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Cannonball Run...and gun: Team Toews wins highest-scoring game in ASG history

2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game

2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game

Kirk Irwin

COLUMBUS -- There were goals.

Oh, how there were goals.

Twenty-nine of them, to be exact -- the highest-scoring affair in NHL All-Star Game history, which ended with Team Toews beating Team Foligno 17-12 on Sunday night at Nationwide Arena.

The home of the Blue Jackets, perhaps best known for its thunderous goal cannon that goes off every time a puck finds the back of the net, was firing constantly throughout the evening -- though only on goals from Team Foligno, much to the relief of eardrums across the arena.

The game was, as the score suggests, light on defense and intensity, but featured an absolute boatload of goals. The 29 eclipsed the mark set at the 2001 All-Star Game in Denver when North America beat the World 14-12 on the strength of Bill Guerin’s hat trick.

Fourteen years later, it was a four-goal effort that led the way. Islanders captain John Tavares potted a quartet of markers for Team Toews, becoming just one of six players to accomplish the feat in an All-Star Game: Dany Heatley (2003), Mike Gartner ('93), Mario Lemieux ('90), Vincent Damphousse ('91) and Wayne Gretzky ('83) were the others.

On any other day, Tavares’ effort would’ve netted him Most Valuable Player honors, but not on Sunday -- that went to hometown favorite Ryan Johansen, who finished with two goals and four points (and clearly benefited from the fan voting process for MVP).

While flat at times, the 60th edition of the league’s All-Star gala proved a nice ending for what was a great weekend for Columbus. The city embraced this event with enthusiasm, which included a jam-packed house -- 18,901 in attendance -- for Sunday’s finale.

“The fans, the fifth line in Columbus here has been unbelievable,” Johansen said following the game. “Thank you so much. You guys are unbelievable.”

NOTES

Jakub Voracek tied Lemieux’s record for points in an ASG, with six... Panthers rookie d-man Aaron Ekblad acquitted himself nicely after being named to the game as an injury replacement, finishing with four assists... Johansen led Team Foligno in scoring while Patrick Kane, Claude Giroux, Alex Ovechkin and Steve Stamkos each had three points ... The only skaters that failed to register a point were Anze Kopitar, Phil Kessel and Zemgus Girgensons, all from Team Foligno... Every Team Toews skater had at least one point.