NHL All-Star Skills Competition 2023: Results, Winners, Highlights and Reaction

The NHL kicked off All-Star Weekend with the 2023 NHL All-Star Skills Competition at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida, on Friday, and the festivities did not disappoint.

While the skills competition featured the classic Accuracy Shooting, Breakaway, Fastest Skater and Hardest Shot challenges, three new events with some South Florida flair debuted: the Splash Shot, Pitch ‘n Puck and Tendy Tandem.

If you weren’t able to catch all of the festivities, keep reading for a recap and some highlights of all of the events.

Upper Deck NHL Fastest Skater

Preliminary round

1. Andrei Svechnikov, Carolina Hurricanes: 13.757 (Advanced to final)
2. Kevin Fiala, Los Angeles Kings: 13.997 (Advanced to final)
3. Chandler Stephenson, Vegas Golden Knights: 14.197
4. Dylan Larkin, Detroit Red Wings: 14.558
5. Cale Makar, Colorado Avalanche: 22.304 (wiped out)

Final round

1. Andrei Svechnikov, Carolina Hurricanes: 13.699 seconds
2. Kevin Fiala, Los Angeles Kings: 14.114 seconds

Carolina Hurricanes star Andrei Svechnikov beat his preliminary round time of 13.757 seconds to claim the Fastest Skater crown, defeating Los Angeles Kings forward Kevin Fiala with a time of 13.699 seconds in the final round.

Svechnikov is just the second Hurricanes/Whalers player to win the Fastest Skater event, joining Sami Kapanen, who won in 2000 and 2002.

Great Clips NHL Breakaway Challenge

1. Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins; Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals; and Sergei “Ovi Jr.” Ovechkin: 40 points
2. David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins: 38 points
3. Matthew Tkachuk, Florida Panthers: 33 points
4. Mitchell Marner, Toronto Maple Leafs: 21 points

The Breakaway Challenge is always a fan favorite, as players get to show off their creativity and skill by going one-on-one with the goaltender and trying to score. However, this challenge is more about the theatrics than the goal-scoring, and it did not disappoint.

The duo of Pittsburgh Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin combined to win the Breakaway Challenge thanks to a very special guest: Sergei Ovechkin, the son of Alex Ovechkin.

Sergei, commonly known as “Ovi Jr.,” joined his father and Crosby on the ice to take the final shot on Roberto Luongo, sneaking the puck through the former NHLer’s five-hole.

Some of the other competitors also put on a show.

Boston Bruins star David Pastrnak brought out a Happy Gilmore-inspired skit for his Breakaway Challenge attempt, even including one of his teammates, goaltender Linus Ullmark, as his caddy in the event.

Florida Panthers star Matthew Tkachuk brought out all the stops in front of the hometown crowd, including his brother, Ottawa Senators forward Brady Tkachuk, teammate Aleksander Barkov and Miami Dolphins captain Christian Wilkins in his Beach Boys-inspired Breakaway Challenge attempt.

As for Toronto Maple Leafs star Mitchell Marner, he could have had a far better attempt, to say the least.

Discover NHL Tendy Tandem

Central Division teammates Connor Hellebuyck (Winnipeg Jets) and Juuse Saros (Nashville Predators) defeated Pacific Division teammates Logan Thompson (Vegas Golden Knights) and Stuart Skinner (Edmonton Oilers): 13-11.

Atlantic Division teammates Linus Ullmark (Boston Bruins) and Andrei Vasilevskiy (Tampa Bay Lightning) defeated Metropolitan Division teammates Igor Shesterkin (New York Rangers) and Ilya Sorokin (New York Islanders): 9-6

Hellebucyk and Saros combined to win the Tendy Tandem with 13 points, beating out all of the other duos.

Enterprise NHL Splash Shot

Preliminary round

Mikko Rantanen and Cale Makar of the Colorado Avalanche defeated Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nathan MacKinnon of the Avalanche with a time of 25.5 seconds to advance to the final round.

Igor Shesterkin and Adam Fox of the New York Rangers defeated Brady Tkachuk of the Ottawa Senators and Matthew Tkachuk of the Florida Panthers with a time of 26.5 seconds to advance to the final round.

Final round

Makar and Rantanen defeated Shesterkin and Fox with a time of 18.7 seconds to claim the Splash Shot challenge crown.

Honda NHL Accuracy Shooting

Preliminary round

1. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers: 9.497 seconds (Advanced to semifinal)
2. Brock Nelson, New York Islanders: 12.126 seconds (Advanced to semifinal)
3. Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers: 13.235 seconds (Advanced to semifinal)
4. Nazem Kadri, Calgary Flames: 13.459 yards (Advanced to semifinal)
5. Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning: 18.147 seconds
6. Kevin Hayes, Philadelphia Flyers: 22.377 seconds
7. Vladimir Tarasenko, St. Louis Blues: 25.062 seconds
8. Aleksander Barkov, Florida Panthers: 25.297 seconds
9. Jack Hughes, New Jersey Devils: 32.324 seconds
10. Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers: 36.956 seconds

Connor McDavid continues to be ridiculous on every level. At this point, he should be getting moving targets because this accuracy challenge is simply too easy for him. The Edmonton Oilers superstar went four-for-four in under 10 seconds, smashing all of the targets without needing to take any extra shots.

However, McDavid went on to be eliminated in the semifinals by Calgary Flames forward Nazem Kadri.

Semifinals

1. Brock Nelson, New York Islanders: 17.886 seconds (Advanced to final)
2. Artemi Panarin, New York Rangers: DNF
3. Nazem Kadri, Calgary Flames: 10.131 seconds (Advanced to final)
4. Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers: 10.612 seconds

Final

1. Brock Nelson, New York Islanders: 12.419 seconds
2. Nazem Kadri, Calgary Flames: 18.276 seconds

Chipotle NHL Pitch ‘n Puck

1. Nick Suzuki, Montréal Canadiens: 3 shots
2. Clayton Keller, Arizona Coyotes: DNF on fourth shot
3. Jason Robertson, Dallas Stars: DNF on fourth shot
4. Johnny Gaudreau, Columbus Blue Jackets: DNF on fourth shot

The brand new Pitch ‘n Puck challenge was a hybrid event featuring both golf and hockey elements. The players competed on a par-four hole featuring an island green, and Suzuki claimed the victory with a nice shot for birdie.

GEICO NHL Hardest Shot

1. Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks: 103.2 mph (second attempt)
2. Rasmus Dahlin, Buffalo Sabres: 102.3 mph (second attempt)
3. Josh Morrissey, Winnipeg Jets: 96.7 mph (second attempt)
4. Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals: 95.1 mph (second attempt)
5. Seth Jones, Chicago Blackhawks: 94.7 mph (second attempt)

Forwards don’t typically win the Hardest Shot challenge, but that was the case this year, as Vancouver Canucks star Elias Pettersson recorded the hardest shot at 103.2 mph, beating out Alexander Ovechkin, who won it in 2018.

The 2023 NHL All-Star Game will take place Saturday at FLA Live Arena. The three-on-three matchup between the Central and Pacific Divisions begins at 3 p.m. ET and is followed by the matchup between the Metropolitan and Atlantic Divisions at 4. The championship game is at 5.