Dylan Larkin had a hat trick in the final, Mitch Marner had three assists, and Nikita Kucherov had a goal and an assist for the Atlantic, which won the All-Star Game for the first time since the NHL adopted the current format in 2016 (lost previous three). Linus Ullmark stopped all six shots he faced in the first period, and Andrei Vasilevskiy made 11 saves in the second.
The 11 players on the Atlantic's roster will split the $1 million prize for winning the All-Star Game.
"It was a great experience, just playing with these guys and hanging out with them in the locker room," said Larkin, who finished with six points in the two games (five goals, one assist). "The Tkachuks led the way with the locker room talk how we were going to play pretty hard, and we did. It was way more fun winning it and having fun, guys scoring goals and doing what it takes. It was a great time."
The All-Stars from the Colorado Avalanche led the way offensively for the Central Division in the final. Cale Makar and Nathan MacKinnon each had a goal and two assists, and Mikko Rantanen had a goal and an assist.
Juuse Saros allowed three goals on 14 shots in the first period, and Connor Hellebuyck made seven saves in the second.
The Central, which won 6-4 against the Pacific Division in the first semifinal, has lost all three of its final appearances under the current format.
"They were playing good, humming around there," Rantanen said of the Atlantic. "You could see the game ramped up a little bit. We had a little break, so we were a little bit cold, but it ramps up always. A million is a lot of money. You could tell guys were trying harder."
Tkachuk gave the Atlantic a 1-0 lead just 37 seconds into the first period, scoring on a wraparound.
Kucherov made it 2-0 at 4:05, chipping the puck over Saros off a pass from Marner on a 2-on-1. The goal came 11 seconds after MacKinnon hit the crossbar on a breakaway.
Larkin extended the lead to 3-0 at 9:17. He carried the puck down the middle of the zone, shielded it from Josh Morrissey on his backhand, and cut back to his forehand before shooting blocker side on Saros.
Larkin scored again to make it 4-0 at 2:03 of the second. He took a lofted pass from Marner from behind the net and scored five-hole on Hellebuyck from the high slot.
"We wanted to win right away," David Pastrnak said. "Obviously, the first game is a little tougher, you sit around a little bit, long day, and at the same time, you don't want to get hurt, so you take it easy in the beginning. But the second game you are warmed up and it wasn't as much waiting around, so you can speed up a little bit. Definitely when you get to the final you try to win and make it special."
