Western Conference wins skills competition
Sunrise, FL (Sports Network) - The Western Conference was victorious in the annual SuperSkills competition, beating the Eastern Conference by a 15-9 score at the Office Depot Center.
The skills competition began with Puck Control Relay, which pits teams of three against each other in a race with the puck around pylons. The Western Conference's team of Columbus' Ray Whitney, Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom and Doug Weight of St. Louis won the event by beating Ottawa's Marian Hossa, the Rangers' Tom Poti and Tampa Bay's Vincent Lecavalier. However, the Eastern Conference came out on top in the individual race, as Tampa Bay's Martin St. Louis defeated Teemu Selanne of San Jose.
The Western Conference then took a 3-1 lead in the Fastest Skater event, as Minnesota's Marian Gaborik skated around the ice in 13.713 seconds. The West also picked up a point because they had the faster average time at 14.123 seconds.
St. Louis' Al MacInnis picked up another point for the Western Conference by winning the Hardest Shot competition. MacInnis blasted the puck 98.9 mph to earn his seventh win in the event. The Western Conference also picked up another point with an average speed of 96.2 mph.
The Eastern Conference closed the gap to 5-3 in the Shooting Accuracy event, picking up both points. Philadelphia's Jeremy Roenick won the event for the second time in his career, as he broke four targets on six shots. Boston's Glen Murray and Jeff O'Neill of Carolina hit four targets on seven shots to help the East earn the team point.
The Western Conference was victorious in the Pass and Score event, scoring three goals to the East's one tally to grab an 8-4 lead. The best trio for the West was the team of Whitney, Los Angeles' Mathieu Schneider and Dallas' Mike Modano, who scored two goals in three trips down the ice against Martin Brodeur of New Jersey.
The Western Conference sealed the victory in the Breakaway Relay, winning the event 7-5. Colorado's Patrick Roy was the best goaltender in the competition, allowing just one goal on six shots by the Eastern Conference.
One player who chose not to participate in the skills competition was Anaheim's Sandis Ozolinsh. The defender said he felt uncomfortable returning to Sunrise after being traded by the Florida Panthers earlier this week.
Earlier in the evening, Philadelphia's Pavel Brendl and Washington's Brian Sutherby each scored two goals as the Eastern Conference pounded the Western Conference, 8-3, in the second edition of the YoungStars Game. Sutherby also added an assist and was named the game's Most Valuable Player.
The Eastern Conference jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first period after goal's by Brendl, Ottawa's Anton Volchenkov, Florida's Stephen Weiss and Sutherby. The Western Conference came back at the end of the period with goals by Nashville's Adam Hall and Rick Nash of Columbus.
Nash scored the only goal of the second period as the West cut the deficit to 4-3. Mattias Weinhandl of the Islanders opened the third period scoring and was followed by Buffalo's Taylor Pyatt. Sutherby then added an empty-net tally and Brendl completed the scoring with time running out.
Nash ended with two goals and assist for the Western Conference, while Montreal's Marcel Hossa had two assists for the East.
