Tim Thomas remains perfect in All-Star play, earning his third straight win after making 11 saves on 15 shots.
Patrick Sharp wins the MVP award and the car that goes with it. He had a goal and two assists in a losing effort for Team Staal.
There were 16 different goal scorers and 31 players had points. Anze Kopitar, Louis Eriksson and Danny Briere each had two goals for Team Lidstrom, while Eric Staal and Kris Letang each had two for Team Staal. Shea Weber had four assists and was plus-6, while Eriksson also has two assists for four points and Nicklas Lidstrom was plus-7.
The only forward on Team Lidstrom without a point was Phil Kessel, while Bay State native Keith Yandle was the only defenseman without a point. Marc Staal, Ryan Kesler and Erik Karlsson didn't tally points for Team Staal, but Zdeno Chara did have two assists and was a plus-1 in 21:07.
Team Staal had a 46-45 edge in shots and there were no hits in the game. There were no power plays either, but Alex Ovechkin did get called for throwing his stick, giving Matt Duchene the first penalty shot in All-Star history, but Henrik Lundqvist denied him.
Third Period, 19:26, Team Lidstrom 11-10: And Team Staal just answer in the final minute, pulling back within one with just over a half a minute left on a goal by Eric Staal.
Third Period, 18:49, Team Lidstrom 11-9: Loui Eriksson flips in an empty-netter after Lundqvist was pulled to make it a two-goal lead, but there's still time with the way this one has gone.
Third Period, 18:10, Team Lidstrom 10-9: Patrick Kane is denied on a clean breakaway, as Lundqvist keeps Team Staal's comeback hopes alive.
Third Period, 15:11, Team Lidstrom 10-9: Rick Nash answers with a goal top shelf on Thomas to pull Team Staal back within one goal.
Third Period, 13:52, Team Lidstrom 10-8: Marty St. Louis adds what could be a needed insurance goal with a backhander up at over Lundqvist at the right post.
Third Period, 12:39, Team Lidstrom 9-8: Henrik Lundqvist keeping Team Staal in this one with a series of saves, including a pair in close on Phil Kessel.
Third Period, 10:45, Team Lidstrom 9-8: Team Lidstrom retakes the lead as Jonathan Toews scores from in front for their second goal in 48 seconds.
Third Period, 9:57, 8-8: Team Lidstrom answers quickly as Danny Briere scores his second to tie it again.
Third Period, 8:46, Team Staal 8-7: Team Staal retakes the lead, as Kris Letang scores his second of the day from in front. Team Lidstrom will need to score at least a pair to keep Thomas' win streak going.
Third Period, 6:13, 7-7: The first penalty shot in All-Star history is taken by Matt Duchene after Alex Ovechkin throws his stick at the youngster coming in on a breakaway. Henrick Lundqvist makes the save though, keeping the game tied.
Third Period, 3:49, 7-7: Thomas can get the win now, as Eric Staal thrills the Carolina fans by tying it up on a clean breakaway in alone on Thomas.
Third Period, 2:40, Team Lidstrom 7-6: Thomas just hurt his popularity in Carolina as he stones Jeff Skinner all alone in front.
Third Period, 0:00, Team Lidstrom 7-6: The final frame is under way, with Tim Thomas now in goal for Team Lidstrom and Henrik Lundqvist in net for Team Staal.
Second Intermission Notes: Tim Thomas won't have a chance to extend his personal All-Star winning streak to three unless he gives up a goal, as he'll inherit a one-goal lead when he takes over in goal for Team Lidstrom in the third period.
Carey Price and Jonan Hiller put on a show in the second, allowing just five combined goals despite 33 shots, with Team Staal holding a 17-16 edge and a slim 31-30 lead overall.
Zdeno Chara leads Team Staal in ice time at 14:37, and has an assist and is plus-1 on the day. There have been 12 different goal scorers, with Anze Kopitar the only player with two goals. Still no hits or penalties in this one.
End Second Period, Team Lidstrom, 7-6: Just five goals in that period, but Team Lidstrom scored three of them to take a 7-6 lead into the third.
