Savard's late goal lifts East

ATLANTA -- Marc Savard made Atlanta feel like home all over again.

With hockey luminaries such as Sidney Crosby sitting home, Savard stepped up. The Boston Bruins forward scored the winning goal with 20.9 seconds left Sunday night to lift the Eastern Conference to an 8-7 win over the West.

Real early it looked as though it would be a night for the West when Rick Nash scored the first of his 3 goals a record-quick 12 seconds into the game. But the East took charge with 5 straight, including 2 by Alex Ovechkin -- Crosby's rival for top player in the NHL.

"We came out a bit slow and they took it to us," Nash said.

In the end, after the West erased a 5-1 deficit to go ahead 7-6, Savard -- a former star for the host Atlanta Thrashers -- brought the local fans out of their seats to cheer for him again.

There was much talk about who wouldn't be at the All-Star game. Crosby, the defending NHL MVP and scoring champion, pulled out due to a sprained ankle, and starting goalies Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo both withdrew for personal reasons.

That left it wide open for others to grab the attention. Of the 42 players, 15 made their All-Star debuts.

Ovechkin made an early bid, followed by Nash, and even goalie Evgeni Nabokov. In the end it was Savard, known way more for passing the puck than shooting it. The play-making forward, second in the NHL in assists, buried the puck behind first-timer Manny Legace just when it seemed overtime was inevitable.

Carolina's Eric Staal got the East even at 7 with 7:25 left by scoring his second of the night, then helped set up Savard for the winner. His three points were enough to skate off with the MVP award.

"I'll take it," Staal said.

It sure didn't look as though it would be an Eastern Conference day when Nash set an All-Star game record with the first goal of the 15th All-Star hat trick.

You can forgive New York Islanders goalie Rick DiPietro for that one as he was answering a television interviewer's question about the hip injury he sustained the night before in the skills competition as Nash raced his way.

Staal answered Nash's early haymaker with one of his own 1:20 into the game to tie it at 1 and set the East's offense in motion.