Team Matthews Beats Team McDavid to Win 2024 NHL All-Star Game

In what was anticipated to be an entertaining weekend of All-Star festivities, the 2024 NHL All-Star Game in Toronto lived up to the expectations that hockey fans were looking forward to. The All-Star Game was being held in Toronto for the ninth time, and the first time since 2020, as fans made sure to cheer on their Maple Leafs players, led by team captain Auston Matthews. In the All-Star Game tournament, the four teams drafted would face off in three 20-minute games with a $1 million winner-take-all prize on the line. The first set of games saw Team MacKinnon squaring off against Team McDavid and Team Hughes facing off against Team Matthews. Let’s take a look at how the games turned out. 

Semifinal #1: Team MacKinnon vs. Team McDavid

In the first matchup between Team MacKinnon and Team McDavid, Avalanche captain Nathan MacKinnon would put his team on the board first, as he would score on a breakaway at 3:24 of the first period to give his team a 1-0 lead. At 7:58, Blue Jackets’ Boone Jenner would even the score for Team McDavid, as he would score on a 2-on-1 give-and-go with teammate Nick Suzuki. In the second period, at 5:51, Kraken’s Oliver Bjorkstrand would give Team MacKinnon a 2-1 lead following a breakaway goal. At 6:45, MacKinnon would score his second goal of the game on a high backhand shot to extend his team’s lead to 3-1. With the goalie pulled for the extra skater, Team McDavid would begin its comeback, as Bruins’ David Pastrnak would score on a high shot to cut their deficit to 3-2, with 32 seconds left. With six seconds left, captain Connor McDavid would tie the game up at 3-3, as he would score off of a cross pass from Pastrnak and send the game to a shootout. In the shootout, McDavid and Pastrnak would score to complete the team’s late comeback to win the first semifinal matchup. 

Semifinal #2: Team Hughes vs. Team Matthews

In the second semifinal matchup, Nikita Kucherov would give Team Hughes an early 1-0 lead, after scoring on a breakaway goal at 1:19 of the first period. At 2:43, Alex DeBrincat would score off a pass from Filip Forsberg to even the score for Team Matthews. On a breakaway, Frank Vatrano would score to give Team Hughes a 2-1 lead at 3:32 of the opening period. At 5:07, DeBrincat would score his second goal for Team Matthews to tie it at 2-2. In the second period, at 2:17, Mitch Marner would give Team Matthews their first lead at 3-2, as Marner stole a puck and beat goaltender Thatcher Demko over the glove from up close. 

At 4:18, Elias Pettersson would tie it up at 3-3 for Team Hughes, as Pettersson scored off a high shot in front of the goal post. Forsberg would give Team Matthews a 4-3 lead at 4:45, as he would score off his own missed shot attempt. At 7:02, Team Hughes would tie it again at 4-4, and Brady Tkachuk beat Igor Shesterkin five-hole. Vatrano would score his second goal to give Team Hughes a 5-4 lead 33 seconds later. However, Forsberg would tie it at 5-5 on a breakaway goal to ultimately send the game to a shootout as well. In the shootout, DeBrincat would come in the clutch for Team Matthews scoring the game-winner to give the squad a 6-5 victory over Team Hughes in the semifinal matchup. 

Championship Round: Team McDavid vs. Team Matthews

In the winner-take-all matchup, Team Matthews would get going early, as Clayton Keller would blast a goal past goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky at 2:19 of the first period. However, at 5:08, Boone Jenner would even it up at 1-1 for Team McDavid, as Jenner scored from the right face-off circle. After that, a flurry of fast goals by Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, offset by stars David Pastrnak of the Boston Bruins and Leon Draisaitl for Team McDavid, tied the game 3-3 at the half. To begin the second period, Filip Forsberg would give Team Matthews a 4-3 lead at 1:06, as he would score off a snapshot. With five minutes remaining in regulation, the captain gave his team some extra insurance with a scorching one-timer that put Team Matthews ahead 5-3. Team Matthews led 6-3 when Alex DeBrincat scored, but Team McDavid pulled within 6-4 thanks to a counterattack from Sharks star Tomas Hertl. Team Matthews' 7-4 victory was cemented with a goal from Islanders forward Mathew Barzal with just over a minute remaining.