LOS ANGELES — It was basically the perfect weekend for Wayne Simmonds.
He returned , as a first-time All-Star, to the city that drafted him into the NHL, and the fans here showed him appreciation every time his name was called. He acquitted himself nicely in Saturday’s All-Star Skills Competition, scoring a beauty tight-angle one-timer in the Skills Challenge and scoring into the five hole from center ice in the new Four Line Challenge.
And then in Sunday’s All-Star Game, he scored three goals, including the game winner in the final against the Pacific Division, and was the first Flyer to be named MVP since Reggie Leach in 1980.