Wings' Larkin sets record as fastest skater

NASHVILLE - Like the Flyers' Shayne Gostisbehere, Detroit's Dylan Larkin has taken the NHL by storm - quicker than most people expected.

The Red Wings' speedy center has played in 48 games and is third in goals (15), assists (18), and points (33) among NHL rookies, and he leads first-year players with a plus-24 rating.

He also is an all-star. At 19.

"It's pretty cool just to be able to introduce myself and for them to recognize me, almost have a relationship with them," he said of his fellow all-stars. "My goal is to come out of this with some friends so when we go to some different cities I can see some familiar faces and be able to say hello."

Larkin won Saturday night's fastest-skater competition, setting an all-star record by taking just 13.17 seconds to finish the event. The old record was set by Mike Gartner in 1996 - before Larkin was born.

The youngest all-star and the lone rookie, Larkin will play for the Atlantic Division in the all-star tournament Sunday. He is the Red Wings' first rookie to play in an All-Star Game since Steve Yzerman in 1984.

Larkin, who is 24 years younger than Florida all-star Jaromir Jagr, is averaging 0.69 points per game. Gostisbehere, recalled from the Phantoms on Nov. 14, has 22 points in 29 games and is third among NHL rookies, averaging 0.76 points per contest.

Skills competition. The players took Saturday's skills competition so seriously that Brent Burns was dressed as Chewbacca, P.K. Subban pretended he was Jagr (circa 1990s), and goalie Pekka Rinne used country singer Dierks Bentley's guitar instead of a stick.

Subban wore a long black wig and Jagr jersey as he scored in the breakaway challenge - and then delivered a trademark Jagr salute.

The fans voted Jagr, uh, Subban, the winner.

The Eastern Conference won the overall competition, 29-12, and selected to play in the first 20-minute, three-on-three game in Sunday's tournament (Metropolitan vs. Atlantic) at 5 p.m., which will be followed by the Pacific-Central matchup at 6 p.m. The winners will meet in the 7 p.m. final.

The Flyers' Claude Giroux excelled in the accuracy-shooting contest (won by the Islanders' John Tavares), the skills-challenge relay, and shootout competition. Nashville's Shea Weber won the hardest-shot competition (108.1 m.p.h.).

Breakaways. Los Angeles will host the 2017 all-star tournament. . . . The winning team Sunday will split $1 million among its 11 players. . . . Giroux visited the set of the TV show Nashville and met with some of the cast members.

- Sam Carchidi