Second Period, 19:30, Team Lidstrom 7-6: Some late period drama provided by Ryan Kesler's mic falling off. Ovechkin steps up to clear it out of the way.
Second Period, 15:31, Team Lidstrom 7-6: Team Lidstrom takes its first lead of the day as Danny Briere scores.
Second Period, 14:11, 6-6: Another tie, as Team Lidstrom completes another rally to pull even once more as Steven Stamkos scores.
Second Period, 13:10, Team Staal 6-5: A total of 15 odd-man rushes so far in this one, as any semblance of defense has been abandoned. The goalies (and some over-passing) have kept the last slew of rushes from resulting in goals.
Second Period, 10:08, Team Staal 6-5: Price is perfect no more, but it took a 2-on-0 break to beat him, with Anze Kopitar finishing the chance from Loui Eriksson to cut the lead to one goal.
Second Period, 9:18, Team Staal 6-4: Can't believe we're talking about goaltending in this one, but Carey Price continues to shine, denying Jonathan Toews on a clean breakaway. Price has stopped all 10 shots he's faced so far.
Second Period, 6:10, Team Staal 6-4: Kris Letang makes up for his first-period giveaways with a goal from the high slate to push the lead to two goals.
Second Period, 5:30, Team Staal 5-4: Carey Price with a couple impressive stops for Team Staal to maintain the one-goal lead.
Second Period, 1:18, Team Staal 5-4: Team Staal is back in front, as Patrick Sharp picks up his fourth point of the day when he fires home a one-timer from Claude Giroux.
Second Period, 0:00, 4-4: The middle frame is under way, with Carey Price and Jonas Hiller now in the goals for Team Staal and Team Lidstrom, respectively.
First Intermission Notes: About what you'd expect in an All-Star Game, with plenty of offense and little else.
There's been eight different goal-scorers so far, while Patrick Sharp leads all scorers with three assists. No surprise, but there were no hits and no penalties in the first, though there was actually a little defense played with some sporadic backchecking leading to a combined 10 takeaways. Of course, there was also Kris Letang with two giveaways, one leading directly to a goal.
Zdeno Chara has an assist and a shot and is plus-2 in 7:38. Phil Kessel is also a plus-1 in 5:15 just in case you were wondering if he was playing, as Mr. Irrelevant has been pretty invisible. The shots, like the score, are even, with each side registering 14.
End First Period, 4-4: The opening 20 minutes are in the books, and nothing has been settled yet.
Team Staal jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the first 5:41, but Team Lidstrom countered with the next four goals to pull even.
First Period, 16:30, 4-4: And the comeback is complete, as Matt Duchene scores on a breakaway to tie it for Team Lidstrom.
First Period, 16:07, Team Staal 4-3: Team Lidstrom pulls within a goal as Loui Eriksson scores after a Kris Letang giveaway behind the net.
First Period, 13:17, Team Staal 4-2: Team Lidstrom is mounting a comeback, with old Chicago teammates combining to cut the lead to two. Dustin Byfuglien finishes a nice feed from Patrick Kane.
First Period, 12:30, Team Staal 4-1: So who's idea was it to put the two No. 26s on the same line?
First Period, 10:50, Team Staal 4-1: So much for that, as Anze Kopitar finally puts Team Lidstrom on the board midway through the first.
First Period, 10:15, Team Staal 4-0: This might be closing in on an All-Star record, as we're nearing five minutes without a goal in this one.
First Period, 5:41, Team Staal 4-0: Team Staal keeps pouring it on, as Claude Giroux adds another. Rough start for Marc-Andre Fleury in the Team Lidstrom net. Patrick Sharp has three assists already.
First Period, 3:20, Team Staal 3-0: The other No. 26 for Team Staal adds another, as Patrik Elias scores the third quick goal.
First Period, 2:48, Team Staal 2-0: Paul Stastny doubles the lead from Patrick Sharp.
First Period, 0:50, Team Staal 1-0: It didn't take long, as Alex Ovechkin scores less than a minute in to stake Team Staal to the quick lead. Chara picks up a assist on the play.
