NHL All-Star Weekend in Las Vegas: 5 things to watch

The last time the NHL staged All-Star Weekend two years ago, the lead singer of the band Green Day dropped multiple f-bombs on live TV and players shot pucks at targets from a platform 30 feet above the ice during the skills competition.

And that was in St. Louis. (No offense.) Imagine what they’ll do in Las Vegas.

The festivities kick off Friday with the All-Star Skills event at T-Mobile Arena and along the Strip. They culminate with the All-Star Game three-on-three tournament Saturday.

Here are five things to watch for during the league’s midseason extravaganza:

1. Knight Line

The hometown Golden Knights will be well represented with captain Mark Stone and defenseman Alex Pietrangelo selected to participate. Coach Pete DeBoer will be behind the bench for the Pacific Division team.

A fourth member of the Knights was added to All-Star Weekend on Wednesday when the league announced winger Jonathan Marchessault would make his debut.

That means the starting lineup for the Pacific Division will almost certainly consist of three Knights with Anaheim’s John Gibson likely in net. Marchessault and Stone were a dangerous duo for Team Canada at the 2019 IIHF World Championship.

2. West is the best

Since the league changed the format of the All-Star Game to a three-on-three tournament in 2016, the Pacific Division has won three times. That includes 2020 when San Jose’s Tomas Hertl scored the winning goal in a 5-4 win over the Atlantic Division in the championship game.

The Metropolitan Division is the only other team to win the tournament, claiming the $1 million team prize in 2017 and 2019. But they’ll be without Washington’s Alex Ovechkin, who was ruled out of the event because of a positive COVID-19 test result.

Circa lists the Central Division as the favorite (+155), even though Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon will miss the game after he sustained a concussion and facial fracture Jan. 26 against Boston. It seems like the defending champion Pacific Division (+350) has some value with Edmonton’s Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl on the roster.

3. On the Strip

Two new competitions were added to the skills competition, and a portion of Las Vegas Boulevard was shut down Thursday to help accommodate the event.

The NHL 21 in ’22 features a full deck of oversized cards, and participants will try to achieve a hand of 21 in the least number of shots without busting.

There’s also the Fountain Face-Off, which takes place on the Bellagio fountains. Players will travel by boat to the venue and must shoot pucks into five targets in the least amount of time with the fountain spray adding to the challenge. Three-time Olympic medalist Jocelyne Lamoureux-Davidson will be one of the participants.

4. Rheaume returns

All-Star weekend always attracts big names. Who can forget 2017 when Justin Bieber had his face smashed into the glass by Hall of Fame defenseman Chris Pronger during the celebrity game in Los Angeles?

It’s doubtful we’ll see Katy Perry on skates, but you never know.

Among the notables confirmed to be part of the breakaway challenge is goaltender Manon Rheaume, who became the first woman to play in the NHL when she appeared in a preseason game for Tampa Bay in 1992.

Rheaume also played two games with the Las Vegas Thunder of the International Hockey League in 1994-95.

5. Need for speed

McDavid was knocked off his throne as king of the fastest skater competition by the New York Islanders’ Mathew Barzal in 2020.

To regain the title, McDavid probably will have to defeat Detroit’s Dylan Larkin, who holds the record for the fastest lap at 13.172 seconds set in 2016.

McDavid posted the best time of his career during the last contest, crossing the line in 13.215 seconds. It wasn’t enough to beat Barzal, who went 13.175 seconds but isn’t entered this year.

Contact David Schoen at dschoen@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-5203. Follow @DavidSchoenLVRJ on Twitter.