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Edmonton Oilers: McDavid, Pacific Fall in All-Star Championship

By Eric Friesen

Jan 29, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Pacific Division forward Connor McDavid (97) of the Edmonton Oilers and forward Ryan Kesler (17) of the Anaheim Ducks celebrate a goal against the Metropolitan Division during the 2017 NHL All Star Game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Jan 29, 2017; Los Angeles, CA, USA; Pacific Division forward Connor McDavid (97) of the Edmonton Oilers and forward Ryan Kesler (17) of the Anaheim Ducks celebrate a goal against the Metropolitan Division during the 2017 NHL All Star Game at Staples Center. Mandatory Credit: Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports /
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Edmonton Oilers captain Connor McDavid and the Pacific Divison All-Stars couldn’t defend their title. They fell to the Metropolitan Division All-Stars, 4-3, in the 2017 NHL All-Star Game championship Sunday.

McDavid, who was playing in his first All-Star Game, tallied two goals and two assists for the Pacific Division All-Stars in the 3-on-3 tournament. He was the first Oilers captain to play in an All-Star Game since Doug Weight in 2001.

The Pacific advanced to the second straight final under the current All-Star Game format but failed to repeat as champions this year. The Metropolitan Division All-Stars will split a $1 million prize as champions.

Championship Game Recap

Trailing 2-1 under five minutes into the first half, McDavid scored a spectacular goal. On a stretch pass from Anaheim Ducks centre Ryan Kesler, he deked past Sergei Bobrovsky to tie the game 2-2. Easily, McDavid’s move was probably the best goal scored at the game.

Vancouver Canucks centre Bo Horvat gave the Pacific their first lead of the game three minutes later. However, that was all the offence they could muster.

Metropolitan forwards Cam Atkinson and Wayne Simmonds each scored in the second half to secure the 4-3 win for the Metropolitan Simmonds was named the All-Star Game MVP for scoring the game-winner.

Gretzky’s Challenge

One of the strangest occurrences of the game was when Metropolitan head coach Wayne Gretzky, who was filling in for John Tortorella, challenged an offside call that would have put the Pacific ahead 4-2. Ironically, the player Gretzky successfully called for a coach’s challenge on was McDavid.

Regardless of the impact that call had on the outcome of the game, it was great to see that Gretzky still has that competitive fire in him. The Great One was not going to give the Oilers new young superstar a free pass on a play he knew was offside.

All in all, the weekend was solid for McDavid. He won the title of the NHL’s fastest skater. Also, he proved his worth among the league’s elite with a dominant performance.

Exemplifying leadership, ability and potential, McDavid showed the rest of the league that he is just getting started. It’s exciting to see what the future holds for him.

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