All-Star starters come from 4 teams

NEW YORK - Only Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin prevented the Montreal Canadiens from an All-Star sweep.

The NHL announced the starting lineups yesterday for its All-Star Game, and the host Canadiens filled four of the six slots for the Eastern Conference.

Crosby (1,713,021) and Malkin (1.5 million), linemates with the defending East champion Pittsburgh Penguins, both broke the record for most votes and claimed two forward spots. They will be joined by Montreal's Alex Kovalev.

At one point during the voting process, the Canadiens led all six positions.

In the West, only the Anaheim Ducks and Chicago Blackhawks are represented in the starting lineups.

Montreal's Andrei Markov and Mike Komisarek will start on defense for the East, and teammate Carey Price will be in goal on home ice at Bell Centre Jan. 25.

Another pair of teammates dominated the voting for the West as 20-year-olds Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews of the Blackhawks were the leading vote-getters. Ryan Getzlaf of the Ducks will be the third forward. Brian Campbell, Chicago's key free agent acquisition last summer, finished first among defensemen. He will team with Ducks captain Scott Niedermayer on the blue line in front of Anaheim goalie Jean-Sebastien Giguere, a Montreal native.

The Stanley Cup champion Red Wings were shut out of the West starting lineup, and the East-leading Bruins also won't have a starter.

Most of the record 34 million votes were cast online, but more than 15 million were registered by text messaging. In the final five days of voting, 4.3 million votes were recorded by text.