THN.com/podcast. From The Hockey News Podcast: Breaking Down the Bo Horvat Blockbuster Image [https://thehockeynews.com/.image/c_fit,h_600,w_600/MTk1NjU0NDgwNDg0NjQwNjUx/usatsi_19924018.jpg] Matthew Tkachuk said he looked forward to playing host at the NHL's all-star weekend. He ended up being the life of the party. Tkachuk finished with seven points across two games, lifting the Atlantic Division to wins over the Metropolitan and Central Divisions while earning MVP honors at the 2023 NHL All-Star Game. The Florida Panthers winger scored a hat trick and two assists in the first contest, a 10-6 win over the Metropolitan Division. He added a goal and an assist in the second, a 7-5 win over the Central before a sold-out home crowd of 19,250 at FLA Live Arena. "I really didn't care about anything else except representing my team," Tkachuk said. "It's a big honor to be one of the representatives along with 'Barky' (Florida's Aleksander Barkov), to be the host city. "It's a big deal," Tkachuk added. "No pressure with it, but we definitely felt that we had to do our part throughout the weekend to show what a great place (Florida is) and what great fans we have. I know we both enjoyed everything we did. It was just an awesome weekend all around." Tkachuk's younger brother, Brady of the Ottawa Senators, finished with a goal and four assists in the two games. "I'm more happy with the win," Brady Tkachuk said. "I'd like to think I (carried Matthew) at times. But no, we just had a good time with it. You want to put on a show in front of the home fans. It was an an amazing experience playing with him and 'Barky.' I had a lot of fun." The pair became the fourth set of brothers to factor on the same goal at an All-Star Game, and the first since Daniel and Henrik Sedin in 2012. Former Panthers Pavel and Valeri Bure accomplished the feat at the 2000 NHL All-Star Game, as did Maurice and Henri Richard in 1956. The brothers set the tone early in the second contest, combining for a goal 37 seconds into the game. After they failed to convert on a give-and-go, Matthew Tkachuk collected the rebound behind the net and scored on a wraparound. Matthew Tkachuk picked up his second point while on the bench about three-and-a-half minutes later. He handed off the puck to Toronto's Mitch Marner before heading off on a line change. Marner exchanged passes with Nikita Kucherov before the Tampa Bay winger put a backhand pass over the blocker of Nashville's Juuse Saros for a 2-0 Atlantic lead. "I think the week and the weekend finally caught up to us in the second half of the second game," Matthew Tkachuk said. "We did not have our chemistry or our legs there." Barkov, who skated alongside the brothers, registered four assists. "It was actually fun. I was not expecting that," Barkov joked. "They're two great guys. On the bench, on the ice, you never felt any nerves because we were having fun and enjoying every second. All my passes, I just gave it to them. I don't think I touched the puck in the offensive zone at all." As the Tkachuks faded down the stretch, Detroit's Dylan Larkin stepped up. The Red Wings captain extended the lead with 43 seconds remaining in the first half against the Central, then made it 4-0 just 2:03 into the second. Larkin finished with five goals and an assist in two games. "We told him to step it up," Boston Bruins goaltender Linus Ullmark said of Larkin. "We wanted him to play all 10 minutes at the end with the way he was playing defense and all of that. He was all over the place. We had a lot of contenders for MVP." Ullmark, meanwhile, held the Central scoreless on six shots. "The guys were trying very hard (on defense)," said Ullmark, who picked up an assist in the first contest. "They had the sticks in the right lanes. It was almost like a normal game, which makes it a little bit easier to read (plays), but then you're lucky at times as well." Avalanche winger Mikko Rantanen scored on Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy at 4:09 for the Central, but his squad could not overcome the deep deficit. Both teams exchanged the next six goals over a span of 2:25. "The Tkachuks led the way from the beginning," Larkin said. "They wanted to win. We won the first game and had a quick turnaround, so we were just trying to get rested up and ready to go." In the first game alone against the Metropolitan Division, the brothers combined for nine points. Matthew Tkachuk finished with a hat trick and a pair of assists, while Brady Tkachuk posted a goal and three assists. After the teams combined for seven goals in the first half, the Metropolitan Division opened the second with tallies by Gaudreau, Crosby and Ovechkin in a span of two minutes. But Matthew Tkachuk sparked the Atlantic's rally of six unanswered goals with his second of the game 3:49 into the half. Montreal's Nick Suzuki put the team ahead for good, 7-6, at 5:51. Tampa Bay's Andrei Vasilevskiy was particularly strong in the first contest, stopping 10 of 13 shots in the second half of the victory. He slid across the crease to make a pad save on Ovechkin in the final minute before Larkin added an empty-net insurance goal to make it 9-6. Blue Jackets forward Johnny Gaudreau recorded a hat trick for the Metropolitan, with linemate Artemi Panarin of the Rangers picking up assists on each tally. Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby scored twice and tallied an assist. Both goals were set up by Washington's Alexander Ovechkin, who also scored in the loss. St. Louis winger Vladimir Tarasenko recorded the eventual game-winner and three assists in the Central Division's 6-4 win over Pacific Division in the afternoon's first game. The Blues winger finished off a cross-crease pass by the Coyotes' Clayton Keller 5:32 into the second half to give the Central a 5-2 lead. Vancouver's Elias Pettersson scored twice for the Pacific Division. San Jose defenseman Erik Karlsson registered a goal and an assist. Los Angeles' Kevin Fiala finished with a pair of assists. The Tkachuks, meanwhile, still have one more night together before the family goes their separate ways. "We had an unreal time with it," Matthew Tkachuk said. "I'm excited for tonight, to hang out with them and have that last night where we can all celebrate together."
