Tyler Bertuzzi, DET (1st)
  • F Anthony Duclair, OTT (1st)
  • F Jack Eichel, BUF (3rd)
  • F Jonathan Huberdeau, FLA (1st)
  • F Mitchell Marner, TOR (1st)
  • F Brady Tkachuk, OTT (1st)
  • D Victor Hedman, TBL (3rd)
  • D Shea Weber, MTL (7th)
  • G Frederik Andersen, TOR (1st)
  • G Andrei Vasilevskiy, TBL (3rd)
  • G Tuukka Rask, BOS, has chosen not to play. F Auston Matthews, TOR, will attend but not participate in on-ice activities.

7:54 p.m. ET — We're still several minutes from puck drop on the first game, but the mascots are already putting on a show.

Rudi Schuller