NHL All-Star Game format: Rules for tournament, weekend

The 67th NHL All-Star Game will take place on Saturday, Feb. 4 at FLA Live Arena in Sunrise, Florida. For the seventh time the weekend will be headlined by a 3-on-3 elimination tournament pitting the league's four divisions against each other. The tournament will begin at 3 p.m. ET. ABC and ESPN+ will hande broadcast and live streaming in the United States. In Canada, the broadcast will be on Sportsnet (English) and TVA Sports (French). It can also be streamed on Sportsnet Now.

NHL All-Star Game

The 2023 NHL All-Star Skills is presented by DraftKings Sportsbook. There are eight events (five traditional, three new) being held in the skills competition this year.

Splash shot – Eight shooters (two from each division) will try to hit targets to dunk their opponents out at Fort Lauderdale Beach.

Pitch 'n puck – This combines NHL players two favorite sports, hockey and golf. Six players will play a par-4 with an island green. Lowest score wins with longest drive providing the tiebreaker.

Tendy tandem – The goalies get to shoot in this event. They will work together to showcase shooting skills. The better they shoot the puck, the fewer attackers they will have to face in the shooting round.

Fastest skater – The league's fastest skaters compete on a timed one-time trip around the oval. Last year St. Louis Blues forward Jordan Kyrou won with a time of 13.550 seconds.

Hardest shot – Players fire pucks from the point to try and record the hardest slap shot. Last year Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman won with a shot of 103.2 MPH.

Accuracy shooting – Players take aim at four targets around the goal with the fastest to hit all four declared the winner. Last year Carolina Hurricanes forward Sebatian Aho didn't miss and finished with a time of 10.937.

Breakaway challenge – Players get to show off their best moves against the top goalies in the game. Last year Vegas Golden Knights defenseman Alex Pietrangelo was a surprise winner.

Save streak – The goalies battle to see who can rack up the most consecutive saves during the breakaway challenge. Last year Atlantic division goalies Andrei Vasilevskiy (Lightning) and Jack Campbell (Toronto Maple Leafs) won with nine straight saves.

The NHL All-Star Game is an elimination 3-on-3 tournament with two semifinals and a final. Each game is 20 minutes. In the rare case of a penalty being called, the penalized team will have to face a 4-on-3 power play. The League adopted the new rules in 2016 and expect several breakaways, odd-man rushes and plenty of back-and-forth action with the players enjoying plenty of open ice.

Of the previous six All-Star game tournaments, the Metropolitan division has won three times (2017, 2019, 2022) and the Pacific has won three times (2016, 2018, 2020). There was no game in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The Atlantic (0-3 in finals) and Central (0-2) have never won the tournament. Last year's MVP was Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers.

  
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