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  Sunday, Feb. 6 2:30pm ET
Bure brothers combine for 4 goals, 3 assists
 
  RECAP | BOX SCORE

TORONTO (AP) -- All things considered, the Bure brothers should have been in Philadelphia.

There was plenty of brotherly love Sunday at the Air Canada Centre as Pavel Bure scored three times -- set up twice by younger sibling Valeri -- and added an assist, giving the World team a 9-4 victory over North America in the NHL's 50th All-Star game.

"I'm his biggest fan," said Valeri Bure, who has not played often with his brother since they were Red Army teammates. "It's easy to play with him. Ninety-nine percent of the time, give him the puck he scores a goal."

With those family feeds, Pavel, who has an NHL-best 37 goals with the Florida Panthers, captured the game's Most Valuable Player award. The Bures became the 12th set of brothers to appear in the same game, and eighth to play on the same team.

"Obviously, it is a great honor to be MVP of the All-Star game," said the Russian Rocket, who scored the 11th All-Star hat trick. "I was playing with my brother. He set up two goals for me and he helped me to get MVP, so it is just a special night."

This was the first win for the World team since the NHL adopted this format in 1998.

Washington goalie Olaf Kolzig also had a stellar outing, posting a third-period shutout as his team put four shots past Mike Richter of the New York Rangers. The last period saw a 5-4 World lead become a rout.

"It's a shame, in the third we could have made it a little more of a game," said Richter, who made 11 saves and was victimized by Bure's third goal 9:31 into the period.

Kolzig, who stopped all eight shots he faced, was the only goalie in six not to allow a goal.

"We got some great goaltending," said Detroit's Scotty Bowman, coach of the World team, who was behind the bench for a record fifth decade. "He (Kolzig) made some tough saves and really distinguished himself out there."

But it was clearly a day for the Bure family.

There was a sense all weekend that it would turn out that way. Pavel and Valeri's mother, Tatiana, came in from Moscow. Valeri's wife, actress Candace Cameron, who is expecting the couple's second child any day now, made the trip from Los Angeles.

"It was wonderful," Cameron said. "I couldn't be happier with the outcome of the game."

Pavel didn't waste time in the second period as he scored his first goal 33 seconds in, giving the World team a 4-2 lead. Just over eight minutes later, Viktor Kozlov -- Pavel's Florida teammate -- and Valeri set up goal No. 2.

Kozlov had three assists.

"That was the one combination we had in mind to play, because we thought they would have a chemistry together," Bowman said. "I think we were right."

That chemistry dates to a time when Pavel and Valeri, who plays for the Calgary Flames, skated together on a frozen Russian pond, dreaming of being together in the NHL.

"We had a frozen lake near our building, and sometimes instead of going to school, we would go play hockey," Pavel said.

Philadelphia's Eric Lindros felt well enough to play after missing Saturday night's SuperSkills competition because of the flu, but didn't make the score sheet.

The Flyers captain cited missed opportunities as a key factor in the loss.

New game, same rating
NEW YORK -- In the first game of ABC's NHL contract, the overnight rating for the All-Star game was unchanged from last year.

The World All-Stars' 9-4 win over the North Americans at Toronto on Sunday got a 2.6 overnight rating and 6 share, Nielsen Media Research said Monday.

Last year's game, televised by Fox, got a 2.6 overnight rating and 5 share.

While Sunday's game was opposite an NBA game on NBC, last year's game did not have competition from pro basketball because of the lockout that delayed the start of the NBA season.

The overnight rating is based on figures from 47 large markets. National ratings will not be available until Thursday.

The rating is the percentage of television households tuned to a telecast. The share is the percentage tuned in among those televisions on at the time.

"There was a seven-minute stretch in the first period where we were getting 2-on-1s and 3-on-1s and we were trying to pass it through feet and it was going off sticks," said Lindros, who played on a line with Flyers teammates John LeClair and Mark Recchi.

"You should fire the puck and head to the net. Hey, live and learn."

Curtis Joseph made 17 first-period saves, but was overshadowed by his counterpart Roman Turek of St. Louis who was sensational in a surprise start.

Turek, who made 11 saves, wasn't even named to the team until Dominik Hasek pulled out with an injury.

Tony Amonte and Ray Whitney matched Bure's second-period goals. Tommy Salo turned away three North American breakaways during the frame.

Boston defenseman Ray Bourque updated his resume in the All-Star record book. His 18th consecutive appearance matched recently retired Wayne Gretzky, who did not play in the All-Star game for the first time since 1978.

Bourque picked up his 13th career All-Star assist on Amonte's goal at 12:14. It broke a five-way tie for the top spot, but Mark Messier matched it by setting up Whitney 4:54 later.

Pavol Demitra and Jaromir Jagr scored to give the World a 2-0 lead. Joe Sakic and Jeremy Roenick sandwiched North America tallies around Dimitri Yushkevich's goal against Joseph, his Maple Leafs teammate.

Demitra, of the St. Louis Blues, scored again to start the barrage against Richter at 8:52 of the third. Miroslav Satan and Radek Bonk finished it off.
 


ALSO SEE
NHL Scoreboard

World All-Stars Clubhouse

North American All-Stars Clubhouse


RECAPS

AUDIO/VIDEO
video
 Hall of Famers get an emotional All-Star salute.
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 The Pens' Jaromir Jagr gets the second goal for the World All-Stars.
avi: 522 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 Pavel Bure of the World All-Stars rifles one past Martin Brodeur.
avi: 382 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 Bure burns North America's defense for another goal.
avi: 716 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1

 Dimitri Yushevich beats North American goaltender Curtis Joseph for the score.
avi: 647 k
RealVideo: 56.6 | ISDN | T1