Central makes final at NHL All-Star Game, tops Pacific 6-4

By TIM REYNOLDS
AP Sports Writer

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — Arizona’s Clayton Keller had two goals and an assist, Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and the Central Division moved into the title matchup with a 6-4 win over the Pacific Division to start the All-Star Game on Saturday.

St. Louis’ Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and three assists for the Central. Chicago’s Seth Jones had a goal and two assists.

Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson had two goals, while San Jose’s Erik Karlsson and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid also scored for the Pacific. Los Angeles’ Kevin Fiala had two assists.

Team Central will play the winner of the Metropolitan-Atlantic game in the final later Saturday.

The All-Star Game is a series of three games — all 3-on-3, all 20 minutes in length. The Pacific-Central game was the first semifinal, to be followed by the Metropolitan-Atlantic game.

Each of the four divisional teams had 11 players, nine skaters and two goalies. The winning team splits $1 million.

This year marks the seventh time that the NHL used the divisional-team tournament format for the All-Star Game. The Pacific Division won the first such game, the Metropolitan Division won the second, and they’ve continued alternating wins in all six editions under this format.

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