Matthews leads own team past Team McDavid to win 2024 NHL All-Star Game

TORONTO -- The Toronto Maple Leafs won the 2024 Honda (U.S.)/Rogers (Canada) NHL All-Star Game.

Well, four of them did at least, with Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner, Morgan Rielly and William Nylander all contributing on their home ice to lead Team Matthews to a 7-4 win against Team McDavid in the final at Scotiabank Arena on Saturday.

Matthews, the captain, had two goals and an assist to win Most Valuable Player. Marner scored, and Rielly and Nylander each had an assist.

They also defeated Team Hughes, captained by Vancouver Canucks defenseman Quinn Hughes, 6-5 in a shootout in the semifinal game.

Team Matthews, helped by celebrity captain Justin Bieber, will split the $1 million that goes to the winning team.

"Amazing," Marner said. "I know I said it a lot this weekend, but I've dreamt of being in All-Star Games my whole life. I've watched All-Star Games from my couch, my carpet with my parents. Just watching Sid [Crosby] and [Jason] Spezza, [Marian] Hossa, Owen Nolan and the list goes on and on. You always dream of being a part of one. To have it in this city, it's pretty remarkable, and to be able to enjoy with the ones that got me to where I am, it's even better."

It wasn't just the Maple Leafs' show.

Clayton Keller of the Arizona Coyotes, Mathew Barzal of the New York Islanders and Alex DeBrincat of the Detroit Red Wings each had a goal and two assists for Team Matthews. New York Rangers goalie Igor Shesterkin gave up three goals on 11 shots in the first period, and Dallas Stars goalie Jake Oettinger stopped eight of nine shots in the second.

"It's fun to contribute and obviously fun to win," DeBrincat said. "I think you saw pretty much everyone on our team wanted that. We were trying pretty hard there at the end. You might as well try if we're here. That was the memo and everyone on our team had a lot of fun. It was good."

Edmonton Oilers forward Leon Draisaitl had a goal and two assists, Boone Jenner of the Columbus Blue Jackets, Tomas Hertl of the San Jose Sharks and David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins scored for Team McDavid.

Florida Panthers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky allowed three goals on 13 shots in the first period, and Winnipeg Jets goalie Connor Hellebuyck stopped seven of 10 shots in the second.

"Good for them," Pastrnak said of the Maple Leafs players winning the All-Star Game. "They needed some wins. They got the win today."

DeBrincat (three goals, three assists) and Barzal (one goal, five assists) tied for the lead on Team Matthews with six points in two games. Nashville Predator forward Filip Forsberg had five points (three goals, two assists), and Matthews (one goal, three assists) and Keller (one goal, three assists) each had four.

"I think the win just put the cherry on the top," Nylander said. "I think the weekend was just incredible from the beginning to the finish. Obviously, super nice to win, but I enjoyed every moment of this weekend."

Keller gave Team Matthews a 1-0 lead at 2:19 of the first period, chipping in a cross-crease pass from Matthews.

Jenner tied it 1-1 at 5:08, scoring with a bardown shot from the top of the right face-off circle.

Marner gave Team Matthews the 2-1 lead at 7:11 by poking in a loose puck in the crease after Nylander's shot went through Bobrovsky's five-hole but stopped in the blue paint.

The teams then combined for three goals in 18 seconds.

Pastrnak scored with a low shot from the right hash marks to tie it 2-2 at 8:08, and Matthews scored off the face-off five seconds later to give his team a 3-2 lead at 8:13.

Draisaitl answered 13 seconds later to make it 3-3 at 8:26.

"The second period is usually when it gets real intense," Marner said. "We were talking that if we got a lead in the second period we were going dump and chase mode."

Forsberg gave Team Matthews that lead, making it 4-3 at 1:06 of the second with a snap shot from the right circle inside the right post.

"They know now that they're closer to winning that, what is it, $100,000 each," said Team Matthews coach Jim Montgomery from the Bruins. "That's a lot of money for even NHL superstars."

Matthews extended the lead to 5-3 at 4:59 with a one-timer into the top right corner of the net off a 2-on-1 with Keller.

"It still didn't feel safe," Keller said.

"You never really know. There's a lot of chances back and forth and so many great players, so you've got to play until the very end."

DeBrincat scored into the empty net at 8:09 to make it 6-3, but even then it wasn't a lock for Team Matthews because Hertl scored a 4-on-3 goal for Team McDavid at 8:34 to cut it to 6-4.

However, Barzal scored off a 2-on-0 with DeBrincat at 8:54 for the 7-4 final.

"We wanted to win, for sure," Matthews said. "We were talking in the locker room and I don't think there was much messing around. Everybody was pretty much on the same page to try to go out there and put in a pretty good effort and try to come out with a good result."