Konecny Picks Up 3 Assists in Loss, Pacific Wins All-Star Game

By Kevin Durso, Sports Talk Philly editor 

Travis Konecny's first trip to an All-Star Game was certainly successful, with his line generating a lot of the scoring, but it was also short. The Metropolitan Division took a 9-5 loss to the Atlantic Division in the opening game of the All-Star Game 3-on-3 tournament, eliminating them from the final, but Konecny finished with three assists.

In the other semi-final game, the Pacific Division defeated the Central Division, 10-5. The Pacific, captained by Connor McDavid, claimed the title with a 5-4 win over the Atlantic in the final game of the 2020 NHL All-Star Game in St. Louis.

The Atlantic jumped out to an early 2-0 lead just 49 seconds into the game, but then surrendered the next four goals to the Metro. Konecny assisted on goals by Nico Hischier and Seth Jones separated by less than three minutes. Before the close of the first half, the Atlantic scored two goals to tie the game at four.

The second half opened with the Metro regaining the lead. It was Hischier getting his second goal of the game from Konecny and Jones to make it 5-4 at 2:50 of the 10-minute frame. The Atlantic tied the game on a goal by Jonathan Huberdeau at 4:48, then added two goals in 20 seconds from Victor Hedman and Anthony Duclair to open up a 7-5 lead. David Pastrnak and Duclair each scored into an empty net to record hat tricks and ice the game for the Atlantic.

The second semi-final game, like the first, ended in a 4-4 tie after the first half. The Pacific opened up a 3-0 lead before allowing the next three goals to the Central, including a tally by St. Louis forward David Perron. The Pacific took the lead again on a goal by Quinn Hughes, but Tyler Seguin answered for the Central in the final 21 seconds of the half.

The Pacific and Central traded goals in the first 97 seconds of the second half, but that was followed by five unanswered goals by the Pacific. Tomas Hertl scored the final three goals to complete a four-goal game, while Matthew Tkachuk scored his second of the game and Leon Draisaitl completed a hat trick. 

In the final, it took just 24 seconds for the Atlantic to get on the board with Hedman scored his second goal of the night. Just 1:05 later, Huberdeau scored to make it 2-0 Atlantic with his second goal. Max Pacioretty brought the Pacific to within one, but the goal was answered with another goal by Pastrnak with 47 seconds left in the first half to make it 3-1 Atlantic. 

Elias Pettersson scored at 1:37 of the second half to cut the lead to one again and Draisaitl tied the game just seven seconds later. The Atlantic regained the lead at 3:15 of the period when Tyler Bertuzzi got on the board for the first time. Pettersson scored again at 5:04 to tie the game and Hertl's fifth goal of the night gave the Pacific the deciding goal at with 2:36 to play.

Pastrnak was named the All-Star Game MVP.