Ann 22009 NHL All-Star Game: East Defeats West 12-11 In Shootout, Kovalev Named MVP (Video Included)
January 27th 2009 02:13
When talking about an All-Star Game, most people know what to expect: a no-contact confrontation where defense is almost, if not completely, inexistent, and a final score that looks more like a NFL result than a regular hockey game. Old-timers find the game boring due to its lack of intensity and meaning. There's nothing at stake, players play just for the heck the it to keep both the fans and advertisers happy. This year, for 55 minutes, fans were treated to the usual passionless goal-fest until professional pride emerged as the minutes ran out in a 11-11 tied game.
As is often the case in Montreal, the pre-game festivities were neat. A flying violinist from Cirque Eloize made her way down to the ice as extras pulled the stage down from the rafters. Both national anthems were beautifully sung – the Star Spangled Banner by Alan Prater, and O Canada by the Montreal Jubilation Gospel Choir. The players' introduction gave a nice scale for fans' appreciation of each player. After getting booed on Saturday, Boston Bruins' Tim Thomas, Zdeno Chara, and Marc Savard were reluctantly applauded while the Toronto Maple Leafs' Thomas Kaberle was booed. The biggest ovations went to French-Canadian players (Roberto Luongo, Stephane Robidas, and Jean-Sebastian Giguere for the West; Martin St. Louis and Vincent Lecavalier for the East) and ex-Canadiens (Sheldon Souray, Stephane Robidas, Mark Streit, and coach Claude Julien); and of course Montreal's own participants (coach Guy Carbonneau, Carey Price, Mike Komisarek, Andrei Markov, and Alex Kovalev) who received huge applause.
At the beginning of the game, Lecavalier centered Kovalev and Malkin, but he was quickly paired up with teammate St. Louis while the Flyers' Jeff Carter moved up between the Russians forwards. Carey Price surrendered the first goal early in the game, but the East quickly got up to a 4-1 lead with goals by Ovechkin, Staal, Kovalev (with a weird slowed-down shot), and Markov. The West reduced the score to 4-2 via Patrick Marleau with twelve seconds left to go in the first period.
The goal-fest continued in the second period with ten goals scored in twenty minutes, four by the East and six by the West. Defenseman Sheldon Souray scored two goals in that period, while Kovalev added in another with his signature backhand move, and Malkin scored a complete beauty that you will rarely see in a regular game. After forty minutes of play, the score was 8-8 with the West coming back from a 7-4 deficit in the span of three minutes.
Ovechkin caught on camera admiring Montreal ladies
Shane Doan gave the West their second lead of the game less than a minute into the the third period but Dany Heatley replied two minutes later. Right off the ensuing face-off, Jonathan Toews once again gave the lead to the West, and it took eleven minutes for the East to equalize. By the time Patrick Kane scored the West's 11th goal, the players had started to play better defensively, not wanting to lose. Jay Bouwmeester equalized the mark with four minutes left to go, and the intensity suddenly rose up as the minutes went down.
Chants of “Kovy, Kovy, Kovy” introduced the overtime period as Montreal fans wanted Kovalev to bag the winner in OT since 4-on-4 play is his perfect element. The Artist hit the post twice in overtime in one long shift during which his teammates kept shouting at him to shoot. After having Carey Price surrendering the least goals of all six netminders, Markov scoring the East's fourth goal, Kovalev simply being on fire, it was Komisarek's turn to have a role in the game as he was penalized for hooking Ryan Getzlaf on a breakaway. It was the first penalty in an All-Star Game since the 2000 edition, and it brought more suspense to the game's final minutes. Through shouts of “DE-FENCE, DE-FENCE,” the Eastern Conference players did their best to run out the clock as Tim Thomas made one miraculous save after another to the delight of the Montreal fans who mockingly chanted his name at the beginning of the third. How things change, huh? Komisarek almost had a breakaway when getting out of the box but Carter's pass was painfully too long for the defenseman to get to the puck in time. On to the shootout.
During the selection of players for the shootout, Guy Carbonneau joked to the commentators that he and Julien were looking for three good guys to shoot but couldn't find any. Finally, Lecavalier, Kovalev, and Ovechkin were assigned for the East while the West went with Shane Doan (who had won the Elimination Shootout on Saturday), Rick Nash, and... well I don't remember who was supposed to be the West's third shooter. Anyways, Lecavalier fired straight a Luongo while Shane Doan was easily stopped by Thomas. When Kovalev's shot went past Luongo's glove, the place erupted in cheers as if Kovy had scored a game-winning playoffs goal. Nash's shot went over the net, hitting the glass behind Thomas. Finally, Ovechkin put the puck past Luongo to give the Eastern Conference their second consecutive All-Star Game victory.
In the end, Kovalev was voted MVP of the game and truly deserved it. And it's not just because he's a Montreal Canadiens playing in Montreal that he won. The candidates for me would be Souray, St. Louis, and Thomas, but Kovalev was the true entertainer that night with nice shots, goals, and stickhandling skill. Malkin was also entertaining but took awhile to get into the game. Kovalev was ready from start to finish, and Montreal fans can only hope that his performance will springboard him to a great second half. Oh, and Montreal can go back to hating Sarvard, Chara, and Thomas now.
Full Shootout
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