SAN JOSE, CA - JANUARY 25: Miro Heiskanen #4 of the Dallas Stars and Joe Pavelski #8 of the San Jose Sharks take the ice prior to competing in the 2019 SAP NHL All-Star Skills at SAP Center on January 25, 2019 in San Jose, California. (Photo by Jeff Vinnick/NHLI via Getty Images) The 2019 NHL All-Star Weekend rages on tonight in San Jose as the All-Star Game(s) get underway. Dallas Stars rookie Miro Heiskanen will also get his first chance to skate in an All-Star Game as he attempts to help the Central division win the $1 million prize. It wasn’t the best start to Dallas Stars rookie Miro Heiskanen’s first NHL All-Star Weekend experience on Friday night in the NHL Skills Competition. While competing in the NHL Fastest Skater Competition, Heiskanen lost his footing after coming around the bend on his first lap. He looked to be in slight pain as he got up from the ice, but was awarded a second chance and finished with a time of 13.914. That ended up being the fourth-best time of the eight competitors. But, he was quick to counter the slow start with a handful of goals in the NHL Save Streak challenge. All in all, it was an exciting Friday night to watch the 19-year-old continue to wow and impress the hockey world. He’ll get his next opportunity to show off on Saturday night when the 2019 NHL All-Star Game gets underway. The All-Star Game is actually broken up into three separate contests, with the Central division playing the Pacific division and the Atlantic division squaring off with the Metropolitan division. The winning teams from those two contests will then compete in a final matchup to see which club wins the $1 million prize. Here’s a rundown of what you need to know. Who: Central vs. Pacific, Atlantic vs. Metropolitan When: C vs. P @ 7:15 p.m. CT; A vs. M @ 8:15 p.m. CT; winners @ 9:45 p.m. CT Where: SAP Center, San Jose, CA OR NBC, Sportsnet, CBC, and TVA Sports How: 3-on-3 format With the 3-on-3 setup and the star-studded lineups, the potential is there to once again see some high-scoring action in each of the three contests. Players like Connor McDavid, Gabriel Landeskog, Patrick Kane, and Johnny Gaudreau will all be active and will likely make an impact in the Central-Pacific contest. That’s also where Dallas Stars fans will shift their focus. The All-Star Game seems to be set up in Heiskanen’s favor, considering his style as an offensive defenseman. Heiskanen’s skills are centered around speed and his ability to play an effective two-way game, mixing consistent offensive pressure with an ability to shut down and stifle the opponent on defense. On Saturday night, he’ll get a chance to once again steal the hockey world spotlight as he attempts to help the Central push their way to a prize of $1 million. The 2019 NHL All-Star Game is almost here. The Central and Pacific get things going at 7:15 p.m. on NBC. Make sure to tune in and watch no. 4 get rolling.<doc-sep>The 2019 NHL All-Star Game will feature some of the NHL’s top talent when four teams hit the ice for the annual 3-on-3 competition on Saturday, Jan. 26, at SAP Center in San Jose, California. Auston Matthews of the Toronto Maple Leafs, Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche and Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers will serve as three of the team captains. Alex Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals was voted as a team captain, but he will not play in the game. Here’s everything you need to know about the 2019 NHL All-Star Game: Matthews' team in the Atlantic Division will feature teammate John Tavares, plus three Tampa Bay Lightning players in Steven Stamkos, Nikita Kucherov and Andrei Vasilevskiy. Without Ovechkin, the Metropolitan Division will still have plenty of talent behind Sidney Crosby of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Claude Giroux of the Flyers and Kyle Palmieri of the Devils. Mackinnon will be joined by Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks and Pekka Rinne of the Nashville Predators, while McDavid’s Pacific Division team will have Marc-Andre Fleury of the Vegas Golden Knights and Elias Pettersson of the Vancouver Canucks. Game schedule: - Central Division vs. Pacific Division, 8:15 p.m. - Atlantic Division vs. Metropolitan Division, 9:15 p.m. - Final between two winners, TBD Chris Ryan may be reached at cryan@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @ChrisRyan_NJ. Find NJ.com Devils on Facebook.<doc-sep>Rich Lam/Getty Images We've arrived at the NHL All-Star break, and the best players in hockey are set to take the ice at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, on Friday and Saturday. First up is the All-Star Skills Competition on Friday night, which features six events, with a $25,000 prize for the winner of each. Ahead is a breakdown of the competition format, scheduling information and a look at this year's All-Star representatives. Schedule Date: Friday, January 25 Time: 9 p.m. ET TV: NBCSN Events Bridgestone NHL Fastest Skater 2018 Winner: Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers (13.454 seconds) Eight skaters are timed skating one full lap around the rink. This one has been a staple at the skills challenge since 1992. Connor McDavid was the winner in 2017 (13.172) and 2018 (13.454), so he will no doubt be out to defend his title. Enterprise NHL Premier Passer Video Play Button Videos you might like 2018 Winner: Alex Pietrangelo, St. Louis Blues (46.610 seconds) Eight skaters are timed completing three passing skills. First is the breakout pass, for which the player is given 10 pucks to complete a pass to