Central defeats Atlantic in second 2022 NHL All-Star Game semifinal

LAS VEGAS -- Jordan Kyrou had two goals and two assists, and Alex DeBrincat had two goals and an assist to help the Central Division to an 8-5 victory against the Atlantic Division in the second semifinal of the 2022 Honda NHL All-Star Game at T-Mobile Arena on Saturday.

The Central Division advanced to face the Metropolitan Division in the championship game for the $1 million prize. The Metropolitan Division defeated the Pacific Division 6-4 in the first semifinal.
Joe Pavelski, Nazem Kadri and Roman Josi each had a goal and an assist, and Clayton Keller, Kirill Karpizov and Cale Makar each had two assists for the Central Division. Cam Talbot made seven saves in the first period and was replaced by Juuse Saros, who made six saves in the second.
Auston Matthews, Jonathan Huberdeau and Rasmus Dahlin each had a goal and an assist for the Atlantic Division. Andrei Vasilevskiy made nine saves in the first period and Jack Campbell made six saves in the second.
The Central Division won only one game previously (1-5) since the All-Star Game was changed to the 3-on-3 tournament format in 2016, defeating the Pacific Division 5-4 in the 2019 semifinals in San Jose before losing 10-5 to the Metropolitan Division in the final.
Kyrou finished a 2-on-0 with Keller to give the Central a 1-0 lead 2:20 into the first period. Huberdeau tied it at 1-1 when Matthews set him up alone in front at 3:28.
DeBrincat put the Central back ahead 2-1 by beating Vasilevskiy high to the glove side on a breakaway at 5:25. Kadri took a pass from Makar and scored blocker side on a breakaway to increase the lead to 3-1 at 5:56.

Huberdeau set up Matthews on the left side to bring the Atlantic within 3-2 with 41 seconds left in the first.
Patrice Bergeron pulled the Atlantic even at 3-3 by beating Saros to the short side 1:02 into the second period. But Kyle Connor put the Central back ahead 4-3 by knocking in the rebound of Kadri's backhand off the crossbar at 3:00.
Kyrou scored his second goal of the game to make it 5-3 Central at 6:36. Dahlin pulled the Atlantic within 5-4 12 seconds later by sliding a backhand between Saros's pads on a breakaway at 6:48.
Josi pushed the Central lead to 6-4 at 7:03 before Steven Stamkos pulled the Atlantic within 6-5 at 7:33.
After DeBrincat increased the Central lead to 7-5 at 8:07, Pavelski scored an empty-net goal with seven seconds left for the 8-5 final.