The NHL has a knack for adding fun seasoning to the accuracy shooting event, which is already a good time in its old-school, vanilla rendition.
In 2019, players aimed at glowing emoji-style player faces, and successful strikes inspired arcade-style happy sound effects. When David Pastrnak won, you half-expected him to trade in a bunch of tickets for a Bowser doll or a kazoo.
Pastrnak was picking apart those targets as if he was finishing chances from Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand:
Winner Winner PASTA Dinner! 🍝@pastrnak96 is the 2019 Accuracy Shooting winner. #HiTechHockey #NHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/CHB9ZQwzch
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) January 26, 2019
Speaking of playing off of your teammates, Auston Matthews got one of the best pops of the night with a pro-wrestling babyface move by removing his jersey to reveal a Patrick Marleau number 12 jersey. You might be shocked to learn that this was a very, very popular move in San Jose.
A very cool moment from @AM34, honoring his current teammate and long-time @SanJoseSharks, Patrick Marleau! pic.twitter.com/SKr1bIE7Kz
— NBC Sports Hockey (@NBCSportsHockey) January 26, 2019
That’s an even better fashion statement than when Matthews dressed up like M. Bison from “Street Fighter II.”
Here are the full results. Matthews’ results look worse because he missed a target but didn’t realize it, so he had to go back. Otherwise, there were some close calls, as Kris Letang and Joe Pavelski weren’t very far behind Pastrnak.
Player | Time (Seconds)
1. David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins | 11.309 2. Kyle Palmieri, New Jersey Devils | 20.209 3. Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings | 13.591 4. Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs | 31.256 5. Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg Jets | 18.585 6. Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins | 12.683 7. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning | 19.076 8. Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks | 14.423
Winner: Pastrnak (11.309)
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James O’Brien is a writer for Pro Hockey Talk on NBC Sports. Drop him a line at phtblog@nbcsports.com or follow him on Twitter @cyclelikesedins.