three targets. Second is the mini nets, where the player has to loft a pass over a small barricade and into four mini-nets. Third is target passing. The player must complete passes to targets that randomly light up every three seconds. This one has been changed up a bit from last year but is essentially the same challenge. Ticketmaster NHL Save Streak 2018 Winner: Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights (14 saves) Four goalies—one from each division—try to stop shootout-style shots from skaters of the three opposing divisions. The longest streak of saves wins. This challenge was new last year, and Marc-Andre Fleury will have a chance to defend his title. Gatorade NHL Puck Control 2018 Winner: Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames (24.650 seconds) Eight skaters are timed completing three puck control skills. First is stick handling, which sees the player have to control a puck through a line of 10 stationary pucks. Next up, cone control has the player weaving through a zig-zag of eight cones. Third is gates, where the player has to shoot or pass the puck through the lit portion of each gate. Time stops when the final puck is shot into the main net. SAP NHL Hardest Shot 2018 Winner: Alex Ovechkin, Washington Capitals (101.3 mph) Four skaters are clocked twice at shooting the puck as hard as possible. The puck starts 30 feet from the net, and the approach can come from no further back than the nearest blue line. Shots have to be on goal to count. A broken stick results in a redo, and the fastest speed in miles per hour wins. The record in this event belongs to Zdeno Chara, who won the 2012 event with a speed of 108.8 mph. Honda NHL Accuracy Shooting 2018 Winner: Brock Boeser, Vancouver Canucks (11.136 seconds) Eight skaters will shoot pucks at five LED lights positioned inside the net from 25 feet away. Players have three seconds to hit the lit target. If it's hit in that time, it is removed from the rotation. Time stops once all five targets have been hit. Players Atlantic Division Nick Wass/Associated Press F Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres F Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning F Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs F Jeff Skinner, Buffalo Sabres F David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins F Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning F John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs D Thomas Chabot, Ottawa Senators D Keith Yandle, Florida Panthers G Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings G Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning Metropolitan Division F Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes F Cam Atkinson, Columbus Blue Jackets F Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders F Sidney Crosby, Pittsburgh Penguins F Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers F Kyle Palmieri, New Jersey Devils D John Carlson, Washington Capitals D Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets D Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins G Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals G Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers Central Division Claus Andersen/Getty Images F Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks F Nathan MacKinnon, Colorado Avalanche F Ryan O'Reilly, St. Louis Blues F Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche F Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets F Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg Jets F Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche D Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars D Roman Josi, Nashville Predators G Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota Wild G Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators Pacific Division F Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames F Clayton Keller, Arizona Coyotes F Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers F Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks F Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks F Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers D Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks D Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings D Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks G Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights G John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks<doc-sep>The NHL released rosters for the 2019 NHL All-Star Game on Wednesday night, giving fans a look at the players that will be representing the league's four divisions during the event in San Jose, California, later this month. The roster unveil comes one week after the four fan-voted captains -- Toronto's Auston Matthews (Atlantic), Washington's Alex Ovechkin (Metropolitan), Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon (Central) and Edmonton's Connor McDavid (Pacific) -- were announced. Ovechkin has since voluntary withdrawn from the event in order to rest for the second half. While fans got to choose the four captains for each team, the league's hockey operations department selected most of the remaining 40 players (10 from each division) for the game. However, for the first time this year, fans will also get to choose the "last man in" on each team. Here are the rosters for each division: Atlantic Metropolitan Central Pacific As is usually the case when All-Star rosters are released, there are some notable snubs absent from the list. The league does its best to reward all of the deserving candidates and