Nazem Kadri 1, Connor McDavid 0.
The Calgary Flames centre prevailed over McDavid on Friday in the semi-final round of the Honda Accuracy Shooting event at the 2023 NHL All-Star Skills in Sunrise, FL.
Despite the television announcers’ fixation on “McJesus”, as it were, Kadri managed to smash the four targets just under a second faster than his Edmonton Oilers counterpart.
In doing so, Kadri eliminated McDavid from the competition and advanced to face New York Islanders centre Brock Nelson in the finals. Nelson ultimately prevailed over Kadri in their head-to-head matchup.
After going 4-for-4 in the preliminary round of the event, McDavid also displayed perfect accuracy against Kadri. However, his deliberate approach ended up costing him against his rapid-firing opponent from Calgary.
Kadri, 32, has 19 goals and 38 points in 50 games with the Flames this season. He helped the Colorado Avalanche sweep McDavid’s Oilers in the Western Conference Final during the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs less than a year ago.
The Flames signed Kadri to a seven-year contract carrying a $7 million annual cap hit during the unrestricted free agency period last summer. He’s the Flames’ lone representative at the 2023 NHL All-Star Game, although departed Flames draft picks Johnny Gaudreau, Matthew Tkachuk, and Adam Fox are also in attendance.
Kadri will suit up alongside McDavid with Team Pacific at the 3-on-3 All-Star Game tournament on Saturday.
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