Nathan MacKinnon of Belfast came into the Season 15 All-Star Game second in the league in scoring and in goals. And despite it being the all-star break, he didn’t take the day off.
The Northern Conference won the game 9-4 and they now lead the series 10-4.
MacKinnon must be a car collector too, because for the second time in 3 years, he was named MVP of the event. Two seasons ago in Zurich, the star center was awarded a Polestar all-electric vehicle. It wasn’t that long ago, but there weren’t many high-end all-electric cars on the road in those days. This season, after scoring 2 goals and adding an assist, he wins another electric vehicle, a Mercedes-Benz EQA engineered about 500 kilometers away in Stuttgart.
In his five all-star game appearances, the Canadian forward has 7 goals and 5 assists.
MacKinnon’s Belfast teammates were also on their game Sunday. Justin Faulk, a defenseman, had 3 assists; winger Gabriel Landeskog had a goal and an assist; and goalie Alexander Salak gave up just one goal in his period of action.
Northern Conference honorary coach Doc Emrick found a dominant line combo in Nikolaj Ehlers (Stockholm) with Dublin teammates Matt Duchene and William Nylander. That trio was in on three goals. And while Emrick’s guys seemed to be toying with the Southern Conference most of the game, a small group of Southerners was able to have a pretty good outing. Lisbon’s Max Domi and John Marino; Paris’ Ondrej Palat and Logan Couture; and Bern’s Jake Dotchin all scored 2 points.
Game Summary
Scoring by periods
North – 5-2-2 … 9
South – 1-2-1 … 4
First period
Goalies: North – Andersen; South – Mrazek
North – MacKinnon (1) Asst: Lindholm (1), Faulk (1)
North – Gallagher (1) Asst: Bogosian (1)
North – Landeskog (1) Asst: Turris (1), Ekblad (1)
South – Palat (1) Asst: Dotchin (1), Domi (1)
North – Nylander (1) Asst: Ehlers (1), Duchene (1)
North – Ekblad (1) Asst: Ehlers (2), Duchene (2)
Second period
Goalies: North – Holtby; South – Hovinen
South – Nugent-Hopkins (1) Asst: Marino (1), Shipachyov (1)
North – Gallagher (2) Asst: Nagtzaam (1), Chudinov (1)
North – Hyka (1) Asst: MacKinnon (1), Faulk (2)
South – Marino (1) Asst: Couture (1), Domi (2)
Third period
Goalies: North – Salak; South – Dredger
North – Ehlers (1) Asst: Nylander (1), Duchene (3)
South – Dotchin (1) Asst: Palat (1), Couture (2)
North – MacKinnon (2), Asst: Landeskog (1), Faulk (3)
3 Stars
1 – Nathan MacKinnon (Belfast) Northern Conference (2 goals, 1 assist)
2 – Justin Faulk (Belfast) Northern Conference (3 assists)
3 – Nikolaj Ehlers (Stockholm) Northern Conference (1 goal, 2 assists)
Attendance: 14,944