First Period, 0:00, 0-0: And they're under way in Raleigh. How long will we have to wait for the scoring to start?
4:15 p.m.: Big hand for Team Lidstrom co-coach Peter Laviolette, the former Bruin assistant and Franklin, Mass. native who led Carolina to the Cup in 2006.
Chara also gets a good reception after the show he put on in Saturday's skills competition. naturally, nothing matches the cheers for the hometown Carolina players Jeff Skinner, Cam Ward and Eric Staal, who were saved for last.
4:10 p.m.: Pre-game ceremonies featured past Hurricanes Ron Francis and Rod Brind'Amour, then the introductions of this year's stars.
4 p.m.: The starting lineups have been set, and Zdeno Chara will be get the start on defense alongside Mike Green on Team Staal, which will also have captain Eric Staal up front between Rick Nash and Corey Perry and Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward in net in his home rink.
Team Lidstrom counters with a line of Tampa Bay stars past and present, as Steven Stamkos, Marty St. Louis and Brad Richards start up from, captain Nicklas Lidstrom and Shea Weber are on defense and Pittsburgh's Marc-Andre Fleury is in goal.
3:45 p.m.: The one advantage to the new format for Bruins fans is that they're guaranteed to have a Boston player on the winning team.
Tim Thomas is scheduled to play the third period in goal for Team Lidstrom, while Zdeno Chara is slated to skate with Washington's Mike Green on defense for Team Staal. That ought to be a challenge to Chara's plus/minus rating.
3 p.m.: Fans will get their first look at the new All-Star format when Team Staal and Team Lidstrom take the ice in Raleigh in just about an hour.
The player-picked squads worked out well on Saturday, especially for Staal's bunch, who won the SuperSkills Competition 33-22. Now Lidstrom's squad will try to get a little payback in the actual game.
That includes Bruins goalie Tim Thomas, who will put a personal streak on the line. Thomas has earned the win in each of his first two All-Star appearances, and he'll get a chance for another victory as he is scheduled to play the third period again in this one.
"Both games that I've played in I played the third period and they were very tight games," Thomas said before departing for Raleigh. "The competition and the pressure of a normal game is really there. … It's fun in its own way. It's just not completely relaxing."
All-star games are never easy on goalies, as little defense is played in front of them. But like most challenges, Thomas relishes being tested by the game's best snipers.
"I've played in enough all-star games, not just in the NHL, but in Sweden and Finland and even in college, that I understand the way all-star games can be," Thomas said. "It doesn't bother me. It actually gives you opportunities to make spectacular saves."
No goalie has made more spectacular saves this season than Thomas, who should get plenty of chances to make a few more in this one.
8 a.m.: All the preliminaries are out of the way, and after a two-year wait, it's finally time for another NHL All-Star Game.
The 58th edition of the star-studded exhibition will take place in Raleigh on Sunday afternoon after the NHL skipped last year's festivities since the league was already shutting down for a midseason break to allow its players to compete in the Olympics.
The game returns with a twist this season, as this year the teams were chosen in a player draft on Friday, with captains Eric Staal and Nicklas Lidstrom picking the sides. Staal got the early bragging rights as his side claimed a 33-22 win in Saturday's SuperSkills Competition.
Bruins captain Zdeno Chara helped Team Staal to that victory as he won his fourth straight Hardest Shot title, breaking his own record with a 105.9 mph blast.
Tim Thomas hopes Chara doesn't unleash any slap shots that hard at him on Sunday, as the Bruins teammates are on opposite sides for the game with Staal picking Chara in the fourth round on Friday and Lidstrom taking Thomas in the fifth round.
Back when both players were originally named All-Stars earlier this month, Thomas was asked what would happen if he and Chara ended up on opposite teams. Thomas replied simply, "I win and he loses."
On Sunday, Thomas will get a chance to back up that boast as the league's top stars take the ice in Carolina.
The game begins at 4 p.m., so check back throughout the day for updates on all the action.
