Kuznetsov gets last, Wilson gets booed and Kaprizov pays tribute to Ovechkin originally appeared on NBC Sports Washington
Evgeny Kuznetsov and Tom Wilson suited up for the NHL All-Star Skills Competition on Friday. Here’s a look at how they did and some other notes from the day.
The Caps are popular
One of the first events of the All-Star festivities is a media availability where all players are made available to the media. This event includes media members from across the continent and always leads to a variety of questions and some interesting answers.
As it turns out both Capitals representatives were highly regarded by their All-Star teammates.
Kirill Kaprizov has an 11-year-old cat that he named “Kuzy” after watching the Capitals’ Evgeny Kuznetsov win gold with Russia at the 2011 World Juniors.
“I really loved the way Kuzy played so we were trying to think of a name for the cat and I just said, ‘Let’s go with Kuzy.'”
— Sarah McLellan (@sarah__mclellan) February 4, 2022
#NJDevils Jack Hughes said Tom Wilson is the player he’s looking forward to playing with the most at All-Star weekend.
“I know he’s a late add, but it would be fun to get to know him and play with him. I’m pretty excited about that.”
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) February 4, 2022
So I told Wilson that Hughes said that:
“That’s awesome. It’s pretty cool, he’s such a fun kid to watch out there. He’s got a ton of skill…Obviously that’s pretty nice of him to say.”
— Mollie Walker (@MollieeWalkerr) February 4, 2022
“He’s just sneaky guy that does a lot of really impressive things out there.” @MapleLeafs‘ Auston Matthews talks about how he is looking forward to getting to know Evgeny Kuznetsov at #NHLAllStar: pic.twitter.com/GtKgiceIOG
— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) February 4, 2022
Kuznetsov enjoys himself despite last-place finish in Fastest Skater
Every Caps fan knows just how smooth a skater Kuznetsov is so seeing him included in the fastest skater competition was no surprise.
No one appeared to have a clean skate in the competition and most players stumbled a bit on their lap. Kuznetsov knocked over a cone with his stick and took great care not to repeat it on the following turn. Concern over the cone may have slowed him down a bit as he ended in the last place with a time of 14.559 seconds.
Despite the finish, it still looks like Kuznetsov enjoyed himself.
everybody wins pic.twitter.com/kzInhcLAh5
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 5, 2022
St. Louis Blues forward Jordan Kyrou won the even with a time of 13.550 seconds, beating out the heavy favorite, Connor McDavid, who finished at 13.690.
Wilson booed throughout Hardest Shot competition
As Wilson was introduced for the Hardest Shot competition, he was met with a healthy chorus of boos from the crowd, even more than they gave to Timo Meier who plays for Vegas-rival San Jose.
A sample of the boos for Tom Wilson pic.twitter.com/8Mf4x4Nhs4
— Taylor Haase (@TaylorHaasePGH) February 5, 2022
The boos returned as Wilson set up for his shot and grew louder as he approached the puck up until he let the show away. His first shot went for 96.8 MPH. His second attempt was 101.1 MPH, good for a third-place finish.
After his shot, the mics on the broadcast picked up Wilson saying, “Broke 100. I’ll take it.”
Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Victor Hedman won the event with a shot of 103.2 MPH.
Kaprizov pays tribute to Ovechkin
A positive COVID test for Alex Ovechkin meant he could not participate in the All-Star festivities in Las Vegas. Minnesota Wild forward Kirill Kaprizov, however, made sure he was there in spirit.
The Breakaway Challenge is typically the most anticipated event for each skills competition. The first shooter on Friday was Kaprizov, but before he took his shot, he took off his Wild jersey to reveal a red Ovechkin Capitals jersey underneath. He sold the whole imitation and even did the “hot stick” celebration after scoring.
everything about this was gr8 pic.twitter.com/BrP0UdET3J
— Washington Capitals (@Capitals) February 5, 2022
You can read more about Kaprizov’s tribute here.
Despite how cool Kaprizov’s tribute was, he was quickly overshadowed by Anaheim Ducks forward Trevor Zegras. He donned a dodgeball uniform and made his breakaway attempt blindfolded which was pretty incredible. He didn’t technically win because one of the guest judges, Jon Hamm, was doing a bit to help out his friend Alex Pietrangelo, but Zegras stole the show.
