SUNRISE, Fla. --The Florida Panthers couldn't have asked for a better end to NHL All-Star Week.
Taking home MVP honors, Matthew Tkachuk racked up seven points (four goals, three assists) to help the Atlantic Division claim victory at the 2023 NHL All-Star Game at FLA Live Arena on Saturday.
Tkachuk named MVP as Atlantic wins 2023 NHL All-Star Game
After notching three goals and two assists in a 10-6 win over the Metropolitan Division in the semifinal, Tkachuk added a goal and an assist in a 7-5 win over the Central Division in the final.
Also making the Panthers proud, captain Aleksander Barkov dished out four assists.
"No pressure with it, but we definitely felt that we had to do our part throughout the weekend to show what a great a place and what great fans we have," Tkachuk said of being the hometown guys. "I know we both enjoyed everything that we did. It was just an awesome week all around."
For winning the All-Star Game, Tkachuk and Barkov will each take home a piece of the $1 million prize.
"We had a lot of fun," said Barkov, flashing an ear-to-ear smile. "On the bench, on the ice, you never felt any nerves or anything because you were having fun and enjoying every second."
Kicking off the 3-on-3 action, Florida's All-Stars announced their presence early in the semifinal when Tkachuk took a long pass from Barkov, flew into the zone and beat Igor Shesterkin on a breakaway to put the Atlantic up 1-0 over the Metro just 36 seconds after puck drop.
A few minutes later, Tkachuk picked up another point when he sent a pass to Dylan Larkin, who then beat Shesterkin with a seemingly no-angle shot from behind the net to make it 2-0.
Just after the midway point of the first half, the Metro woke up.
After Johnny Gaudreau beat Andrei Vasilevskiy twice within a span of less than a minute to make it 2-2, Sidney Crosby finished off a give-and-go with Alexander Ovechkin to put the Metro on top 3-2.
Pulling the Atlantic even in the blink of an eye, Tkachuk earned his third point of the first half when he set up his brother Brady, who captains the Ottawa Senators, for a goal from in front. Picking up his second point of the game, Barkov registered the secondary assist on the goal.
Soon after, Nick Suzuki scored to send the Atlantic ahead 4-3.
"Getting to play with Barky and getting to play with Brady, it was fun from the start," said Tkachuk, who had never played with his younger brother on a competitive team before. "We were actually having a lot of fun on the bench. It's a pretty funny group, so it made for a fun day."
Finishing off his hat trick, Gaudreau scored to make it 4-4 right after the puck dropped in the second half. Copy and pasting their earlier goal, Ovechkin then set up Crosby for his second goal of the game to put the Metro up 5-4. Soon after, Ovechkin sniped a shot to make it 6-4.
Pushing back for the Atlantic, Tkachuk picked up his fourth point when he drove to the net and lifted a backhand shot past Ilya Sorokin to make it 6-5. Taking the momentum from that goal, Nikita Kucherov followed suit with a goal of his own to tie things up and make it 6-6.
After Suzuki put the Atlantic up 7-6 with just over four minutes left, Tkachuk capped off his hat trick and sent the home fans into a frenzy when he took a pass from Barkov, skated down the slot on a breakaway and blasted a quick slap shot past Sorokin to make it 8-6.
From there, Larkin and David Pastrnak added goals for the Atlantic to lock in the 10-6 final.
Carrying that hot stick into the final against the Central, Tkachuk picked up right where he left off and opened the scoring when he came from behind the net and powered the puck past Juuse Saros to give the Atlantic an early 1-0 lead just 37 seconds into the first half.
Padding the lead for the Atlantic, Kucherov roofed a shot to make it 2-0 just past the four-minute mark. Staying hot, Larkin then buried a breakaway with 43 seconds left in the half to make it 3-0.
Matching Tkachuk with his fourth goal of the event, Larkin went five-hole on Connor Hellebuyck just over three minutes into the second half to give the Atlantic a comfortable 4-0 advantage.
Getting the Central on the board, Mikko Rantanen cut the deficit to 4-1 at 4:09. At 7:14, Pastrnak went five-hole on a breakaway to extend the Atlantic's lead to 5-1.
At 8:47, Jason Robertson finished off a 2-on-1 to trim the Metro's deficit to 5-2. But a mere seven seconds later, Larkin scored again to secure a hat trick and increase the lead to 6-2.
With the floodgates opening during the final minute, Clayton Keller, Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar scored for the Metro, but that final push wasn't enough as the Atlantic, which got one last goal from Rasmus Dahlin during that scoring spree, held on to win 7-5.
Putting on a hosting clinic for the ages, Tkachuk became just the second Panthers player to win MVP honors at the All-Star Game, following Hall of Famer Pave Bure in 2000. Additionally, he's also just the 10th player to be named MVP while playing for the home team at the All-Star Game.
"We were both gassed at the end of the second half," Tkachuk chuckled. "We came out hot in the first game. We were all tired. For [Barkov] to be able to deal with Brady and I, he should've won MVP. It was a lot of fun."
