Hottest teams going into All Star weekend
The Tampa Bay Lightning are the best team in the NHL going into All Star weekend. Their record is currently 37-10-2 with a league leading 76 points; in the last 10 games their record is 7-3-0. The second place team in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference is the Toronto Maple Leafs, who sit at a current record of 30-17-2.
The best team in the Western Conference, the Calgary Flames, are 33-13-5 with 71 points. The Flames started the season 5-8-2 in the first 15 games and have caught fire since. In their last 10 games the Flames have been red hot, going 8-1-1 over the stretch.
Teams on the rise
The New York Islanders have risen to the second spot in the Eastern Conference with a record of 29-15-5 and 63 points. The Islanders are 7-2-1 in the last 10 games and are one point ahead of the Maple Leafs going into All Star weekend.
The second place team in the Western Conference, the San Jose Sharks, are 7-3-0 in their last 10 games and have a 29-16-7 record going into All Star weekend. The Sharks have been been hot at home having the second best home record in the NHL with 17-4-4.
Cold teams in the NHL
The Anaheim Ducks have been cold, going 2-6-2 in the last 10 games, dropping them to tenth place in the Western Conference. Their record going into All Star weekend is 21-21-9.
With 43 points the New Jersey Devils are currently in 15th place in the Eastern Conference. Their record is 18-23-7 going into All Star weekend. They are 15 points out of the eighth place position for playoffs.
All Star Weekend in San Jose started off with the skills competition.
The festivities kicked off with Kendall Coyne’s historic appearance; the USWNT star had a solid showing by posting a clean run of 14.346 seconds. While Coyne and company gave good efforts, there was no dethroning the two-time defending champ. Connor McDavid captured his third consecutive crown with a time of 13.378 seconds. That performance topped his 13.454 seconds from a year ago, but it wasn’t quite enough to surpass his personal best of 13.172, set in 2017. Meanwhile, Detroit Red Wings star Dylan Larkin’s event record of 13.172 in 2016 will last at least one more year.
Like the fastest skater event, the puck control competition featured a repeat champion. Chicago Blackhawks star Patrick Kane set the tone early by breezing through the course in 28.611 seconds. While it looked as though that time might hold up, there’s a reason Johnny Gaudreau of the Calgary Flames was the reigning champ. Gaudreau came in clutch to deny Kane the title by posting a time of 27.045 seconds.
Meanwhile, the goaltending competition featured the first new champion — and it’s all because of King Henrik. Henrik Lundqvist won the competition with 12 straight saves, falling two saves short of Marc-Andre Fleury’s record of 14 saves in a row.
Boston Bruins right winger David Pastrnak put on quite the show with his accuracy, cruising through the five-target challenge. His time of 11.309 seconds set the tone early and put pressure on the rest of the field to be nearly perfect. No one else was able to keep up, but Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Kris Letang came the closest, finishing with a time of 12.693 seconds.
Leon Draisaitl of the Edmonton Oilers blew away the field in the premier passer competition, besting his top competitor, the Carolina Hurricanes’ Sebastian Aho, by nearly 10 seconds. Draisaitl completed the premier passer competition in one minute and nine seconds.
For the second consecutive year, a Washington Capital was the one to light up the radar gun the most. Following in teammate Alexander Ovechkin’s footsteps, John Carlson blew away the competition with a 102.8 mph slap shot that would make even Ovechkin, who won last year’s event at 101.3 mph, do a double take.
