McDavid wins fastest NHL skater title

LOS ANGELES: Edmonton Oilers speedster Connor McDavid on Friday won his third straight fastest skater title at the NHL all-star game’s skill night which included a female competitor for the first time.

Canada’s McDavid charged around the rink in just 13.37 seconds to eclipse Buffalo Sabres forward Jack Eichel, who finished in 13.58 seconds at the SAP Center arena in San Jose, California. Kendall Coyne, who plays on the American women’s national team, was invited to take part and finished seventh out of eight skaters, beating out Arizona Coyotes forward Clayton Keller Coyne cruised to a time of 14.34 seconds while Keller, who has 11 goals and 35 points with the Coyotes this season, finished in 14.52.

“I thought she was unbelievable,” McDavid said. “She was absolutely flying out there.”

Last year, Coyne’s teammate Hilary Knight did the accuracy shooting drill, but her impressive time wasn’t included in the official results.

Johnny Gaudreau defended his title in the puck control contest with a time of 27.045, and Sweden’s Henrik Lundqvist made 12 straight saves to win the goaltender competition.