Buffalo Sabres center Zemgus Girgensons, left, of Latvia, tries to move around Ottawa Senators goaltender Robin Lehner, of Sweden, during the team shootout of an NHL hockey game Monday, Dec. 15, 2014, in Buffalo, N.Y. Buffalo won 5-4. (AP Photo/Gary Wiepert)
December 16, 2014 - 12:59 PM
BUFFALO, N.Y. - Latvia is in love with Buffalo Sabres forward Zemgus Girgensons, who remains the runaway leader in the NHL All-Star game fan vote.
The second-year player had nearly 1.1 million votes Tuesday. That's nearly double the total of each of the next two forwards: Chicago's Patrick Kane (586,310) and Jonathan Toews (573,198).
Girgensons' total is more than half the 2 million population of his native Latvia, where the NHL says he's attracted more than 80 per cent of his votes.
The only limit on voting is fans can use the same device no more than 10 times a day.
The 2012 first-round draft pick leads Buffalo with nine goals and is second with 17 points.
Dallas forward Tyler Seguin leads the NHL with 23 goals and 38 points, but ranks ninth among forwards with 214,183 votes.
Voting ends Jan. 1. The game will be played at Columbus, Ohio, on Jan. 25.
News from © The Associated Press, 2014