Flyers' Voracek ties All-Star record with six points

COLUMBUS -- When Philadelphia Flyers forward Jakub Voracek was told that he tied a record set by Mario Lemieux with six points in the 2015 Honda NHL All-Star Game at Nationwide Arena on Sunday, he wasn't impressed.

"I think it's a little different, Voracek and Lemieux, right?" Voracek said. "I had three secondary assists, so I wouldn't get too excited about that."

Voracek, the NHL's leading scorer, had three goals and three assists, even if they were secondary ones, to match the All-Star Game record set in 1988 by Lemieux. Team Toews teammate John Tavares matched a record with four goals for the winning team.

Neither Voracek nor Tavares were named MVP of the game; that honor went to Columbus Blue Jackets forward Ryan Johansen, who won a poll on Twitter.

One night earlier, Johansen beat Voracek in a similar poll to determine the winner of the Honda NHL Breakaway Challenge.

Two Twitter votes, two losses for Voracek. What does he need to do to impress the social media crowd?

"Maybe score a hat trick in an NHL game? I don't know," Voracek said. "[Johansen] deserved it the way he handled the weekend. Him and Nick Foligno were under a lot of spotlight. At the skills [Saturday] and the game [Sunday], they did a great job. It was well-deserved."

Voracek was asked what he would have done if he had won the car that goes to the MVP, and he immediately thought about Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin's pursuit of the 2015 Honda Accord that was given to the final two picks in the 2015 NHL All-Star Fantasy Draft presented by DraftKings on Friday.

"I would probably give it to Ovi," Voracek said. "He got excited at the draft, wanted the car, didn't get it. So I would probably hand him the key."

Voracek was unaware when he said it, but Honda presented Ovechkin with a car after the game Sunday, which he then donated to a special hockey program in Northern Virginia.

Still, it's the thought that counts.

Tavares wasn't overly upset about the snub either after matching a record set previously by Wayne Gretzky (1983), Lemieux (1990), Vincent Damphousse (1991), Mike Gartner (1993) and Dany Heatley (2003). In fact, it was news to him that the MVP was subject to a Twitter vote.

"I didn't even know that's how they did it, to be honest with you," Tavares said. "It's not something I worry about going into the game, trying to be the MVP. You enjoy playing with some special players and if you get some opportunities to score, you try to put them in and try to make some plays for your linemates as well."

One of the underlying storylines of All-Star Weekend was the return of New York Rangers forward Rick Nash to Columbus, where he served as Blue Jackets captain for nine years before requesting a trade in 2012. But it was also a homecoming for Voracek, who played his first three NHL seasons in Columbus before being traded to the Flyers, along with two draft picks, for Jeff Carter in 2011.

Unlike Nash, who was booed at every opportunity, Voracek was greeted warmly by the Columbus fans and was happy to be back in the city for a few days.

"I saw people I haven't seen forever," Voracek said. "Obviously I still have a lot of friends here, and even at the rink when I walk in, there's a lot of people that I know. Hockey-wise, you're around the best players in the world, so I think it's great. … The last few days have been a lot of the most fun in hockey that I've ever had."