The Western Conference All-Stars overcame a 6-2 deficit Monday night, beating the Eastern Conference All-Star Classic 8-7 in shootout fashion, at the 2012 AHL All-Star game at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City N.J.
As odd as it sounds, goaltending was the story in this game. Yann Denis of Oklahoma City shutout the Eastern Conference squad in the second period, making 11 saves.
His teammate Ben Bishop from the Peoria Rivermen followed him and stopped 11-of-12 shots he faced. He also stopped all four shooters in the shootout, earning him the game’s MVP Award.
Binghamton Senators Corey Locke and Mark Borowiecki did not figure in the scoring on Monday, but they were on the ice for much of the game and playing well. Borowiecki stole a puck in the first period that he passed off, leading to a 2-on-1 break and the first goal of the game, by Jonathan Audy-Marchessault of the Connecticut Whale.
Locke was on the ice for the second goal of the night. He was stationed at the side of the net for the East when a couple rebound chances presented themselves in front, the third one was finally knocked home by Kyle Palmieri of Syracuse, making it 2-0 in favor of the East, with 16:38 left.
Author note: On Tuesday, Corey Locke was given an assist on the Palmieri goal. He now has a five-game All-Star scoring streak. He has 12 points in six career games.
Charlotte’s Chris Terry got the West on the board when he beat Adirondack’s Michael Leighton at the 6:19 mark to make it 2-1. Darren Haydar of the Chicago Wolves, made it a 6-2 game just over 2 ½ minutes later.
The East would then go on a run of four straight to finish the period. Scorers included Casey Cizikas (Bridgeport), Andy Miele (Portland), Cory Conacher (Norfolk) and Mats Zuccarello (Connecticut).
Zuccarello’s goal came with 3:18 left in the period and put the finishing touches on a three-point effort. He assisted on the Audy-Marchessault goal and the Miele goal.
The East led in shots 13-11 at the end of the first and had the momentum going into the second stanza.
Danis methodically killed that momentum, making some big saves en route to his second period shutout. Meanwhile, the West kept plugging away and got all three goals in the period.
Terry scored his second of the game 2:41 in against Jeff Zatkoff of the Manchester Monarchs, Tyson Barrie of Lake Erie then made it a 6-4 game with 2:32 left and Ryan Hamilton of Toronto, pulled the West to within one, 6-5, with 1:49 left.
The East was outshot 20-11 in that decidedly lopsided second period. The West had a 31-24 shots advantage overall.
Conacher got the East going again at the 9:56 mark of the third, scoring his second of the night. It would end up being the only goal Bishop would allow, but gave the East a 7-5 lead.
The West would answer against Worcester Sharks goalie Tyler Sexsmith. Peoria’s T.J. Hensick would beat Sexsmith with 7:53 left and Kevin Connauton of Chicago, evened things up with 4:07 to go in regulation.
Each team would take 11 shots in that third period, but they couldn't get the decisive one in, meaning the game would be decided in a shootout.
Hensick and Matt Fraser from the Texas Stars were the only goal-scorers in the shootout, both from the West. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s Colin McDonald was the last hope for the East and he was stoned by Bishop.
For more info: 2012 AHL All-Star gamesheet
Game Notes: Former Binghamton Senators captain Ryan Keller was on the victorious Western Conference squad. He finished with a plus-minus of +2 and had two shots on goal. Borowiecki was a +2 and had one shot, while Locke finished with one shot on goal. He also had one that went wide of the net in the first period.
In Sunday’s skills competition, the Western Conference came away with an 18-10 victory.
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