A woman competed in the NHL All-Star Skills competition for the first time ever on Friday.

Kendall Coyne Schofield of the U.S. Women’s National Team replaced Nathan MacKinnon of the Colorado Avalanche in the Fastest Skater competition after the 2018 Hart Trophy finalist withdrew from the event due to a foot ailment.

Kendall Coyne Schofield , arguably the speediest player in women’s hockey, replaced Nathan MacKinnon in the Fastest Skater competition. (Getty) More

Coyne, who captured gold with the United States at the 2018 PyeongChang Olympics, was joined in the event by some stiff competition, including the likes of Cam Atkinson (Columbus Blue Jackets), Mathew Barzal (New York Islanders), Jack Eichel (Buffalo Sabres), Miro Heiskanen (Dallas Stars), Clayton Keller (Arizona Coyotes), Elias Pettersson (Vancouver Canucks), and some guy named Connor McDavid of the Edmonton Oilers.

Fresh off a lengthy flight — with no warmup — Coyne posted a 14.226 in Thursday’s practice run, according to ESPN’s Emily Kaplan. For reference, that time would’ve beaten Josh Bailey, Noah Hanifin and Zach Werenski in last year’s competition, which Brayden Point won with a time of 13.579 seconds.

Leading off the event on Friday night in San Jose, Coyne put her sharp, powerful stride on display and posted a time of 14.346 — good enough to beat Keller and finish seventh. Had she competed in the event in 1992 (Sergei Fedorov), 1999 (Peter Bondra) or 2008 (Shawn Horcoff), Coyne would have finished in first place. A truly remarkable showing from the American star.

Olympic Gold Medalist @KendallCoyne kicked off the Fastest Skater competition in style! pic.twitter.com/4Ug3dpsuja — NHL on NBC (@NHLonNBCSports) January 26, 2019





Several other high-profile women’s players took part in this year’s Skills competition, with Renata Fast (Canada) demonstrating the Accuracy Shooting contest, Brianna Decker (USA) demonstrating the Premier Passer contest and Rebecca Johnston (Canada) demonstrating the Puck Control contest.

Connor McDavid won the Fastest Skater event for a record third consecutive year.

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