Format
About the NHL All-Star Game
By NEWS SERVICES
Each of league's four divisions will be represented by 11 players (six forwards, three defensemen, two goalies). Team Central will play Team Pacific in the first 20-minute, 3-on-3 semifinal, followed by Team Metropolitan vs. Team Atlantic. The winners advance to the championship, with $1 million going to the champs.
Wild representatives
Devan Dubnyk, goalie: Second All-Star Game. Leads the league with a 1.88 GAA and .936 save percentage.
Ryan Suter, defenseman: Third All-Star Game. Seven goals, 23 assists this season.
Bruce Boudreau, coach: Coaching in his first All-Star Game. Will be behind the Central Division bench.
Minnesota connections
Atlantic: Buffalo F Kyle Okposo (St. Paul, Shattuck- St. Mary's, Gophers).
Metropolitan: N.Y. Rangers D Ryan McDonagh (Cretin-Derham Hall), Carolina D Justin Faulk (South St. Paul, Minnesota Duluth).
Pacific: San Jose D Brent Burns (played for the Wild from 2003 to '11).
Fresh faces
Edmonton's Connor McDavid, Toronto's Auston Matthews and Winnipeg's Patrik Laine are among the 17 players making their All-Star debuts. McDavid, the league's leading scorer with 17 goals and 42 assists, just turned 20 on Jan. 13, and Matthews and Laine are both 19 and on pace for about 40 goals.
Did you know?
• Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby will be playing in his first All-Star Game since 2007, his second year in the league. He is routinely selected but hasn't been participating primarily because of injuries of varying severity.
• Los Angeles also played host in 1981 and 2002.
ROSTERS
Atlantic
Forwards – Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay; Brad Marchand, Boston; Auston Matthews, Toronto; Frans Nielsen, Detroit; Kyle Okposo, Buffalo; Vincent Trocheck, Florida. Defense – Victor Hedman, Tampa Bay; Erik Karlsson, Ottawa; Shea Weber, Montreal. Goalies – Carey Price, Montreal; Tuukka Rask, Boston.
Central
Forwards – Patrick Kane, Chicago; Patrik Laine, Winnipeg; Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado; Tyler Seguin, Dallas; Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis; Jonathan Toews, Chicago. Defense – Duncan Keith, Chicago; P.K. Subban, Nashville; Ryan Suter, Wild. Goalies – Corey Crawford, Chicago; Devan Dubnyk, Wild.
Metropolitan
Forwards – Cam Atkinson, Columbus; Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh; Taylor Hall, New Jersey; Alex Ovechkin, Washington; Wayne Simmonds, Philadelphia; John Tavares, N.Y. Islanders. Defense – Justin Faulk, Carolina; Seth Jones, Columbus; Ryan McDonagh, N.Y. Rangers. Goalies – Sergei Bobrovsky, Columbus; Braden Holtby, Washington.
Pacific
Forwards – Jeff Carter, Los Angeles; Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary; Bo Horvat, Vancouver; Ryan Kesler, Anaheim; Connor McDavid, Edmonton; Joe Pavelski, San Jose. Defense – Brent Burns, San Jose; Drew Doughty, Los Angeles; Cam Fowler, Anaheim. Goalies – Martin Jones, San Jose; Mike Smith, Arizona.
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NEWS SERVICES
The star forward came back from a brief injury absence, and two goals from Frederick Gaudreau helped Minnesota to another road victory.