 | ||||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
| Date | January 20, 1996 | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Arena | FleetCenter | |||||||||||||||
| City | Boston | |||||||||||||||
| MVP | Ray Bourque (Boston) | |||||||||||||||
| Attendance | 17,565 | |||||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||||||
The1996 National Hockey League All-Star Game took place at theFleetCenter inBoston on January 20, 1996. The 46th game was originally scheduled to take place in 1995, but the lockout of the1994–95 NHL season led to its postponement.
TheWestern Conference would win their third-straight Skills Competition on a second round tie-breaking penalty shot goal. In the individual eventsSergei Fedorov tied the record forFastest Skater (13.510s '93 Gartner), only a few races later to haveMike Gartner break his previous record by finishing the event at 13.386 seconds, which stood as the record untilDylan Larkin scored a 13.172 second skate in 2016.[1]Mark Messier would win theAccuracy Shooting event by becoming the second player to hit four targets on four shots.
Boston Bruins' defensemenRay Bourque scored with just 37.3 seconds remaining in regulation to lift theEastern Conference to a 5–4 victory in front of the home crowd inBoston. For his heroics, the 17-year veteran was named All-Star M.V.P.[2]
The East built a 2–0 lead after the first period asNew Jersey Devils' goaltenderMartin Brodeur was able to stop all 12 shots.Philadelphia Flyers'Eric Lindros andNew York Rangers'Pat Verbeek opened the scoring in the first period. In the second period,Pittsburgh Penguins'Jaromir Jagr would score to increase the East lead to 3–0. However, theWestern Conference responded by scoring three of the next four goals in the second period to pull within one, going into the third.Winnipeg Jets'Teemu Selanne tied he game at 4–4 with 3:29 remaining, before Bourque scored the winning goal.
This was also the first game where theFoxTrax was used in the All-Star Game.[3]Jim Kelley revealed onPrime Time Sports thatDominik Hasek, the winning goaltender, was chosen as the game MVP but he overruled the vote[2][4][5] because Bourque scored the game winner and the game was in Boston, where Bourque played most of his career. The losing goaltender was the Chicago Blackhawks'Ed Belfour, starting his fourth All-Star Game. The third Eastern Conference goaltender,Jim Carey of theWashington Capitals, would later in the 1995–96 NHL season win theVezina Trophy as hockey's best goaltender. All three Eastern Conference goalies, and Western Conference goalieChris Osgood were making their All-Star debuts in Boston.
Beginning with this year's All Star Game, the head coaches were selected by whose team had the best regular season record in his respective conference, during the season up to the All-Star break. Before this, the head coaches of the previous season's Stanley Cup finalist were chosen.[6][7]
| Western Conference | Eastern Conference | |
|---|---|---|
| Final score | 4 | 5 |
| Scoring summary |
|
|
| Penalties |
|
|
| Shots on goal | 12–7–13–32 | 18–15–8–41 |
| Win/loss | L -Felix Potvin | W -Dominik Hasek |
Murphy replacedGary Suter, who was injured, in the lineup.
