Mark Recchi of the Montreal Canadiens recorded a hat trick and Mario Lemieux and John LeClair each added two goals and an assist, powering the Eastern Conference to an 11-7 victory over the Western Conference in the 47th NHL All-Star Game at San Jose, California.
Recchi's hat trick was the eighth in All-Star competition and the first since Mike Gartner had four goals and Pierre Turgeon three for the Wales Conference in 1993. It secured Most Valuable Player honors for Recchi, who had five points in the 1993 game.
"I'm sure I'll get booed next time I'm here," said Recchi, who was named MVP over Sharks winger Owen Nolan, who also had a hat trick. "I was a little surprised, I thought they'd go with the hometown boy, but obviously, they went with the winning team. It was just a great thrill for me. It's the first time I was in the same dressing room with Wayne Gretzky, which was exciting."
The Eastern Conference posted its fourth straight win and extended its lead in the series to 15-5.
The East Stars stormed to a 4-0 lead in the first period and never looked back. They struck for two goals on consecutive shots in a 57-second span midway through the period. LeClair, who plays for the Philadelphia Flyers, redirected a backhanded centering pass from Peter Bondra of the Washington Capitals from the top of the crease at 8:52.
Defenseman Viacheslav Fetisov of the Detroit Red Wings gave the puck away behind his own net and Wayne Gretzky of the New York Rangers set up Lemieux, who put a shot over goaltender Patrick Roy's left arm for his 10th career All-Star goal.
The assist made Gretzky the leading scorer in All-Star history with 20 points. He had been tied with his boyhood idol, Gordie Howe.
The East Stars got two more quick goals late in the period as Recchi and Dale Hawerchuk of the Flyers tallied 47 seconds apart. But the West got back in the game as Pavel Bure of the Vancouver Canucks and Paul Kariya of the Mighty Ducks of Anaheim scored a minute apart.
The six-goal first period was a contrast to last year's game at Boston, when the teams combined for only two. But it paled in comparison to the second period, when the squads combined for an All-Star-record 10 goals.
Recchi got it started with his second of the game at 1:56 and Geoff Sanderson of the Hartford Whalers put home a backhander 85 seconds later to give the East a 6-2 cushion.
Bure scored his second goal at 4:40, but the Eastern Conference got the next three. Lemieux, likely playing in the final All-Star Game of his illustrious career, beat goaltender Andy Moog on a breakaway at 6:09 and Mark Messier of the Rangers put the East ahead, 8-3, at 8:45.
"Anytime you could be part of a moment like that, if this is Mario's last game, it does make it kind of special," LeClair said. "It's something you could say you were a part of, his last All-Star Game. I hope it's not."
Recchi completed his hat trick just over two minutes later and goalie Martin Brodeur of the New Jersey Devils made three spectacular stops from point-blank range to deny Bure's bid for a hat trick of his own.
"I got a piece of one with my glove and the one that hit the post hit my stick," Brodeur said. "It was really close.
"It was a good game, I thought. Maybe in the first period, it took awhile to get going. After a couple of goals, the guys wanted to score more and make good plays. It was nice to see."
Lemieux's assist on Recchi's third goal boosted him into a tie with Gretzky for the all-time All-Star scoring lead. Adam Oates of the Boston Bruins picked up the second assist, giving him the all-time in that category with 12.
Paul Coffey of the Philadelphia Flyers picked up a rare All-Star penalty for hooking and the West cashed in on the power play at 16:38 when Brendan Shanahan of the Red Wings beat Brodeur with a wrist shot from the left faceoff circle.
But Hawerchuk, one of four special All-Star selections by NHL commissioner Gary Bettman, got his second of the game 50 seconds later to restore the East's six-goal bulge.
"It was great to see Dale get some goals," LeClair said. "It was tremendous. He works so hard and he had his little boy out here. I just thought it was tremendous he had such a good game."
Owen Nolan of the San Jose Sharks brought the hometown crowd to its feet and made All-Star history when he scored twice in an eight-second span. His first goal trickled in off his knee off Theoren Fleury's centering pass. After the ensuing faceoff, Nolan put a blast from the right circle over Brodeur's glove to break the All-Star mark for fastest two goals by one player. Dennis Ververgaert set the previous record of 10 seconds in 1976.
"I didn't need any energy, the crowd was just unbelievable," Nolan said. "It was just a great honor to be a part of this in your own hometown. To score one goal was great and to end up with three was an experience I won't forget."
Nolan delighted the crowd again when he beat Buffalo's Dominik Hasek on a breakaway with 2:03 left for the game's second hat trick.
"Just when you think you have him down and out, he comes up with an unbelievable save," Nolan said. "He does it all season, you just have to keep throwing it at the net."
"I think it was a little bit tougher last year because it was a much closer game, a 4-4 game," Hasek said. "It's a game for fun, but I want to win because it's the All-Star Game."
Nolan's teammates were giving him a steady diet of passes, trying to help him get his third goal.
"You mean you couldn't tell?," Nolan said. "They just said, `Get open, we're going to feed you.'"
Just over nine minutes earlier, LeClair notched his second of the game by deflecting Bondra's shot past Guy Hebert of the Mighty Ducks.
Jon's 3 stars:
1. Owen Nolan
2. Pavel Bure
3. Mark Recchi
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