Alex Pietrangelo gets assist from actor Jon Hamm in ‘breakaway’ win

Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo, by his own admission, has “shared a few cold ones” with actor and St. Louis Blues fan Jon Hamm.

That might have come in handy at Friday’s skills competition that kicked off All-Star Weekend at T-Mobile Arena.

Pietrangelo went last in the breakaway challenge, and his attempts certainly weren’t the flashiest in an event that featured magic, blindfolds, “The Hangover” costumes and a tribute to Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin. Pietrangelo actually missed the net twice.

But Hamm, part of the event’s judging panel, still gave Pietrangelo a 19 out of 10 to thank him for captaining the Blues to the 2019 Stanley Cup. That boosted Pietrangelo’s score enough to top a creative group of young stars that included Minnesota’s Kirill Kaprizov, Anaheim’s Trevor Zegras, New Jersey’s Jack Hughes and Chicago’s Alex DeBrincat.

“He gave me a 19,” Pietrangelo said with a smile as he held his son Oliver. “I’m not saying anything.”

Pietrangelo’s victory and the breakaway challenge in general was a highlight for Knights fans who took in the skills competition in their home rink.

The defenseman did the best of the team’s representatives. Left wing Jonathan Marchessault finished eighth in the accuracy challenge, and captain Mark Stone took sixth in the “Fountain Face-Off” at the Bellagio fountains.

Marchessault also picked the semifinal matchups for Saturday’s All-Star Game at T-Mobile. The Pacific Division will play the Metropolitan and the Central will face the Atlantic, with the winners meeting in the championship game.

“It was Vegas cold,” said Stone, who had to shoot pucks at floating platforms while battling the wind and fountain spray. “It was a lot of fun. I could have done it in minus-20 and still would have enjoyed it.”

Stone’s event and its scenic backdrop ended up just being a preamble for the skills competition’s main event.

Kaprizov started the breakaway challenge by shedding his Wild sweater and revealing an Ovechkin Capitals’ jersey. Ovechkin was scheduled to be the Metropolitan captain before testing positive for COVID-19.

Kaprizov scored and then imitated his Team Russia teammate’s hot stick celebration. He even used a right-handed stick, though he’s a left-handed shot.

Zegras raised the stakes right after. He wore an Average Joe’s Gym Peter LaFleur jersey from the movie “Dodgeball: A True Underdog Story.” Teammate John Gibson blindfolded Zegras, but he still scored with several NHL mascots hurling dodgeballs at him.

Hughes went next and missed his initial attempt. He was given another chance and donned a magician’s hat and cape while a giant box was wheeled onto the ice. Hughes showed the arena the box was empty and spun it around. When the door to the box reopened, a kid wearing a Hughes jersey skated out and scored. The kid and Hughes threw their sticks into the stands afterward like Hughes did after an overtime winner this season.

DeBrincat went next with an even more elaborate routine. He came out dressed like actor Zach Galifianakis’ character Alan from “The Hangover,” and brought with him a Mike Tyson impersonator and Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and receiver Hunter Renfrow. Carr passed DeBrincat a football, which he put on the ice and scored with.

“I was a little worried stickhandling with it,” DeBrincat said.

The stage then was set for Pietrangelo. His initial attempt was stopped, which caused comedian Carrot Top to heckle him from the stands. So Pietrangelo tried again after bringing out the “Knight Line” drummers and activating a special glowing logo on his jersey.

He missed again. But Hamm didn’t think that mattered. His 19 gave Pietrangelo enough of a boost despite his other scores from a panel that included Raiders tight end Darren Waller, ventriloquist Terry Fator and Hall of Famers Paul Coffey and Mark Messier.

Pietrangelo got a 64, with Hughes (59), Zegras (58), DeBrincat (54) and Kaprizov (47) missing out on the $30,000 prize given to each event winner.

“I’m not very creative myself,” Pietrangelo said. “I tried to do something a little bit different.”

The other competitions included St. Louis Blues right wing Jordan Kyrou winning the fastest skater competition by beating three-time champion Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers. Goaltenders Jack Campbell (Toronto Maple Leafs) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning) won the save streak event by stopping nine consecutive breakaways from the Metropolitan Division.

Vasilevskiy teammate Victor Hedman won hardest shot by firing a puck 103.2 mph. Columbus Blue Jackets defenseman Zach Werenski won the “Fountain Face-Off,” and Dallas Stars center Joe Pavelski won the other outdoor event, “NHL 21 in ’22.”

Carolina Hurricanes center Sebastian Aho won the accuracy challenge in the final event of the night.

“We really enjoyed it,” Pavelski said. “From day one when (the Knights) came into the league, they’ve had the energy, they’ve had the fans, they’ve had the excitement. Every game we play here is a Vegas show in a lot of ways.”

Contact Ben Gotz at bgotz@reviewjournal.com. Follow @BenSGotz on Twitter.