Russian Novelty

Leave it to Scotty Bowman to put some excitement into one of the dullest NHL All-Star games in years.

For nearly 55 minutes, Bowman watched his World All-Stars play a passionless game against Pat Quinn’s North American team Saturday afternoon before he decided to make a change.

Bowman got into the Olympic spirit and played his five Russian players together with Alexei Zhitnik of the Ukraine. They sparked the World team to a come-from-behind 8-5 victory before a sellout Staples Center crowd of 18,118.

Sergei Fedorov, who plays for Bowman’s Detroit Red Wings, tied the score, 5-5, with a goal 16:59 into the third period and Alexei Zhamnov, who plays for Chicago, added an insurance goal with 48 seconds remaining for the World All-Stars, who won for the second time in five years since the NHL switched to its current format in 1998.

“I told [World team assistant and Chicago Coach] Brian [Sutter], that if it gets down to five minutes to go and if the game is playing the same, let’s do it,” Bowman said. “I knew Sergei could play the wing and Brian said he could put Alex [Zhamnov] on the other wing with [New York Islander] Alexei [Yashin] at center. We had the two defensemen [Washington’s Sergei Gonchar and Zhitnik] together the whole game, and [with Tampa Bay’s Nikolai Khabibulin] at goalie, we had somewhat of a Russian six.”

The key to the World team’s comeback was the play of Khabibulin, who could have been selected the game’s most valuable player after becoming the fourth goaltender in All-Star history to record a scoreless period with 20 saves in the third. Instead, North America’s Eric Daze of Chicago, who had two goals and one assist, won MVP honors.

Compared to last season’s 14-12 game, scoring was almost nonexistent. There were 89 shots on goal, but the puck found the net only 13 times, twice with empty nets.

“It was good that it wasn’t that much of a high-scoring game,” said Mighty Duck winger Paul Kariya, who played for the North American team. “At least there was some defense played.”

North America Coach Pat Quinn, also coach of Team Canada, tested a possible Olympic line combination by teaming Kariya, Pittsburgh’s Mario Lemieux and Colorado’s Joe Sakic.

Kariya was pleased with the result, which included a textbook two-man break that led to Lemieux’s only goal of the game in the second period.

“We had some pretty good chemistry ... but our timing was a little off on the finish end of it,” Kariya said. “We joked around a little during the game, but we’ll see how it turns out.”

Lemieux moved into a tie with Wayne Gretzky for most All-Star goals with 13.

Saturday’s game got off to a sluggish start. With 11 players making their All-Star debuts, play was even more subdued than in most All-Star games. Even after San Jose’s Vincent Damphousse scored the game’s opening goal for North America 35 seconds into the first period, there wasn’t too much skating done from either team.

That was until Philadelphia’s Jeremy Roenick, who played for the North American team, blasted Zhitnik with a shoulder check against the corner wall. Roenick’s hit put some life into the game and the North American team responded with its second goal moments later.

Damphousse was again in the middle of the action, making a clever cross-ice pass to a streaking Ed Jovanovski, who beat Detroit goaltender Dominik Hasek to give North America a 2-0 lead 10:06 into the first period.

Colorado’s Patrick Roy appeared headed for a first-period shutout for North America following a couple of nice stops on Yashin, but San Jose’s Teemu Selanne ended the World team’s scoreless drought 13:10 into the period when he picked up a loose puck and slid it between Roy’s legs to cut North America’s lead to 2-1.

After Daze scored on a sweet backhand to give North America a 3-1 edge, Selanne scored his second goal of the game, thanks to a creative assist from Carolina’s Sami Kapanen, to send the World team into the first intermission down, 3-2.

North America regained its two-goal lead early in the second period when Lemieux and Kariya teamed for their goal against Edmonton’s Tommy Salo. Vancouver’s Markus Naslund ripped a shot past Montreal’s Jose Theodore to cut North America’s lead to 4-3 at 5:26.

With a 5-3 lead after two periods, the North American team fell apart once the World All-Stars turned up the pressure. Former Duck Espen Knutsen brought the World team within a goal with a score 7:52 into the period before the Russian unit took over.

“It was fun to play with my Russian buddies,” Fedorov said. “It was an interesting experience because we play the same style of play, which is with the puck and cycling. It feels good to play a way we haven’t played in a long time. I know that I gain lots of confidence when I play that way.”

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WORLD TEAM 8, NORTH AMERICAN TEAM 5

Game Breakdown

MVP-- ERIC DAZE

The Chicago Blackhawk scored two goals and had an assist in a losing effort for the North American All-Stars.

GOALS

WORLD--Teemu Selanne 2, Markus Naslund 2, Espen Knutsen, Sergei Fedorov, Alexei Zhamnov, Sami Kapanen. NORTH AMERICA--Eric Daze 2, Vincent Damphousse, Ed Jovanovski, Mario Lemieux.

GOALIES

WORLD--Dominik Hasek (13 shots-10 saves), Tommy Salo (17-15), Nikolai Khabibulin (20-20). NORTH AMERICA--Patrick Roy (14-12), Jose Theodore (9-8), Sean Burke (14-11).

KINGS IN GAME

Ziggy Palffy had two shots on goal for the World team in 14:41 of ice time. Jaroslav Modry had three shots on goal, one blocked shot for the World team in 19:22.

DUCK IN GAME

Paul Kariya had an assist and three shots on goal for the North American team in 15:41.