If All-Star Games are supposed to be lighter, more tepid affairs, someone forgot to tell that to the players at Monday night’s AHL All-Star Challenge. Close games, big saves, big goals and actual back-checking – really! – showed that at this stage in so many of these players careers, there’s no sense in not trying.

In the end, the Pacific All-Stars won the All-Star Challenge tournament, besting Team Atlantic in a six-minute sprint final that came right down to the wire.

Abbotsford Canucks standout Arshdeep Bains, signed by the Vancouver Canucks as an undrafted free agent two years ago, scored with 13 seconds remaining in regulation to help secure the victory for Team Pacific. The goal was his fifth point of the day, which led all players in the event.

Arshdeep Bains of the @abbycanucks is the hero for Team Pacific in the #AHLAllStarChallenge! He scores the unassisted game-winner in the dying seconds to give the home All-Stars the championship. Bains was also named MVP of the night! 🏆 pic.twitter.com/UfaFkeecpQ

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) February 6, 2024

The AHL All-Star setup is a good one, with seven total games played in a three-on-three format. The games are short and the benches are long enough where players don’t have to get worn out. 

So when they’re on the ice, they hustle and they sure made a ton of plays.

The goalies were certainly not going easy on their skater counterparts. As a result, only two of the seven games were decided by more than one goal and three went into shootouts. There was actual drama in the games and based on the reactions by the players, there was a real want-to-win attitude among everybody.

Among the best moments of the night was Yaroslav Askarov making one of the best saves of the entire AHL season just seconds before his team managed to score a goal, only enhancing the highlight moment from Askarov.

WHAT!? How about this wild sequence at the @TheAHL All-Star Challenge? 😳😮

Yaroslav Askarov (@mkeadmirals) makes an incredible save at one end and his team gets a crazy goal at the other. What's happening to the goalies at the other end of the ice? #AHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/RbtG6MnOgd

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) February 6, 2024

There was also a bit of serendipity as hometown hero Shakir Mukhamadullin scored a clutch goal in the dying seconds of Pacific’s semifinal game with their goalie pulled for the extra attacker. Mukhamadullin was clearly the crowd favorite and every chance he got was met with a load cheer, with the big pop coming when he scored such a clutch goal.

Who doesn't love a little drama???

Shakir Mukhamadullin, after his grand entrance yesterday in front of his home fans, scores a clutch goal tonight for the Pacific All-Stars with their goalie pulled to tie the game! @sjbarracuda #AHLAllStar pic.twitter.com/FznXX4eOpm

— FloHockey (@FloHockey) February 6, 2024

The game was also special for Team Pacific’s Dustin Wolf, who is a native of Gilroy, California, a 35-minute drive south from San Jose. Though he had an uncharacteristic blunder in the opening game of the night, it hurts a lot less when it’s in an all-star game. In the end, he made a game-saving stop on Atlantic’s final gasp in the championship game and won the All-Star Challenge for the second straight year with another great performance.

It's really hard to put on an entertaining All-Star event. You need buy-in from the players, you need the fans to be active and you need a few moments to materialize that make for a memorable night.

Based on the way the players looked after the game, the smiles on the fan’s faces and the number of clips circulating widely across social media, mission accomplished by the AHL.

Stay tuned for more from San Jose across FloHockey's social media platforms.

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