Blackhawks winger Patrick Kane came up short in the Puck Control Challenge during the NHL All-Star Skills Competition on Friday at SAP Center in San Jose, California.
Kane started the event with a 28.611-second time that stood the last skater — reigning event champion Flames winger Johnny Gaudreau. The Calgary star clocked in at 27.045 seconds to repeat in the event and take home $25,000. Gaudreau won last year at Tampa with a time of 24.650 seconds.
“(Gaudreau is) unreal,” Kane said after the event. “So good. Just naturally gifted. Not big. A good skater.
”I felt there was someone out there that would beat me,” Kane said. “I messed up on the first stick-handing part and it probably cost me a second.”
The puck control event required the eight competitors to control a puck through a series of 10 orange pucks set up in a straight line, then through a series of eight cones set in a zig-zag formation and to shoot or guide the puck through the lit rung of each of three gates before completing the event by shooting the puck into the net.
Claude Giroux (Flyers), Gabriel Landeskog (Avalanche), Elias Pettersson (Canucks), Mark Scheifele (Jets), Jeff Skinner (Sabres) and John Tavares (Maple Leafs) also competed.
Kane also participated as a shooter in the Save Streak event, which Rangers goaltender Henrik Lundqvist won with 12 consecutive stops.