John Scott, an Unlikely N.H.L. All-Star, Becomes the Game’s Equally Unlikely M.V.P. (Published 2016) (2024)

NASHVILLE — Fans sent John Scott to the N.H.L. All-Star Game by voting him captain of the Pacific Division.

Then they made him tournament most valuable player.

Scott scored twice during the league’s new three-on-three All-Star tournament, bringing cheers from fans and smiles from teammates, and was named M.V.P. as a write-in candidate after leading the Pacific to a 1-0 win in the championship on Sunday night.

Scott, a 6-foot-8 forward with five goals in 285 career N.H.L. games, was not listed among the three M.V.P. candidates for a Twitter vote late in the final game, but fans took it upon themselves to select him again.

“I’m sure he won over a lot of people and got even more fans,” Chicago forward Patrick Kane said of Scott.

Fans at Bridgestone Arena booed the M.V.P. options and yelled for Scott. Teammates lifted him on their shoulders while fans chanted “M.V.P.!” Then Scott was announced as the winner and presented with a sport utility vehicle. Scott then posed with his teammates behind their $1 million check.

“I think it’s the best possible outcome, right?” Scott said. “We had a good weekend.”

He added, “We left winning, so it was great.”

The N.H.L. changed the format after last year’s All-Star Game featured 92 shots and a combined 29 goals for the biggest offensive display in the showcase’s 60-year history. This year, the All-Stars combined for 116 shots and 23 goals.

Sunday’s event looked much more like the hockey the league plays the rest of the season. The inspiration was the three-on-three overtime approach for a tournament pitting the four divisions against one another in 20-minute games. The winners of the first two games advanced to a third-period championship.

“I broke a better sweat than last year for sure,” said Philadelphia Flyers forward Claude Giroux, who played for the Metropolitan Division.

Goalies split the work with a 10-minute portion each and actually got the chance to stop shots rather than be targets in the net. The Panthers’ Roberto Luongo and the Kings’ Jonathan Quick each made great saves to keep the first 10 minutes of the championship game scoreless, and Quick stopped Florida forward Jaromir Jagr in the final seconds before intermission.

Scott, the personable career enforcer who is now a minor leaguer, stole the show.

A fan campaign made Scott captain of the Pacific Division before the Arizona Coyotes traded him Jan. 15 to Montreal, which assigned him to the American Hockey League.

Scott will return to Newfoundland in Canada with a lot of prizes after fans took it upon themselves to vote him over the three finalists offered by the league’s hockey operations: Luongo; Calgary forward Johnny Gaudreau; and Edmonton forward Taylor Hall.

Anaheim forward Corey Perry scored the lone goal in the championship at 13 minutes 38 seconds.

Pittsburgh defenseman Kris Letang blocked a shot, and Montreal defenseman P. K. Subban sprawled out on the ice to help protect a lead in the final seconds of the Atlantic Division’s 4-3 win over the Metropolitan. Tampa Bay goalie Ben Bishop stopped shots by Letang and his Penguins teammate Evgeni Malkin inside the final minute to preserve the win.

Goalies also got into the offensive action, taking advantage of more room on the ice. Corey Schneider of the Devils, Nashville’s Pekka Rinne, Bishop and Anaheim’s John Gibson each had assists.

Jagr, the captain of the Atlantic Division, who turns 44 on Feb. 15, skated in his 10th All-Star Game. He became the third-oldest player to take part in the event, behind Gordie Howe (51 in 1980) and Doug Harvey (44 in 1969).

Shea Weber, the Predators’ captain; Luongo; and Kane each made their fifth career appearances.

Jagr scored his fifth career goal in this event to help the Atlantic beat the Metropolitan. The Pacific beat the powerful Central, 9-6, to advance.