Connor McDavid and Toronto Maple Leafs center Auston Matthews will be two of the four team captains at the NHL All-Star weekend next month in San Jose.McDavid (Pacific Division) Adidas Jonathan Bernier Jersey , Matthews (Atlantic), Colorado Avalanche center Nathan MacKinnon (Central) and Washington Capitals winger Alex Ovechkin (Metropolitan) won fan votes to earn the captaincies and the first roster spots for the event, Jan. 25-26.Matthews will make his third All-Star appearance and first as captain, while McDavid will captain the Pacific Division for the third time in as many appearances.MacKinnon is heading to All-Star weekend for the third time, while Ovechkin makes his eighth appearance.The rest of the All-Stars will be determined by the NHL’s hockey operations department.The head coach of the team with the highest points percentage (points earned divided by total possible points) in each of the four divisions at the halfway point of the regular season will guide the respective All-Star rosters.All-Star weekend will feature a three-game tournament in a 3-on-3 format. One thing is becoming more and more clear.With apologies to “Damn Yankees,” the Philadelphia Flyers had to have Hart.As in 20-year-old goaltender Connor Hart, who has made 53 saves in winning his first two NHL starts — which have also coincided with a coaching change.Article continues below ...“He’s the main reason we won the last two games,” Jake Voracek said after Thursday night’s 2-1 win over the Nashville Predators made Scott Gordon 2-0 as the Flyers’ interim coach.Said Hart, who will try to keep it going with the Columbus Blue Jackets in town for a Saturday matinee: “I’m competing and having fun.”He looked particularly sharp during a Nashville 5-on-3 advantage Adidas Paul Thompson Jersey , with Ryan Johansen saying, “We had some good looks. The young kid in net made some good saves, made our 5-on-3 look bad.”Having a homestand at the time of the coaching and goaltending change has to have helped things get off on the right skate for both Gordon and Hart, the latter the sixth goalie to play for the Flyers this season.He plays his third straight, but what will happen Sunday on the back end of a back-to-back against the Rangers in New York?“We don’t have to make a decision as far as what Sunday is going to be,” Gordon said Friday. “Carter will start (Saturday) and we will get through the game and figure it out afterward.”Hart will face a Columbus team — and former Flyers goalie Sergei Bobrovsky — coming off a 2-1 home victory over the New Jersey Devils Thursday night.Bobrovsky, who has already defeated the Flyers twice this season, has allowed one goal in the last two games, both wins Adidas Troy Brouwer Jersey , as the Jackets have won three of their last four (points in all four) as they visit Philly.The goalie emerged from a tough spell and has stopped 106 of 110 shots in the last four games, going 3-0-1.“It’s not only me, it’s the team,” he said. “I think the team improved a lot in front of me. It (trickles) down to me too and my result and my numbers get better too. I think we win as a team, we lose as a team. It’s tough to break down by the pieces and say we win or lose because of one person. We have one logo on the chest and the result goes to the whole team.”Lifetime against his old team, Bobrovsky is an impressive 12-3-1, with a 2.04 goals against average and .929 save percentage. Backup Joonas Korpisalo has won his only career start against the Flyers.The Jackets play the Devils again Sunday, this time in Columbus.Cam Atkinson scored his 20th goal of the season Thursday night, the Blue Jackets’ public relation Twitter account proclaiming Adidas Michael Hutchinson Jersey , “#CAMSANITY now with 20 goals in 6-straight seasons, the 2nd #CBJ player to accomplish the feat (Rick Nash; 8-straight from 2003-12). At 20 goals in 33 GP, it’s the 2nd-fastest to a 20-goal campaign in club history (Rick Nash; 20 goals in 31 GP in 2003-04).”By the way, in a stat you probably can’t live without: the win in New Jersey made the Jackets a perfect 10-0-0 on Thursdays, tied for the second-best start of a season on any day. The 2007-08 Detroit Red Wings won their first 10 Wednesdays.
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