SAN JOSE, Calif. (AP) Edmonton’s Connor McDavid won the NHL’s fastest skater competition for the third straight year, beating out U.S. women’s hockey star Kendall Coyne Schofield and six other All-Stars.
The other winners in the NHL All-Star skills competition Friday night were Calgary’s Johnny Gaudreau in the puck control contest, the New York Rangers Henrik Lundqvist in the save streak competition, Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl in the premier passer contest, Washington’s John Carlson in the hardest shot, and Boston’s David Pastrnak for accurate shooting.
Coyne Schofield became the first woman to compete in the NHL All-Star skills competition. She drew a standing ovation and chants of ”USA! USA!” from the crowd before finishing her lap in 14.346 seconds.
She finished seventh out of eight skaters, beating Arizona forward Clayton Keller’s time of 14.526 seconds.
The 26-year-old Coyne Schofield plays for the Minnesota Whitecaps of the National Women’s Hockey League and won an Olympic gold medal for the United States last February.
McDavid skated last and finished his lap in 13.378 seconds, edging Buffalo’s Jack Eichel (13.582) and the New York Islanders’ Mathew Barzal (13.780).
Gaudreau narrowly beat out Chicago’s Patrick Kane in the puck control contest as the two were among the only contestants who made it through the course without a mishap. Gaudreau finished the course in 27.045 seconds, beating out Kane’s time of 28.611 to repeat his title from a year ago.
Lundqvist stopped 12 breakaways in a row to win the save streak competition. Lundqvist threw his arms up in celebration after stopping John Tavares for his ninth save in a row, topping Tampa Bay’s Andrei Vasilevskiy for the top spot.
Edmonton’s Leon Draisaitl completed the passing contest in 1:09.088, beating out Carolina’s Sebastian Aho.
Carlson beat out local fan favorite Brent Burns for the hardest shot, recording the fastest two times at 102.8 mph and 100.8 mph. Burns missed the net on his first attempt and had the next fastest time on his second try at 100.6 mph. Carlson’s teammate, Alex Ovechkin, won the competition last year.
Pastrnak finished the drill in 11.309 seconds to edge out Pittsburgh’s Kris Letang, who had a time of 12.693 seconds. Toronto’s Auston Matthews drew big applause by donning the jersey of teammate Patrick Marleau, a longtime San Jose Shark, but finished last in the competition.
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