SCOREBOARD
Monday, Jan. 28
No games scheduled. Play resumes on Tuesday, Jan. 29.
STARS
-Alex Ovechkin, Capitals, won the breakaway challenge to seal the Eastern Conference’s 9-6 victory over the West in the skills competition.
-Nicklas Backstrom, Capitals, and Brandon Dubinsky, Rangers, had two goals apiece to pace the East to a 7-6 win over the West in the YoungStars game.
-Zdeno Chara, Bruins, won the hardest shot competition with a speed of 103.1 mph.
-Shawn Horcoff, Oilers, beat Sabres defensman Brian Campbell in the finals of the fastest skater event.
-Tomas Kaberle, Maple Leafs, hit eight targets in nine attempts and another in a tiebreaker to take the accuracy competition.
EAST IS BEST
The Eastern Conference earned five points over the last three events and rallied to defeat the Western Conference 9-6 in the skills competition in Atlanta Saturday night. The East trailed 5-4 through four events before taking the accuracy shooting and hardest shots events and halving the breakaway challenge.
SECOND HARDEST
Boston defenseman Zdeno Chara recorded the second-hardest shot in skills competition history with a speed of 103.1 mph on Saturday night. Al Iafrate stills holds the record of 105.2 set in 1993.
RARE FEAT
Toronto defenseman Tomas Kaberle became the fourth different player to hit all four targets in as many shots in a single round on Saturday night. Ray Bourque (1992-93), Mark Messier (1996) and Jeremy Roenick (2004) were the others.
TWEAKED
New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro tweaked his hip during the breakaway challenge on Saturday night and sat out the rest of the competition. He injured himself while trying to stop Marian Gaborik’s around-the-net move in the night’s final event. DiPietro, who had hip surgery last May, insisted he’ll be able to play in Sunday’s game.
WELCOME ABROAD
The NHL will return to Europe to open next season, announcing Saturday that two games each will be played in Prague and Stockholm. The New York Rangers will meet Tampa Bay at Sazka Arena in the Czech Republic, while Ottawa faces off against Pittsburgh at the Globe Arena in Sweden’s capital city. The games will be played Oct. 4 and 5.
SPEAKING
“It was a baseball move and a little bit of hockey. I like it, but I didn’t score. I’m disappointed.” – Washington’s Alex Ovechkin said on his move during the breakaway challenge Saturday night. Ovechkin flipped the puck off his stick, took a mighty swing and missed.