The latest installment of NHL All-Star weekend got underway on Friday evening with the All-Star Skills Competition taking place.
Edmonton Oilers center Connor McDavid won the All-Star Skills Competition with 25 points in the overall standings. McDavid won the Fastest Skater, Stick Handling, Accuracy Shooting, and Obstacle Course events throughout the night.
McDavid found himself trailing by the time his attempt came up in the Obstacle Course. However, the Oilers star recorded 10 points to win the event, and just edged out Colorado Avalanche defenseman Cale Makar at the top of the leaderboard. McDavid had a time of 40.606 seconds to take home the crown.
Makar finished the All-Star Skills Competition with 20 points, while Toronto Maple Leafs star Auston Matthews came in third place overall with 18 points to his credit.
McDavid began the night by winning the Fastest Skater event as he flew through the course with a time of 13.408. The Oilers center just defeated New York Islanders star Mathew Barzal, who had a time of 13.519 seconds.
McDavid also turned in a time of 25.755 seconds to win the Stick Handling event as he topped Barzal yet again, who had a time of 26.929 seconds.
The most impressive moment of the night turned out to be McDavid's performance in the Accuracy Shooting event. The Oilers star smashed his four targets on just four attempts for a time of 9.168 seconds to win the event.
Makar was able to hang around in the overall standings for the majority of the night. One of the reasons for that was that the Avalanche defenseman won the Hardest Shot event with a top shot of 102.56 m.p.h. In doing so, Makar became the first Avalanche/Quebec Nordiques player to win the Hardest Shot event.
In the One-on-One event, Avalanche goaltender Alexandar Georgiev became a richer man. Georgiev made nine saves on McDavid and won $100,000 due to the fact that he recorded the most saves out of any of the goalies that participated in the event.
The 2024 NHL All-Star Game will take center stage on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET.