Columbus, OH (SportsNetwork.com) - John Tavares recorded four goals and Jakub Voracek followed with three scores and three assists, as Team Toews walked away with a 17-12 decision over Team Foligno in the 2015 All-Star Game from Nationwide Arena, the highest-scoring mid-season event in league history.
"Yeah, I'll take it," Tavares said of his offensive explosion. "Yes, it's pretty cool."
The 2001 event in Denver held the previous mark of 26 combined goals in a 14-12 North American victory over the World, but the new record was set when Jonathan Toews put his own team ahead by a 16-11 count with 5:39 remaining in the contest.
Toews and Patrice Bergeron each ended up with a goal and four helpers, with Filip Forsberg, Rick Nash and Tyler Seguin adding two strikes apiece. Corey Crawford -- the last of three goaltenders to give up four goals, stopped 14- of-18 shots in the third period to earn the win.
Ryan Johansen from Team Foligno picked up the MVP award, pacing his side with two goals and as many assists. Patrick Kane and Steven Stamkos added two goals and one assist apiece, while Claude Giroux totaled three points on a tally and two helpers.
Marc-Andre Fleury took the loss, charged with seven goals on 16 shots in the second period.
"So proud of our fans for showing the world that hockey is a big deal here in Columbus," said Blue Jackets forward Nick Foligno, despite his captaining the losing side on his home rink.
It was Brian Elliott in net for the third, and he obliged the winning side by giving up six scores to turn a three-goal deficit into a five-goal loss.
Nash scored at 1:29 to make it 12-8, then Kane followed at 2:15 before Tavares and Voracek lit the lamp in a span of 1:17 to put Team Toews ahead by a 14-9 count with 7 1/2 minutes gone in the third.
Bobby Ryan pumped one home for Team Foligno at 8:23 before Seguin's shot slipped home 63 seconds later. Kane scored again and his team got within four, then Toews finally helped out his side at 14:21 and Forsberg made his contribution for a 17-11 score with 3:20 to play.
Brent Burns rounded out the scoring at 18:20.
The first period featured 33 shots and eight combined goals, leaving both sides tied at 4-4.
Radim Vrbata opened the scoring for Team Toews at 3:09 before Ryan Getzlaf equalized at 6:33 for Team Foligno and Voracek beat Carey Price with a high shot with 9:51 gone to make it 2-1. Hometown selection Johansen tallied just 1:14 later for a tie, but Bergeron put his squad back on top at 12:17.
Kevin Shattenkirk and Johansen added markers in a span of 1:36 for a 4-3 game and Tavares finished the period on his lamp-lighter in the final 57 seconds.
"Obviously feel bad for the goalies with that many goals," Stamkos said. "The fans love it, and it looked like they were having fun. It was great to see this city. They had been waiting a couple years for this game. They did it right."
Ryan Suter put Toews' picks back on top just 24 seconds into the second period, but Giroux struck only eight seconds later for Foligno's choices. Seguin followed at 1:22, then Stamkos evened things at 2:27.
Nash then opened up a clip of four straight for Team Toews, on a marker with 4:08 played. Forsberg connected at 5:56, Tavares scored again with 8:16 gone to make it 9-6 and Voracek picked up another red light at 9:22 for a four-goal spread.
Team Foligno closed out the middle frame with scores by Foligno and Stamkos ahead of Tavares' hat-trick tally with one minute left for an 11-8 score.
"It was a slow period. It felt like forever," Fleury said. "I think after 10 minutes, it was six goals in already. I was like, that's a tough one. "You want to have some fun, but when you're a goalie, it's frustrating when it goes in. I laughed for a few, but a few of them, I cringed a little bit."
Game Notes
Team Toews also snapped the previous single-game record for goals by one side, eclipsing the 16 scored by the Wales Conference in a 16-6 decision over the Campbell Conference at Montreal in 1993 ... Despite not winning the MVP, Voracek tied Mario Lemieux's all-time record for points in one All-Star Game, with Lemieux doing it in 1988 at St. Louis and pacing the Wales in a 6-5 overtime triumph against the Campbell ... Tavares joined Lemieux, Wayne Gretzky, Vincent Damphousse, Mike Gartner and Dany Heatley as the only players to score at least four goals in a mid-season classic ... Marian Gaborik was the last player to strike three times in an All-Star contest, three years ago ... The last time hat tricks were recorded by two players in an All-Star Game occurred in 1997, when Mark Recchi (East) and Owen Nolan (West) did so ... Roberto Luongo gave up four goals on 17 shots, while Jaroslav Halak allowed the same number on 10 shots for the winning side ... Price stopped 11 shots while Elliott made only nine saves.
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