Pacific Division wins 3-on-3 tournament, $1 million prize at NHL All-Star Game

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — It was supposed to be about goals, goals and more goals.

Instead, the NHL All-Star Game turned into an intense, fierce defensive battle worthy of a Stanley Cup Finals game.

Corey Perry's goal with 6:21 to play gave the Pacific Division a 1-0 win over the Atlantic at Bridgestone Arena on Sunday in the final of the 3-on-3 tournament. And his Anaheim Ducks teammate John Gibson kept the puck out of the Pacific net as they held on for the win and took home $1 million to be split among the 11 players.

John Scott, who is currently playing in the American Hockey League but was allowed to play Sunday and captained the Pacific squad, was voted the Most Valuable Player by the fans.

"I expected more goals," said Perry, who had a solid day overall. "But you had two teams that really wanted to win and it made for an entertaining game."

That's what the NHL was looking for. And even if goals were hard to come by in the final, the league had to be pleased by the end result. Two teams playing hard, trying to win and at the same time displaying their skills and make it entertaining for the fans.

"I thought it was good," Montreal defenseman P.K. Subban said of the new format. "It's so much more room than you're used to. You really can't coast out there."

In the regular season, 3-on-3 during overtime has dramatically cut down on Shootouts. So far, 109 of the 171 games that have required OT were decided in the five-minute 3-on-3 format. That's 63.7 percent compared to last season when 4-on-4 play had a percentage of just 44.4 percent ending in OT (136 of 306).

So when the NHL decided to play an entire All-Star Game with the new OT rules, it created a buzz. The majority of fans love the 3-on-3 format, so the league figured, why not?

Sure enough, there were plenty of goals, especially in the Pacific-Central game that saw 15 scored as the Pacific advanced to the final with a 9-6 win. It was a bitter disappointment for the hometown fans among the announced crowd of 17,600 who were hoping to see their four Nashville Predators players play another 20 minutes of hockey. Instead, Scott and his teammates got that honor to face the Atlantic Division in the final.

"It was great," said Predators defenseman Shea Weber, who started the game for the Central with Nashville teammates Pekka Rinne in goal and forward James Neal and defenseman Roman Josi. "It was one of the best games I've played in. I think with all the open ice you were able to create more and do more things."

The Atlantic Division rallied for a 4-3 win in the opening game as defensemen Aaron Ekblad of Florida and Subban scored late to put their team in position to play for the title.

But while pucks were finding the back of the net with regularity Sunday, the goaltenders did have their shining moments. Washington's Braden Holtby robbed Florida Panthers center Jaromir Jagr twice from point blank range while Florida's Roberto Luongo stoned Pittsburgh's Evgeni Malkin with a great glove save in the Metropolitan-Atlantic game. Gibson somehow got his right pad on a shot from Dallas' Tyler Sequin that seemed destined for a goal late in the Pacific-Central game.

The goaltenders really shined in the final. Luongo and Jonathan Quick of the Los Angeles Kings came up big time after time and Luongo was even up for Most Valuable Player consideration. And when Tampa Bay's Ben Bishop and the Ducks' Gibson took over for the final 10 minutes, they were equally stellar.

But Perry managed to slip one past Bishop as his wrist shot to the far side eluded the Lightning's goalie. From there, Gibson and the rest of the Pacific lineup took over and kept the scoresheet clean to walk away with a cool million.

"It wasn't the kind of game we expected after scoring all those goals in the other game," San Jose's Joe Pavelski said of the low-scoring championship game. "But it's great to win and I think the fans enjoyed themselves.

"Going forward, I hope they keep the format. Frankly, I don't think there's a need to change it."

— Contact reporter Steve Carp at scarp@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2913. Follow him on Twitter: @stevecarprj.