Rinne, Subban Take Second at Skills; Value Time with All-Stars

Second place in their respective challenges is where All-Stars Pekka Rinne and P.K. Subban saw their names at the end of the 2018 NHL All-Star Skills Competition, but flashes of brilliance and a few laughs along the way captured the spirit of the annual three-hour event showcasing the NHL's best.
Rinne made 13 consecutive saves in the all-new Save Streak to finish just behind Golden Knights goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury's 14, while Subban hit 98.7 mph on the gun in Hardest Shot competition behind Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin's 101.3 mph.

Lucky No. 13:
"I wasn't surprised he made all those saves, were you?" P.K. Subban fired back when asked to analyze Pekka Rinne's performance in Save Streak.
"No."
"Yeah, exactly."
Rinne came oh-so close to becoming the inaugural champion of the new NHL Save Streak Competition by posting 13 consecutive saves, which stood as the session's best until Marc-Andre Fleury of the Golden Knights hit 14.
The Predators goaltender was tasked with facing all nine of the Metropolitan Division All-Star skaters under normal shootout rules. Every consecutive save he made added up to his overall score. Allow a goal? Back to zero.

"At first I thought [I was going to win], but then once Marc-Andre started getting up there to 11 and more, I was like, 'oh boy,'" Rinne said.
Rinne looked dialed in from the first shot and stopped all nine shooters he faced. He then surged into the lead in the competition as he started stopping Metro shooters twice - making 13 consecutive saves to start. But then he was forced to just laugh as he saw his lead slowly slip away.

"It was funny," said Rinne, who kept looking up at the scoreboard as Fleury's save streak swelled. "Once he got up there, eight, nine, 10, up there, it was just fun to watch. I don't think it's that much of a [fierce] competition. You always want to stop all the players, but I mean, it wasn't necessarily a competition between me and him. It was cool to see him go all the way with 14 saves, that was pretty impressive."
Rinne says the best part of the night isn't winning an individual event, however, it's more about getting a chance to connect with some of the finest hockey players in the world. Plus, it's in a much more relaxed setting than the stress of the regular season or playoffs.
"It's great. You don't get to do that too often, and obviously you don't know all the guys that well but it's really nice to get together," Rinne said. "For once, you're not playing against them, you're here as friends and celebrating your seasons, so it's awesome."

Hardest Shot Quest:
Alexander Ovechkin was ultimately the only shooter to break the century mark, but P.K. Subban wasn't far behind.
Subban finished second to Ovechkin in the ever-popular Hardest Shot competition, with the Preds blueliner hitting 98.7 mph on his second and final attempt in the contest. The Captain of the Central Division, Subban bested fellow All-Stars John Klingberg, Steven Stamkos and Brent Burns to come just short of Ovechkin's total.
Saturday's event was Subban's second career participation in Hardest Shot; he hit 102.3 mph on the radar gun back in 2016 in Nashville.

A rare All-Star event without the normal Hardest Shot powerhouses, Shea Weber and Zdeno Chara, did Subban think he had a chance to take home the top prize?
"No, not really, I don't really come into these things thinking I'm going to win something," Subban said. "I just want to come in and not embarrass myself. Hopefully, I didn't do that today. I would have liked to maybe [get the win]. Once you get up there, you're thinking, 'maybe I have a chance.' It's tough. I wanted to crack 100 mph. I think in Nashville when we did it we were able to skate from farther out so a lot of the scores were a little bit higher. It's a little bit tougher when you can only take three steps. That's when guys like Chara, Shea and Ovi, who are bigger guys, can get a little bit more leverage behind it. But I'm happy with my shot."

Up Next:
Sunday brings the final day of the 2018 All-Star Weekend and along with it the red carpet and the third-straight year of the 3-on-3 tournament.
The red carpet kicks off at noon (CT), while the All-Star Game (televised on NBC) faces off at 2:30 p.m.