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		Kovalev wins All-Star game in shootout By Jeremy Kahn January 25, 2009
	Goaltender Jean-Sebastien Giguere, of the Anaheim Ducks, reacts after Shane Doan, of the Phoenix Coyotes, scored during the Elimination Shootout at the NHL All-Star Superskills competition in Montreal on Saturday Jan. 24, 2009. (AP Photo)
	It would only fitting that the winning goal in the shootout of the All-Star game would come off the stick of Alexei Kovalev on his home ice. The Montreal Canadiens right winger scored two goals in regulation and then scored the clincher in the shootout, as the Eastern Conference defeated the Western Conference 12-11 at the Bell Centre in Montreal. Alex Ovechkin put the game on ice, when he scored past Roberto Luongo, as the Eastern Conference won the first shootout in an All-Star game since the 2003 All-Star game. When Mike Komisarek was called for a hooking penalty 2:22 into the third period, it was the first penalty in an All-Star game since Sandis Ozolinsh in the 2000 All-Star game. Keith Tkachuk got the scoring started, as he scored past Carey Price of the Canadiens 1:16 into the game. Ovechkin tied up the game at 5:10 later, as he scored on Jean-Sebastian Giguere of the Anaheim Ducks. Eric Staal gave the Eastern Conference the lead for the first time, as he got by Giguere a little over three minutes later. Kovalev then got on the board for the first time, as he scored on an assist from Tomas Kaberle of the Toronto Maple Leafs to give the Eastern Conference a two-goal lead. Twenty-five seconds after the Eastern Conference’s fourth goal of the period off the stick of Andrei Markov of the Canadiens, the San Jose Sharks representatives got into the mix. Captain Patrick Marleau scored on an assist from Sharks’ teammate Joe Thornton ,and Scott Niedermayer of the Ducks to cut the lead down to just two with 12 seconds remaining in the first period. After the two teams combined to score six goals in the first period, the teams combined to score 10 in the second 20 minutes. Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks put the Western Conference into the lead with 4:41remaining in the third period, but Jay Bouwmeester of the Florida Panthers tied up the game 1:22 later to send the game into overtime. Following a scoreless overtime, the teams went to a shootout for just the second time in the 57-year history of the game.