After one period of the All-Star Game in Raleigh, Team Staal got the home fans worked into a frenzy jumping out to a 4-0 lead making it look like we’d have a romp on our hands. Alex Ovechkin, Paul Stastny, Patrik Elias, and Claude Giroux each had goals for Team Staal while Patrick Sharp had three assists.
The lead wouldn’t last as Team Lidstrom got it back starting with Anze Kopitar’s nifty move to beat Cam Ward. Lidstrom’s squad wouldn’t let up after that getting a stuffed-home shot by Dustin Byfuglien and then Loui Eriksson capitalizing off a Kris Letang turnover to Team Lidstrom’s Martin Havlat who set up Eriksson for the easy goal. The scoring was capped off by Matt Duchene’s breakaway goal tying the game thanks to Nicklas Lidstrom’s fantastic outlet pass.
As expected, the goalies took a beating that period. Marc-Andre Fleury and Cam Ward each stopped 10 shots out of 14 faced.
With Team Staal loaded with hometown guys it’s easy to see that they want to get rookie Jeff Skinner his first All-Star Game goal and make the place go crazy. His linemates Patrik Elias and Paul Stastny are doing a lot of work to try and set him up. Can you blame them? The RBC Center will go ballistic if Skinner lights the lamp.