Sports: They shoot, they score! And score! And ...

They shoot, they score! And score! And ...

The NHL All-Star Game sets a record for goals as North America outlasts the World 14-12. Tampa Bay's Fredrik Modin makes his impact with four assists.

By DAMIAN CRISTODERO

DENVER -- If it were up to Joe Sakic, the NHL would have more games like Sunday's 51st All-Star game.

Goaltenders, defensemen and, especially, coaches would go prematurely gray. But the Avalanche center and North American All-Star couldn't remember a better party than North America's record-setting 14-12 victory over the World All-Stars before 18,646 at the Pepsi Center.

"It was great," Sakic said. "We can never have enough games like this. Obviously, you get a group like this All-Star event, everybody wants to show what they can do.

"These games were made for offense, and it was a good day's play."

So good that only four of 36 skaters (two on each team) failed to get a goal or assist.

The 26 goals shattered the game record by four. The teams twice tied the record for combined goals in a period by getting 10 in the second and third. North America outshot the World 53-45.

"Pond hockey," said Lightning left wing and World All-Star Fredrik Modin, who had four assists.

Said North American defenseman Ray Bourque: "You just hope to be lucky and come off without being scored on."

It didn't happen often as a lack of hitting and gritty defense gave offenses room they haven't seen since before the neutral zone trap.

Six players -- North America's Theo Fleury, Simon Gagne, Luc Robitaille and Tony Amonte, and the World's Mats Sundin and Sergei Fedorov -- scored twice. North America's Bill Guerin had three goals and two assists and was named MVP.

Guerin's line was on fire and included Chicago's Amonte, who also had two assists, and Doug Weight, who had a goal and three assists. That's 13 points for a line that may be reunited on the United States' 2002 Olympic team.

"Hopefully, all are going to be members of the team," Guerin said. "When you're involved in something like that, you're never disappointed in who your linemates are, but it sure would be fun."

It also was fun for Boston's Guerin to play with Weight, his former teammate with the Oilers. As for the MVP award, Guerin, who also won Saturday's fastest skater competition, said, "It's pretty hard to believe right now."

"I was thrilled to be picked to come and play this weekend, but I just wanted to relax, enjoy being around the guys and have fun," he said. "The trophy and all that stuff is icing on the cake."

That doesn't even begin to describe Gagne's day.

The Flyers' 20-year-old second-year center figured it couldn't get much better than Saturday, when he met Pittsburgh's Mario Lemieux. Then, he found out he would play on Lemieux's line. Then, Lemieux and Brett Hull assisted on Gagne's first goal.

Gagne also scored the winner unassisted on a breakaway with 2:53 remaining to give North America a 13-11 lead.

Any goals, though, were secondary to meeting and playing with Lemieux, who contributed a goal, his 12th as an All-Star, on a game-high nine shots.

Gagne was especially impressed that Lemieux took time to introduce himself.

"It was the first time I saw him," Gagne said. "It was like he was a gentleman. He's the best player in the world and he took time to introduce himself. It was a great experience."

"That's just the way I felt in 1985 in my first All-Star game in Calgary," Lemieux said. "It's just something you have to go through. We told him before the game to relax and enjoy it and seize the moment. We wanted him to score a goal and remember this All-Star game, and it turned out pretty good."

The game was pretty good for Sweden's six World All-Stars -- Modin, Sundin, Colorado's Peter Forsberg, Detroit's Nicklas Lidstrom, San Jose's Marcus Ragnarsson and Vancouver's Markus Naslund -- who had five goals and 11 assists.

"It was wide open right from the start," Forsberg said. "Twelve goals usually wins the game. But I guess 14 is a lot too."