DeBrincat Plays Major Role in Team Matthews’ All-Star Triumph

Detroit Red Wings forward Alex DeBrincat played a major role in helping the Auston Matthews Team win the NHL All-Star  tournament in Toronto.

DeBrincat contributed two goals, an assist and game-winning shootout goal in the Team Matthews 6-5 semifinal win against Jack Hughes team. DeBrincat  then added an empty-net goal and two assists in the championship win against the Connor McDavid team. That win earned the 10-person winning team $1 million to split.

DeBrincat’s six-point tournament, plus his team’s only shootout goal in the semifinal, presumably made him an MVP candidate. But that honor went to Auston Matthews who had two goals and an assist in the final game. Detroit fans have a right to be miffed, but giving the honor to a Toronto Maple Leafs player in Toronto was a popular decision in the arena. Four Maple Leafs played on the Matthews team.

The teams were chosen by the captains in a fantasy draft. Matthews chose DeBrincat, the Red Wings’ only All-Star representative, in the eighth round of the draft. He then scored Team Matthews’ first two goals in the semifinal.

Pop star Justin Bieber was the celebrity captain of the Matthews squad.,” Matthews said in an ESPN interview.

DeBrincat and the Red Wings don’t play again until next Saturday against the Vancouver Canucks. That’s a 1 p.m. game at Little Caesars Arena.