The B6 Spyder, manufactured by Spyker Cars, was won by all-star game MVP Andrei Markov of Moscow.
Andrei Markov, Moscow: 1 goal, 3 assists
COPENHAGEN – For the third time in as many tries, the Northern Conference all-stars defeated their rivals from the Southern Conference in the EURO League All-Star game. And for the second year in a row, the final score was 8-4.
The home team’s representatives gave Copenhagen fans a few reasons to cheer – Alexander Ovechkin scored two goals and Alex Goligoski added one – but the game also had a distinct hint of Moscow to it. For one, Ovechkin used to play for Moscow. And Jaroslav Halak, Spartak’s goalie, shut out the South in the third period. But it was defenseman Andrei Markov, Moscow’s second pick in this year’s draft, who was the real star, scoring a goal and adding 3 assists. Markov’s play earned him MVP honors and a Spyker B6 Venator Spyder, manufactured near Amersterdam in the Netherlands.
Milan’s Kyle Okposo got the Southern Conference started well with a wrist shot that beat Northern Conference starting goalie Henrik Lundqvist, but Markov tied it a short time later with a slapshot to beat Jon Quick of Munich.
Zach Parise of the Minsk Hussars scored two goals for the North and teammate Taylor Hall, the London Don who was voted as the top left wing in the conference, showed why he was deserving of that honor by scoring once and setting up two teammates for goals.
The game remained close until the middle of the second period. It was 3-3 when Stockholm’s entry in the game, Mike Richards, poked home a rebound of an Adam Henrique (Gothenburg) shot to put the Northern Conference in front for good.
In the third period, both Ovechkin and Parise scored their second goals of the game and near the end, with the outcome obvious, Northern Conference co-coaches Daniel Alfredsson and Jaromir Jagr had both of of the goal scorers on the ice for a 2:14 shift, trying to get one of them a hat trick. But Kari Lehtonen of Geneva, wouldn’t let that happen.
Three Northern Conference players voted to the all-star team were injured and had to be replaced. Two centers – Sidney Crosby and Stephen Weiss – were replaced by Paul Stastny of Helsinki and Ryan Kesler of Dublin, who were the next highest vote-getters. Each had an assist in the game. Andrej Meszaros of Copenhagen replaced Keith Yandle of Dublin.
Game summary:
Scoring by periods
North – 2-4-2 … 8
South –2-2-0 … 4
First period
Goalies: North – Lundquist; South – Quick
Goals:
South- Okposo (1) Asst: Malkin (1) Letang (1)
North – Markov (1) Asst: Stastny (1) Hall (1)
North – Parise (1) Asst: Kopitar (1) Roland (1)
South – Backes (1) Asst: Pominville (1)
Second period
Goalies: North – Luongo; South – Rask
Goals:
South – Couture (1) Asst: Kovalchuk (1) Okposo (1)
North – Ovechkin (1) Asst: Hall (2) Markov (1)
North – Richards (1) Asst: Henrique (1) Burns (1)
North – Hall (1) Asst: Kessel (1)
South – Wideman (1) Asst: Pominville (2) Backes (1)
North – Goligoski (1) Asst: Ovechkin (1) Markov (2)
Third period
Goalies: North – Halak; South – Lehtonen
Goals:
North – Ovechkin (2) Asst: Kesler (1)
North – Parise (2) Asst: Roland (2) Markov (3)
3 Stars: 1 – Andrei Markov (Moscow), Northern Conference 2 – Alexander Ovechkin (Copenhagen), Northern Conference 3 – Taylor Hall (London), Northern Conference
MVP: Andrei Markov (Moscow), Northern Conference (1 goal, 3 assists)
