Eastern Conference All-Stars Shine at 2018 AHL All-Stars Skills Competition
UTICA - Sunday night in Utica, New York at the Adirondack Bank Center the American Hockey League's (AHL) best put on a show for the fans, and the Eastern Conference ALl-Stars captured the win 18-12 over the Western Conference All-Stars in the 2018 AHL All-Star Classic's Skills Competition.
There were plenty of highlights to be had, but from a Lehigh Valley Phantoms perspective - and perhaps from an AHL perspective - this shootout goal in the breakaway relay was a thing of beauty.
Below is a quick recap of the events with a closer look at how Phantoms All-Stars T.J. Brennan and Oskar Lindblom fared on the night.
Event 1 Sher-Wood Puck Control Relay
Race 1
Western Conference = Matt Lorito (GR), Emil Pettersson (MIL) and Mason Appleton (MB) Eastern Conference = Oskar Lindblom (LV), John Gilmour (HFD) and Valentin Zykov (CHA)
Lindblom kicked off the event, going first in the first race of the puck control relay against Grand Rapids' Matt Lorito. If Oskar was nervous about leading off the Skills Competition Sunday night in Utica, he certainly didn't show it.
Lindblom finished just after Lorito in the first leg of the race, which the Western Conference All-Stars were able to win to get the first point of the night.
After the first event, East and West were tied at 2-2.
Event 2 CCM Fastest Skater
Hartford's John Gilmour won the individual award and put himself in the record books with the fourth fastest time in the AHL's history of the fastest skater events with a time of 13.663 seconds.
Team East also won the point awarded for the best average, taking a 4-2 lead on the West after two events.
Event 3 AHL Live Rapid Fire
Ontario Reign goaltender Cal Petersen stopped all 10 shots he faced in round five of the rapid fire event, but it wasn't enough as the Eastern Conference goalies combined for more total saves and extended their lead to 5-2.
Event 4 CCM Hardest Shot
Round 4
Eastern Conference = T.J. Brennan (LV)
T.J. Brennan finished off the hardest shot event with shots of 101.0 mph and 99.5 mph, but it was former Utica Comets/ current Springfield Thunderbirds forward Alexandre Grenier stealing the show - blasting a 104.1 mph shot and not only winning the individual award for the event but also moving onto the AHL's all-time hardest shot list in league history with the 3rd hardest shot.
Team East won the individual point for hardest shot, but Team West got the point for the higher average of their four shooters.
Team East took the 6-3 lead into the 5th event.
Event 5 Turning Stone Resort Accuracy Shooting
Team East had the more accurate shooters, as Laval's Chris Terry and Hershey's Chris Bourque both went 4-for-5 and helped the East extend their lead to 8-3 after winning both the individual point and the team total point for most targets hit in the fewest attempts.
Event 6 Turning Stone Resort Pass and Score
Heat 6
Eastern Conference Shooters: Alexandre Grenier (SPR), Oskar Lindblom (LV) and Andreas Johnsson (TOR) Western Conference Goaltender: Cal Peterson (ONT)
Lindblom's unit was able to score a goal in their final attempt, but it was deemed to go in after the 30-second timer for the round had expired. Also notable was the fact that their second attempt was nullified before it resulted in a shot because Grenier was offside. Oops!
Heat 8
Eastern Conference Shooters: Bracken Kearns (BNG), T.J. Brennan (LV) and Matt Taormina (LAV) Western Conference Goaltender: Michael Hutchinson (MB)
Pretty passing from these three, but it didn't result in any goals. Brennan tried some trickery in the trio's final rush but his fake shot didn't fool Hutchinson, and Kearns' attempt went just wide.
The Western Conference All-Stars trimmed the deficit to 10-9 heading into the final event.
Event 7 Dunkin Donuts Breakaway Relay
Heat 4
Eastern Conference Shooters: Andreas Johnsson (TOR), Jacob MacDonald (BNG), Gabriel Gagne (BEL), C.J. Smith (RCH) and Oskar Lindblom (LV)Western Conference Goaltender: Antoine Bibeau (SJ)
Oskar Lindblom had one of the prettiest shootout goals of the event at the end of round four, and the East All-Stars were well on their way to close out the Skills Competition with the win.
Heat 6
Eastern Conference Shooters: Daniel Sprong (WBS), Warren Foegele (CHA), Austin Czarnik (PRO), T.J. Brennan (LV) and Matt Taormina (LAV) Western Conference Goaltender: Cal Petersen (ONT)
T.J. Brennan's goal in the breakaway relay actually clinched the win for the East All-Stars, who pulled away to win the Skills Competition 18-12.
