The latest installment of NHL All-Star weekend got underway on Friday evening with the All-Star Skills Competition taking place.
Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid won the All-Star Skills Competition with 25 points in the overall standings. McDavid won the Fastest Skater, Stick Handling, Accuracy Shooting, and Obstacle Course events throughout the night.
McDavid found himself trailing by the time his attempt came up in the Obstacle Course. However, the Oilers star recorded 10 points to win the event, and just edged out Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar at the top of the leaderboard. McDavid had a time of 40.606 seconds to take home the crown.
Makar finished the All-Star Skills Competition with 20 points, while Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews came in third place overall with 18 points to his credit.
McDavid began the night by winning the Fastest Skater event as he flew through the course with a time of 13.408. The Oilers center just defeated New York Islanders star Mathew Barzal, who had a time of 13.519 seconds.
McDavid also turned in a time of 25.755 seconds to win the Stick Handling event as he topped Barzal yet again, who had a time of 26.929 seconds.
The most impressive moment of the night turned out to be McDavid's performance in the Accuracy Shooting event. The Oilers star smashed his four targets on just four attempts for a time of 9.168 seconds to win the event.
Makar was able to hang around in the overall standings for the majority of the night. One of the reasons for that was that the Avalanche defenseman won the Hardest Shot event with a top shot of 102.56 m.p.h. In doing so, Makar became the first Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques player to win the Hardest Shot event.
In the One-on-One event, Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev became a richer man. Georgiev made nine saves on McDavid and won $100,000 due to the fact that he recorded the most saves out of any of the goalies that participated in the event.
The 2024 NHL All-Star Game will take center stage on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET.
Edmonton Oilers star Connor McDavid wins the All-Star Skills Competition with the top time of the round. He finishes with 25 points to edge out Cale Makar, who had 20 points on the night.
Mathew Barzal absolutely glided through the early portion Obstacle Course, but was held up by the mini nets. Barzal finishes with a time of 1:16.850 seconds.
Maple Leafs star William Nylander ended up doing a similar shot in an attempt to get into first place. Nylander ripped one, but it was off the mark. He's now in third place in the overall standings.
Auston Matthews produced one of the top plays of the evening. He knew he had lost some time, and ripped his final shot before he was close to the net. Impressive stuff to say the least.
Cale Makar records a time of 43.435 in the Obstacle Course Makar really utilized his speed to become the event leader, and also now leads the overall standings with 22 points.
The Obstacle Course gets underway with Canucks forward J.T. Miller turning in a time of 49.351 seconds in the event. Some unreal stick-handling from Miller despite a high time.
Nathan MacKinnon and Elias Pettersson have also been eliminated following the One-on-One event. Now we've just got the Obstacle Course event to crown a $1 million winner of the All-Star Skills Competition.
Connor McDavid scores just 3 points when facing Avalanche goalie Alexandar Georgiev. McDavid scored on his first shot attempt, but Georgiev really thrived after that to slow down the Oilers star. The poke check on McDavid's last shot attempt won Georgiev $100,000 after tallying the most saves.
Cale Makar racks up 4 points against Jets netminder Connor Hellebuyck. Hellebuyck really got in the zone during that round after Makar ripped one home on his first shot.
Mathew Barzal scores 6 points against Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin. Barzal scored on his first couple of attempts then cooled off. He's currently tied for third place in the event.
Elias Pettersson puts together a 3-point round when facing Stars goaltender Jake Oettinger. Pettersson was really thwarted by Oettinger during that round. Huge development at the top of the leaderboard.
Auston Matthews ends up tallying 7 points against Canucks goaltender Thatcher Demko. Matthews really bailed himself out with a five-hole goal on his second-to-last shot. He moves up to second place against Demko, who he will be playing with on Team Matthews on Saturday for the All-Star Game itself.
J.T. Miller racks up 6 points against Bruins goaltender Jeremy Swayman. Swayman, who tallied a 2.30 goals-against-average during the first half of the season, really was a force in net against Miller. Miller slides into second place behind William Nylander thus far.
Nathan MacKinnon finishes with a lackluster 2 points against Panthers netminder Sergei Bobrovsky. Not the showing that MacKinnon needed at this stage of the evening. Bobrovsky showing that he's still got it.
William Nylander racks up 9 points against Kings goaltender Cam Talbot. Talbot tallied a few stellar glove saves to keep Nylander off the board. Two of the goals that Nylander had came just through Talbot's five-hole. Still a tremendous showing from Talbot.
We just have the One-on-One and Obstacle Course left in the All-Star Skills Competition tonight. Oilers center Connor McDavid currently leads the clubhouse with 15 points through six events after winning three of those events.
David Pastrnak, Leon Draisaitl, Quinn Hughes, and Nikita Kucherov have been eliminated from contention for the $1 million prize. Kucherov and Pastrnak certainly had their fair share of struggles in multiple events throughout the night.
Connor McDavid breaks all four targets in just four attempts and got it done in just 9.168 seconds to win the event. It marked the third event that McDavid won on the night. McDavid leads the way with 15 points in the overall standings.
Auston Matthews stay alive in the overall standings. Matthews tallies a time of 9.341 seconds and only needed five attempt to smash his four targets. A much-needed showing from the hometown superstar.
Leon Draisaitl struggled in his round with a staggering time of 46.089 seconds to knock down his four targets. Definitely a frustrating round for Draisaitl.
Nathan MacKinnon moves up to fourth place with a time of 15.958 seconds. William Nylander follows up MacKinnon with a time of 14.099 to catapult himself up to third place.
