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NHL All-Star Game Skills Competition gets some changes

 
Published Jan. 22, 2018

Skills Competition gets a new look

The NHL switched up its format for Saturday's All-Star Game Skills Competition (7 p.m, NBSCN). There will be six events, including the traditional hardest shot, accuracy shooting, plus a passing challenge, puck control relay and a new event, the save streak.

FASTEST SKATER: Eight skaters will be timed for one full lap around the rink. Can anyone catch Connor McDavid? The likes of Auston Matthews and Jack Eichel will give it a shot.

PASSING CHALLENGE: Eight players compete in the challenge, which includes three skills over one round. That includes target passing (complete four successful passes to targets that line up in a random sequence), give and go (four passes through a course in neutral zone) and mini nets (one pass over a barricade and into four mini nets).

PUCK CONTROL RELAY: Eight skaters will be in a timed, single-round event that includes three skills: stickhandling (skater controls puck through series of eight pucks in a straight line), cone control (skater controls puck through series of eight cones in a zig-zag formation) and gates (skater approaches a gate and is required to shoot the puck through the lighted rung of a gate.

HARDEST SHOT: Six players compete in two-round event, with each player getting two shots measured in miles per hour. Can bet Steven Stamkos will be in that one.

ACCURACY SHOOTING: Eight players will be part of a timed event where a shooter is positioned 25 feet from the goal line and shoots at five LED targets in the net. One of the targets will randomly light up for three seconds and the player will attempt to hit the lighted target.

SAVE STREAK: Five goalies and all 36 skaters will participate, a shootout grouped by division where goalies compete to make the most consecutive saves. Each goalie will face one opposing division and a minimum of nine scoring attempt. Judging from how hard Lightning goalie Andrei Vasilevskiy is to score on at end-of-practice shootouts, he's got a good shot to win.