San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Central, Atlantic advance to final of All-Star Game
Arizona’s Clayton Keller had two goals and an assist, Colorado’s 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. Louis’ Vladimir Tarasenko had a goal and three assists for the Central. Chicago’s Seth Jones had a goal and two assists.
Vancouver’s Elias Pettersson had two goals, while San Jose’s Erik Karlsson and Edmonton’s Connor McDavid also scored for the Pacific. Los Angeles’ Kevin Fiala had two assists.
Team Central was to play Team Atlantic later Saturday after the Atlantic picked up a 10-6 win over the Metro Division in the second semifinal.
Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers scored a hat trick and added a pair of assists as the Atlantic tallied six goals in the second 10minute period to pull away from the Metro.
Detroit’s Dylan Larkin and Montreal’s Nick Suzuki each added a pair of goals for the Atlantic, while the Metro received a hat trick of its own from the Blue Jackets’ Johnny Gaudreau.
The All-Star Game is a series of three games — all 3-on-3, all 20 minutes in length.
Bettman defends league’s tolerance
NHL commissioner Gary Bettman at his state of the game news conference Saturday at All-Star Weekend defended the way the league and two teams handled situations that arose regarding Pride night celebrations.
Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Ivan Provorov did not take part in warmups Jan. 18 because he refused to wear a Pride-themed jersey.
Nine days later, the New York Rangers opted not to wear Pride jerseys or use Pride stick tape as part of their night despite previously advertising they planned to do so.
Bettman said tolerance of varying viewpoints was part of being “open, welcoming and inclusive.”
“You know what our goals, our values and our intentions are across the league, whether it’s at the league level or at the club level,” he said. “But we also have to respect some individual choice, and some people are more comfortable embracing themselves in causes than others. And part of being diverse and welcoming is understanding those differences.”
Bettman said the NHL was not accepting bigotry or promoting homophobia. Provorov cited his Russian Orthodox religion for his decision, which coach John Tortorella supported.
Florida seeks star for girls program
The Florida Panthers are trying to sign a highscoring forward who has an Olympic gold medal and two world championships, with hopes of getting the deal done in the coming days.
If it happens, she won’t be playing for the Panthers.
Sarah Nurse, the Canadian forward who had a highlight-reel goal against the New York Rangers’ Igor Shesterkin during the NHL’s AllStar Skills Competition on Friday night, has the chance to run the Panthers’ new program designed to get more girls playing hockey.
The idea to hire Nurse was first floated to Caldwell by Melissa Fitzgerald. She’s the general manager for the War Memorial, which is the two-rink facility being refurbished by the team and will become its practice headquarters.