FRIDAY SPORTS: BEDARD NAMED YOUNGEST NHL ALL-STAR EVER

NHL ALL-STARS

Toronto Maple Leafs centre Auston Matthews, Edmonton Oilers centre Connor McDavid and Chicago Blackhawks rookie centre Connor Bedard are among the headliners for the NHL’s all-star teams unveiled on Thursday.

Matthews, who was named to the Eastern Conference team, leads the NHL with 30 goals so far this season.

Bedard, the first overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, leads the Chicago Blackhawks and all rookies with 33 points (15 goals, 18 assists). The 18-year-old North Vancouver, B.C., native will become the youngest player in all-star game history.

McDavid, meanwhile, has produced 53 points (14 goals, 39 assists) on the year. Both Bedard and McDavid were named to the Western Conference squad.

Montreal Canadiens centre Nick Suzuki and Ottawa Senators left-winger Brady Tkachuk were also named to the East team. Meanwhile, Vancouver Canucks defenceman Quinn Hughes and Winnipeg Jets goaltender Connor Hellebuyck and Calgary Flames centre Elias Lindholm made the West squad.

The remaining 12 players, made up of eight skaters and four goalies, will be selected through a fan vote on Jan. 11.

Another fan vote will then be used to select four skaters to take part in the skills competition.

The skills competition, which will be held Feb. 2, will have a new look this year as well. Twelve NHL all-stars will compete for points in eight events, with the one who accumulates the most points taking home a prize of US$1 million.

Each player will compete in four of the first six all-stars skills events, including hardest shot, stick handling, one-timers, passing challenge and accuracy shooting.

All-star weekend runs from Feb. 1-3 in Toronto.

Eastern Conference all-stars:

Sebastian Aho (Carolina Hurricanes); David Pastrnak (Boston Bruins); Boone Jenner (Columbus Blue Jackets); Alex DeBrincat (Detroit Red Wings); Sam Reinhart (Florida Panthers); Nick Suzuki (Montreal Canadiens); Jack Hughes (New Jersey Devils); Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders); Brady Tkachuk (Ottawa Senators); Travis Konecny (Philadelphia Flyers); Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh Penguins); Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay Lightning); Tom Wilson (Washington Capitals); Rasmus Dahlin (Buffalo Sabres); Igor Shesterkin (New York Rangers).

Western Conference all-stars:

Frank Vatrano (Anaheim Ducks); Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes); Elias Lindholm (Calgary Flames); Connor Bedard (Chicago Blackhawks); Nathan MacKinnon (Colorado Avalanche); Jake Oettinger (Dallas Stars); Connor McDavid (Edmonton Oilers); Cam Talbot (Los Angeles Kings); Kirill Kaprizov (Minnesota Wild); Filip Fosberg (Nashville Predators); Tomas Hertl (San Jose Sharks); Oliver Bjorkstrand (Seattle Kraken); Robert Thomas (St. Louis Blues); Quinn Hughes (Vancouver Canucks); Jack Eichel (Vegas Golden Knights); Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets).

BOSTON (AP) – Sidney Crosby scored on the power play to snap a third-period tie and added two assists, lifting the Pittsburgh Penguins to a 6-5 win over the Boston Bruins on Thursday night.

Elsewhere:

PANTHERS 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 1

LAS VEGAS (AP) – Hours after being named an All-Star, Sam Reinhart had a goal and an assist as Florida defeated Vegas in their latest Stanley Cup rematch. The Panthers won their sixth straight game, and goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky made 26 saves to win his fifth consecutive start.

AVALANCHE 5, STARS 4, OT

DALLAS (AP) – Nathan MacKinnon scored his second goal of the game 3:40 into overtime and Colorado rallied past Dallas.

RANGERS 4, BLACKHAWKS 1

NEW YORK (AP) – Artemi Panarin scored his team-best 24th goal, Vincent Trocheck added three assists and New York beat Chicago.

BLUES 2, CANUCKS 1

ST. LOUIS (AP) – Robert Thomas had a goal and an assist to lead St. Louis over Vancouver.

LIGHTNING 4, WILD 1

ST. PAUL, Minn. (AP) – Lightning defenseman Darren Raddysh scored his first two goals of the season and Victor Hedman had a power-play goal in Tampa Bay’s victory over injury-ravaged Minnesota.

BLUE JACKETS 3, FLYERS 2, SO

PHILADELPHIA (AP) – Johnny Gaudreau scored in the shootout, Damon Severson and Jake Bean netted goals in the third period and Columbus came back to beat Philadelphia.

SABRES 6, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) – Buffalo rookie Devon Levi made 32 saves in his first game at hometown Bell Centre to help the Sabres defeat Montreal.

FLAMES 6, PREDATORS 3

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Connor Zary, Blake Coleman, Rasmus Andersson and Yegor Sharangovich each had a goal and an assist in Calgary’s victory over Nashville.

ISLANDERS 5, COYOTES 1

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) – Bo Horvat scored twice, the second in New York’s three-goal third period, and Ilya Sorokin made 24 saves to help the Islanders beat Arizona.

KRAKEN 4, SENATORS 1

SEATTLE (AP) – Tomas Tatar and Andre Burakovsky scored 3:43 apart late in the second period as Seattle beat Ottawa for its sixth straight victory.

RED WINGS 4, KINGS 3, SO

LOS ANGELES (AP) – Robby Fabbri scored twice, Lucas Raymond and Patrick Kane converted in the shootout and Detroit defeated Los Angeles.

JETS 2, SHARKS 1

SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) – Gabriel Vilardi broke a tie on a power play at 3:14 of the third period, All-Star goalie Connor Hellebuyck made 27 saves and Winnipeg beat San Jose to extend its point streak to a franchise-record 10 games.

WORLD JUNIORS

Gold is up for grabs at the world junior hockey championship this afternoon. Host Sweden takes on the United States in the tournament final. The Swedes earned a 5-2 win over Czechia to book their spot, while the U-S narrowly defeated Finland 3-2 in its semifinal. Czechia and Finland will meet for bronze this morning.