SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) ā Arizonaās Clayton Keller had two goals and an assist, Coloradoās Nathan MacKinnon scored twice and the Central Division moved into the title matchup with a 6-4 win over the Pacific Division to start the All-Star Game on Saturday.
St. Louisā Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and three assists for the Central. Chicagoās Seth Jones had a goal and two assists.
Vancouverās Elias Pettersson had two goals, while San Joseās Erik Karlsson and Edmontonās Connor McDavid also scored for the Pacific. Los Angelesā Kevin Fiala had two assists.
Team Central will play the winner of the Metropolitan-Atlantic game in the final later Saturday.
The All-Star Game is a series of three games ā all 3-on-3, all 20 minutes in length. The Pacific-Central game was the first semifinal, to be followed by the Metropolitan-Atlantic game.
Each of the four divisional teams had 11 players, nine skaters and two goalies. The winning team splits $1 million.
This year marks the seventh time that the NHL used the divisional-team tournament format for the All-Star Game. The Pacific Division won the first such game, the Metropolitan Division won the second, and theyāve continued alternating wins in all six editions under this format.
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