Malkin's rehabilitation and Bobrovsky's victory
The current NHL regular season is not going well for Evgeni Malkin. The Pittsburgh veteran got off to a bright start, scoring eight points in five games, completely eclipsing Alexander Ovechkin, who stalled early in the championship but then lost consistency in his play. Bright matches were followed by games in which the Russian was almost invisible on the court, and the goalless series continued to stretch out.
Thus, in December, the forward was unable to hit the enemy goal for eight games, and in January, in ten matches, he scored only once. The recent incident, which in other circumstances could be called simply funny, did not add optimism: Malkin scored the puck into his own goal in a meeting with Arizona. At that moment, the Penguins replaced the goalie with a skater, and when Kris Letang passed the ball back, Evgeniy did not understand the situation and awkwardly cut the puck into the empty net.
This incident was probably on Malkin's mind as he entered the home game against Florida. The beginning of the meeting was marked by two quick goals that the teams exchanged. Pittsburgh opened the scoring at the end of the second minute on the power play, and three more minutes later they conceded a goal due to the opponent's numerical advantage.
“Florida” managed to successfully play off the odd man in the middle of the second period: Sam Rinehart scored. At the same time, the hosts were much more active during this period and fired 15 shots at Sergei Bobrovsky’s goal, but none of them reached the goal, despite the fact that Pittsburgh was on the power play four times before the break. The Panthers received two more fines in the third twenty minutes, but their team also forgave Mike Sullivan to the guests.
“We were in the minority many times. In my opinion, the guys did a great job. They protected me when playing defensively and allowed me to see the puck. We managed to fight back well,” noted the Florida goalkeeper after the game, who stopped 35 shots.
Things were confidently heading towards defeat for the hosts, but 42 seconds before the final siren, Malkin said his weighty word. By that time, Pittsburgh had already removed the goalkeeper and unleashed a flurry of attacks on the opponent. In one of them, Sidney Crosby, having received the puck on the spot in an awkward position, did not come up with anything, but simply threw it to Malkin, who was lurking to the right of the goal. The Russian, from a zero angle, pushed the projectile into the net behind his compatriot and made the stands of the PPG Paints Arena explode with delight and forget about the ridiculous accident of the last match.
“We understand that we continue to fight for the playoffs, so we fight in every game, and I try to help the team win every game. Every goal is very important to me, but after the previous match it has special meaning,” the forward later shared.
Evgeniy could have become the main hero of this match, but Bobrovsky confidently neutralized his shot at the end of overtime. And then the domestic goalkeeper outplayed his counterpart in the shootout, saving one free throw more. The third victory in a row for Florida and the third defeat for Pittsburgh. At the end of the match, Bobrovsky was recognized as the second star, and Malkin as the third.
After the game, the home team’s coach expressed hope that the scored puck would help Malkin loosen up and perform better in the next matches.
“Gino is like that, he loves to shoot pucks. I think when he hits goal it boosts his confidence. Nobody is harder on himself than Gino. He understands that we are counting on him to attack. When he fails, no one experiences it as much as he does. And it never comes from a lack of effort. He’s a hard worker and has a very competitive spirit,” Sullivan said.
Buchnevich's saving double
The meeting between St. Louis and Seattle was of a fundamental nature, since both teams retain playoff hopes and are in close proximity to the top eight in the Western Conference. The Kraken had snapped a four-game losing streak two days earlier, while the Blues had been unbeaten for three games in a row. The previous head-to-head meeting between the teams ended in a series of shootouts, and this time they did not reveal the strongest during regular time of the match. Although by the middle of the meeting the team from Seattle was leading 3:1 and greatly surpassed the opponent in the number of shots on target.
In the opening period alone, the hosts struck 11 of them - exactly as many as the Blues did in two game periods. But statistics do not always reflect the numbers on the scoreboard. Thus, even before the second break, Robert Thomas reduced the gap by converting the majority with the participation of Pavel Buchnevich, and at the start of the third twenty minutes he provided the Russian with a return assist. The Canadian scratched the puck in the fight behind the goal and threw it to his partner, who pierced Joey Daccord with a biting wrist shot.
During the remaining regulation time, spectators saw no more goals, but they could enjoy the phenomenal play of Blues goalkeeper Jordan Binnington. During the third period, he made 14 saves, and in total for the match - 33. Largely thanks to his efforts, the game went into overtime, where Buchnevich became the main character. Together with Braydon Schenn, they organized an attack on the enemy goal, which ended with a gorgeous pass from the captain to the Russian. All that was left for Pavel to do was to send the puck into the empty net, which he did with success. Thanks to this double, the Cherepovets native became only the seventh player in Blues history to equalize the score in the third period and score the winning goal in overtime. One of those who succeeded in this before was Vladimir Tarasenko, now playing in Ottawa.
Surprisingly, after all the achievements, Buchnevich was recognized only as the second star of the match, and the first line of the rating was taken by Oliver Bjorkstrand from the losing Seattle. At the same time, the Russian was given the second star of the entire game day.
Barbashev's assist hat-trick and Georgiev's second point
Ivan Barbashev became one of the main characters in the match between Vegas and Rangers (5:2). The Russian was an active participant in most of his team's attacks and helped Jonathan Marchessault score a hat-trick, providing him with three assists. So, in the 25th minute of the meeting, Ivan made a nickel discount, where the Canadian easily dealt with Igor Shesterkin, in the 43rd minute, the Russian himself shot at goal, and his partner played on the finish, and 29 seconds before the end, Barbashev found Marchessault with a long pass from his zone and he, in a fight with the defenders, sent the puck into the empty net.
Thanks to this assisted hat-trick, the domestic forward extended his scoring streak to five games. During this period he already has 10 points (3 +7), despite the fact that he scored 29 during the entire regular season.
Barbashev was recognized as the third star of the match, naturally behind both Marchessault and goalkeeper Edin Hill, who made 36 saves. Alas, Shesterkin looked completely unimportant compared to the Canadian. The 2022 Vezina winner managed to make just 15 of 20 shots.
It’s a different matter for Alexander Georgiev, who was recognized as the third star of the meeting between Colorado and Los Angeles (5:1). The Russian missed only one goal, while repelling 26 opponent attacks, and strengthened his leadership among league goalkeepers in the number of victories. Alexander has 27 of them in 41 matches, his closest pursuer Thatcher Demko has 25.
In the middle of the second period, the domestic goalkeeper made a spectacular save with his skate when going one-on-one with Kings forward Kevin Fiala, for which he received enthusiastic responses on social networks. It is noteworthy that Georgiev’s game was remembered not only for his beautiful saves, but also for his second assist of the season. His pass began the Avalanche's attack, which ended with the first goal of the meeting scored by Logan O'Connor. Previously, the Russian recorded an assist in his statistics in the November match with Anaheim.
It is also worth noting that Colorado forward Nathan MacKinnon scored two points in this meeting and again displaced Nikita Kucherov from the leading spot in the scorer race. The Canadian is one point ahead of the Russian, and the Tampa forward will be able to regain the lead on Sunday night, playing against New Jersey.