46th National Hockey League All-Star Game

Super Skills Competition

The Western Conference won their third consecutive Skills Competition, decided by a second-round tie-breaking penalty shot goal. Mark Messier won Accuracy Shooting by becoming the second player to hit four targets on four shots. Other winners included Pierre Turgeon (Puck Control Relay), Dave Manson (Hardest Shot, 98.0 mph), and Dominik Hasek (Goaltenders Competition, 4 goals against on 16 shots).

The game

The Eastern Conference built a 2–0 lead in the first period, with Martin Brodeur stopping all 12 shots. Eric Lindros and Pat Verbeek scored in the first period, and Jaromir Jagr made it 3–0 in the second. The Western Conference then scored three of the next four goals to pull within one after two periods. Teemu Selanne tied the game at 4–4 with 3:29 remaining in regulation.

With 37.3 seconds left, Boston Bruins defenseman Ray Bourque scored the winning goal, lifting the East to a 5–4 victory before the home crowd. Bourque, a 17-year veteran, was named All-Star MVP. Jim Kelley reported on Prime Time Sports that Dominik Hasek, the winning goaltender, was originally chosen as MVP but was overruled because Bourque scored the game winner and played in Boston. The losing goaltender was Ed Belfour, starting his fourth All-Star Game.

All three Eastern Conference goalies—Martin Brodeur, Dominik Hasek, and Jim Carey—as well as Western Conference goalie Chris Osgood, were making their All-Star debuts. Beginning with this game, head coaches were selected based on the best regular-season record in their conference up to the All-Star break, replacing the previous method of choosing the previous season's Stanley Cup finalist coaches. The referees were Mark Faucette (referee) and linesmen Ron Asselstine and Brad Lazarowich.