there's certainly no shortage of talent right now, but the NHL has four key criteria points that it tries to meet with its selections and that often leaves some qualified players on the outside looking in. That inclusion criteria is as follows: One representative from each of the league's 31 teams The top 10 to 15 league scorers at the time of selection As many marketed league "stars" as possible Multiple players from the host team/city As has been the case over the past few years, the All-Star Game will be played in the format of a 3-on-3 tournament. The Metropolitan and Atlantic Division will play a 20-minute game, followed by a 20-minute game between the Central and Pacific Divisions. The winners of those two games will meet in a championship game (also 20 minutes) with the winning team splitting a $1 million cash prize. The game is on Saturday, Jan. 26, at 8 p.m. ET and will be streaming on fuboTV (try for free).<doc-sep>
The 2019 NHL All-Star Game takes place on Saturday, Jan. 26, and this year's edition will be much different than last for a multitude of reasons. One, Capitals’ captain Alex Ovechkin chose to sit out of the game, so he will not serve as captain of the Metropolitan team for the second year in a row. Two, women are playing a special role in this year’s game; U.S. women's national team's Kendall Coyne will make history by becoming the first woman to compete in the Skills Challenge by participating in the Fastest Skater contest. Coyne replaced Nathan MacKinnon of the Avalanche. Even without Ovechkin, the Capitals have three of their very own on the roster in some regard. Capitals head coach will lead the Metro team. Goalkeeper Braden Holtby and defender John Carlson will take the ice as well. Here is everything you need to know about the 2019 NHL All-Star Game in San Jose, Calif. 2019 NHL All-Star Game How to Watch Where: SAP Center, San Jose, Calif. What: 63rd NHL All-Star Game When: Saturday, January 26 at 8 p.m. ET TV Channel: NBC Live Stream: Stream the 2019 NHL All-Star Game using NBC Sports 2019 NHL All-Star Game Rosters For more information on rosters, click here. Pacific Division Roster: Coach: Bill Peters (Flames) Forwards: Johnny Gaudreau (Flames), Clayton Keller (Coyotes), Connor McDavid (Oilers), Joe Pavelski (Sharks), Elias Pettersson (Canucks), Leon Draisaitl (Oilers) Defensemen: Brent Burns (Sharks), Drew Doughty (Kings), Erik Karlsson (Sharks) Goalies: Marc-Andre Fleury (Golden Knights), John Gibson (Ducks) Central Division Roster: Coach: Paul Maurice (Jets) Forwards: Patrick Kane (Blackhawks), Nathan MacKinnon (Avalanche), Ryan O'Reilly, (Blues), Mikko Rantanen (Avalanche), Mark Scheifele (Jets), Blake Wheeler (Jets) Defensemen: Miro Keiskanen (Stars), Roman Josi (Predators) Goalies: Devan Dubnyk (Wild), Pekka Rinne (Predators) Atlantic Division Roster: Coach: Jon Cooper (Lightning) Forwards: Jack Eichel (Sabres), Nikita Kucherov (Lightning), Auston Matthews (Maple Leafs), David Pastrnak (Bruins), Steven Stamkos (Lightning), John Tavares (Maple Leafs) Defensemen: Thomas Chabot (Senators), Keith Yandle (Panthers) Goalies: Jimmy Howard, (Red Wings), Andrei Vasilevskiy (Lightning) Metropolitan Division Roster: Coach: Todd Reirden (Capitals) Forwards: Sebastian Aho (Hurricanes), Cam Atkinson (Blue Jackets), Mathew Barzal (Islanders), Sidney Crosby (Penguins), Claude Giroux (Flyers), Kyle Palmieri (Devils) Defensemen: Seth Jones (Blue Jackets), John Carlson (Capitals), Kris Letang (Penguins) Goalies: Braden Holtby (Capitals), Henrik Lundqvist (Rangers) 2019 NHL All-Stars Skills Challenge The Skills Challenge will take place on Friday, Jan. 25 at 9 p.m. ET. The six events and their participants are listed below. While Coyne will be competing, other women from the U.S. and Canada will be serving as event demonstrators; From Team USA, Rebecca Johnston will show Puck Control, and Brianna Decker will show Premiere Passing. Coyne and Renata Fast from Team Canada will demonstrate Accuracy Shooting. NHL Fastest Skater: Cam Atkinson, Columbus Blue Jackets Mathew Barzal, New York Islanders Kendall Coyne, U.S. Women's National Team Jack Eichel, Buffalo Sabres Miro Heiskanen, Dallas Stars Clayton Keller, Arizona Coyotes Connor McDavid, Edmonton Oilers Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks Premiere Passer: Sebastian Aho, Carolina Hurricanes Thomas Chabot, Ottawa Senators Leon Draisaitl, Edmonton Oilers Roman Josi, Nashville Predators Erik Karlsson, San Jose Sharks Ryan O'Reilly, St. Louis Blues Mikko Rantanen, Colorado Avalanche Keith Yandle, Florida Panthers Save Streak: Devan Dubnyk, Minnesota Wild Marc-Andre Fleury, Vegas Golden Knights John Gibson, Anaheim Ducks Braden Holtby, Washington Capitals Jimmy Howard, Detroit Red Wings Henrik Lundqvist, New York Rangers Pekka Rinne, Nashville Predators Andrei Vasilevskiy, Tampa Bay Lightning Puck Control: Johnny Gaudreau, Calgary Flames Claude Giroux, Philadelphia Flyers Patrick Kane, Chicago Blackhawks Gabriel Landeskog, Colorado Avalanche Elias Pettersson, Vancouver Canucks Mark Scheifele, Winnipeg Jets Jeff Skinner, Buffalo Sabres John Tavares, Toronto Maple Leafs Hardest Shot: Brent Burns, San Jose Sharks John Carlson, Washington Capitals Seth Jones, Columbus Blue Jackets Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay Lightning Accuracy Shooting: Drew Doughty, Los Angeles Kings Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay Lightning Kris Letang, Pittsburgh Penguins Auston Matthews, Toronto Maple Leafs Kyle Palmieri, New Jersey Devils David Pastrnak, Boston Bruins Joe Pavelski, San Jose Sharks Blake Wheeler, Winnipeg Jets