Gaborik’s trick leads Team Chara to All-Star win

OTTAWA — Marian Gaborik got the best of New York Rangers teammate Henrik Lundqvist, and Zdeno Chara scored the winning goal for the NHL all-star team named after him.

Even in defeat, Daniel Alfredsson rewarded the hometown fans with 2 goals and an assist, and then the Ottawa Senators captain provided a hint that he might come back for one more season.

For an All-Star Game that lacked the league’s top-name talent in Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, there was plenty to keep everyone buzzing Sunday.

Gaborik scored three times, added an assist and earned MVP honors, and Team Chara used a third-period offensive eruption to secure a 12-9 win over Team Alfredsson.

The Blackhawks’ Marian Hossa recorded a goal and 2 assists and Patrick Kane notched a goal.

“We have a lot of fun out there,” said Lundqvist, who allowed 3 goals on 12 shots in the first period. “A lot of times you might forget because it’s a lot of pressure, and you put a lot of pressure on yourself, but this weekend is all about the game of hockey and having fun with it. So we’ve been enjoying ourselves, and I hope the fans felt the same way.”

What was not to like?

Fans were treated to a wide-open, no-hitting style in a game that featured plenty of nifty passing plays, numerous odd-man breaks and even a penalty shot awarded to Steven Stamkos, who leads the NHL with 32 goals.

Stamkos, however, was foiled on his freebie — the second in All-Star Game history — when he attempted the same spin-around move he used to beat Carey Price in the skills competition Saturday night. Jimmy Howard didn’t bite Sunday, holding his ground and hugging the post to stop Stamkos’ penalty-shot attempt.

“I think I ran out of moves,” Stamkos said. “I tried something fancy and hoped it would work. It didn’t. But I just tried to have fun with it.”

Gaborik enjoyed himself the most, earning bragging rights over Lundqvist after the two spent the past few days playfully going back and forth on Twitter. The mock feud was over Lundqvist — Alfredsson’s assistant captain — choosing not to select Gaborik in the All-Star player draft on Thursday.

Gaborik showed just how motivated he was. After opening the scoring 4:34 in on a give-and-go with Pavel Datsyuk, Gaborik circled the net dropped to one knee and pointed his stick machine-gun style at Lundqvist while pumping his fist.

The move was identical to one done by Rangers forward Artem Anisimov earlier this season when he scored against the Tampa Bay Lightning.

This one was all in fun, said Gaborik, the 16th player to score at least 3 goals — 1 short of matching the record — in the All-Star Game. It was the first all-star hat trick since Rick Nash had 3 goals in 2008.

“It’s always tough to score on him,” Gaborik said of Lundqvist. “It’s not easy. I was fortunate to be lucky against him, but I think he’s one of the best if not the best goalie in the league.”

Tim Thomas made 18 saves in the final period, and extended his record by winning his fourth All-Star Game.

Jarome Iginla had a goal and 2 assists, and Joffrey Lupul scored twice for Team Chara.

For Team Alfredsson, Henrik Sedin had a goal and two assists, and Daniel Sedin, John Tavares, Jason Pominville and Milan Michalek had a goal and assist each.

The outcome was decided in the final period when Team Chara outscored Team Alfredsson 6-3.

With the game tied at 8-8, Chara, Marian Hossa and Corey Perry scored in a span of 1:22, beating goalie Brian Elliott on consecutive shots.

Gaborik set up Chara for the decisive goal, flipping the puck into the high slot, where Chara slapped it in.

“I was surprised that I was open, and I just put it on net,” Chara said. “It’s nice to get the win. The fans saw some goals, and then as we were going toward the end, you could see that the guys wanted to win.”

Chara paid respect to Alfredsson, saying he was rooting for his former Senators teammate to complete his hat trick.

“Alfie’s such a classy guy, obviously a big icon in Ottawa and Sweden, as well, and such a great player to represent this team,” Chara said. “So of course I was pulling for him.”