Canes’ Faulk named to All-Star roster

Justin Faulk is an NHL All-Star for the second straight season.

The defenseman, who leads the Carolina Hurricanes in points, was selected Wednesday to appear in the new All-Star three-on-three format this year in Nashville, Tenn. The All-Star Game will be held Jan. 31.

Faulk, 23, will be making his second All-Star appearance after representing the Hurricanes last year in Columbus, Ohio.

The South St. Paul, Minn., native has 14 goals this season, second among NHL defensemen behind Brent Burns of the San Jose Sharks (16), and is tied with forward Patrick Kane of the Chicago Blackhawks for the NHL lead with 12 power-play goals.

The NHL format this year has squads selected for each NHL division consisting of six forwards, three defensemen and two goalies. Faulk was selected to the Metropolitan Division team captained by Alexander Ovechkin of the Washington Capitals.

Also on the Metro team are defensemen Ryan McDonagh of the New York Rangers and Kris Letang of the Pittsburgh Penguins; forwards Nicklas Backstrom of the Caps, Evgeni Malkin of the Pens, John Tavares of the New York Islanders, Claude Giroux of the Philadelphia Flyers and Brandon Saad of the Columbus Blue Jackets. The goalies are Braden Holtby of the Caps and Cory Schneider of the New Jersey Devils.

The All-Star Game has been changed to a three-on-three tournament. The Metropolitan Division will face the Atlantic Division in one 20-minute semifinal, and the Central and Pacific divisions will play in the other semifinal. The two winners meet in a championship game.

Faulk, a member of the 2014 U.S. Olympic team, set career highs last season with 15 goals, 34 assists and 49 points. He had 14 goals, 16 assists and 30 points through the Canes’ first 40 games this season.

This story was originally published January 6, 2016 at 12:01 PM with the headline "Canes’ Faulk named to All-Star roster."