ATLANTA - Marc Savard made Atlanta feel like home all over again.
With hockey luminaries such as Sidney Crosby sitting at home, Savard stepped on up. The Boston Bruins forward scored the winning goal with 20.9 seconds left Sunday night to lift the Eastern Conference to an 8-7 win over the West.
Real early it looked as though it would be a night for the West when Rick Nash scored the first of his three goals a record-quick 12 seconds into the game. But the East took charge with five straight, including two by Alex Ovechkin - Crosby's rival for top player in the NHL.
Yet in the end, after the West erased a 5-1 deficit to go ahead 7-6, Savard - a former star for the host Atlanta Thrashers - brought the local fans out of their seats to cheer for him again.
Leading up to the game, there was much talk about who wouldn't be at the All-Star game. Crosby, the defending MVP and scoring champion pulled out due to a sprained ankle, and starting goalies Martin Brodeur and Roberto Luongo both withdrew for personal reasons.
That left it wide open for many others to grab the attention. Of the 42 players, 15 made their All-Star debuts.
Ovechkin made an early bid, followed by Nash, and even goalie Evgeni Nabokov. In the end it was Savard, known way more for passing the puck than shooting it. The play-making forward, second in the NHL in assists, buried the puck behind first-timer Manny Legace just when it seemed overtime was inevitable.
Carolina's Eric Staal got the East even at 7 with 7:25 left by scoring his second of the night, then helped set up Savard for the winner. His three points were enough to skate off with the MVP award.
Savard spent parts of three seasons in Atlanta before leaving for Boston as a free agent before last season. The crowd was rooting for current Thrashers star Ilya Kovalchuk to win it, but happily settled for a former favorite.
