National Hockey League Game Capsules
(Sunday, February 2nd)
Final Score: Western Conference 6, Eastern Conference 5 (shootout)
Sunrise, FL (Sports Network) - Bill Guerin, Markus Naslund and Paul Kariya scored during the first-ever NHL All-Star Game shootout, as the Western Conference beat the Eastern Conference, 6-5. Atlanta's Dany Heatley tied an NHL All-Star Game record with four goals and added an assist for the Eastern Conference. Heatley, who was named the game's MVP, also scored the only goal for the conference in the shootout, but was not credited with that goal toward his official stats.
The game was tied 5-5 after overtime, and the Western Conference then won the contest by scoring three times during the shootout phase. The 53rd edition of the mid-season classic was played at the Office Depot Center -- home of the Florida Panthers.
The 22-year-old Heatley, in his second NHL season and first All-Star Game, had the first four goals for the Eastern Conference. He became the fifth player to score four times in an All-Star Game, equaling the mark by Wayne Gretzky (1983), Mario Lemieux (1990), Vincent Damphousse (1991) and Mike Gartner (1993). He finished just one point shy of the record of six set by Lemieux in 1988.
Heatley, who leads Atlanta with 49 points this season (23 goals, 26 assists), also became the youngest player to notch a hat trick in the All-Star Game. At 22 years, 12 days he is one day younger than Gretzky was.
After experimenting five years with the format of North America versus the World, the league went back to the traditional arrangement of Eastern Conference against Western Conference.
