Goal Kuznetsova, 38 saves Samsonov and the new club Kovalchuk: how the Russians spent a game day in the NHL

Russian three stars

On January 3, two matches of the regular season were held in the NHL, and in both games Russian hockey players were in the lead roles, especially in the meeting of Carolina Hurricanes and Washington Capitals, which gave a lot of emotions to the fans.

Ilya Samsonov stood at the gates of Washington, who was destined to become the main character of the match and take another step towards the NHL record. The 22-year-old goalkeeper was very useful to his team, when in the first period the owners of the ice fell upon the guests with all their might. Samsonov repelled 18 shots, and then made eight more saves in the second third of the match, without missing a single goal during that time.

Especially important was the rescue of Samsonov in the 25th minute when Dagi Hamilton rolled out to him in private in the minority. The Russian did not allow the defender to play the previously abandoned puck, and after 25 seconds Evgeni Kuznetsov successfully put the club under the throw of John Carlson, making the score 2-0 in favor of “Washington”.

“When Samsonov stopped that exit, and we immediately scored, it gave us strength,” Kuznetsov said after the match to the NHL press service.

In the third period, “Carolina” was still able to upset the impenetrable Russian goalkeeper, and Andrei Svechnikov helped the hosts in this, although in the first 40 minutes he was remembered only as a very strange episode for hockey. After the push of Brendan Laipsik, the Russian dropped the stick, and the Washington striker Nick Daoud for some reason picked it up and threw it to the fans. For this, he received a disciplinary penalty of 10 minutes.

After the second break, Svechnikov twice distributed the programs to the partners, who led to goals and helped to reduce the backlog to 2-4. For this, the Russian striker was subsequently recognized as the second star of the match, although Svechnikov deserved praise for another achievement - he already scored 40 points in half of the regular season. At the age of 20, only one Hurricanes player Ron Francis managed to do this.

But from the defeat, “Carolina” still could not be saved. The hosts managed to score another goal thanks to Ryan Dzingel, but she became the last and recorded the score 4: 3 in favor of “Washington”. The winning goal was drawn from the transfer of the same Kuznetsov - he sent the puck to the throw of Jacob Vrana. The Russian striker was eventually recognized as the third star of the match.

The first undisputed was Samsonov, who made 38 saves during the match, while the Russians missed two of the three goals in the minority. This victory allowed Samsonov to achieve one very significant achievement - he has already won eight of his first away matches in the NHL. He had to win two more victories on the road to repeat the record of Brent Johnson, set at the junction of two millennia.

Alexander Ovechkin did not have the most outstanding match in Washington, but the team still benefited. One of his inaccurate shots on goal of “Carolina” accidentally turned out to be a pass to Lars Eller, who scored in the majority at the beginning of the third period. Ovechkin scored points in the fifth match in a row and, just like Samsonov, made good progress in personal statistics of away matches. The Russian striker rose to third place in the score among the left-most strikers - now Ovechkin has 608 points, and to the leading Brandan Shenahan he is only 48.

The second victory of the Russian goalkeeper

Another Russian goalkeeper, usually content with the role of a substitute, successfully left in the starting lineup. Anton Khudobin brought the “Dallas Stars” victory over the “Detroit Red Wings” with a score of 4: 1. The 33-year-old goalkeeper continues to insure Ben Bishop this season, but at the same time plays as a true team leader.

Khudobin missed only one goal at the very beginning of the match, unable to cope with the throw of Dylan Larkin in the fourth minute. But the rest of the time the Russian made no mistakes and made 22 saves, despite the fact that for ten minutes Dallas played in the minority. In the last 14 games, Khudobin conceded an average of 1.93 goals and repelled 94% of shots - in both indicators he is ahead of the best goalkeeper of the season Tristan Jerry from the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Among the Dallas field players who scored four goals, there were no Russians. Alexander Radulov interrupted his nine-game scoring series, which included a winning goal in the Winter Classic. Worse, the 2: 1 striker broke the rules in the attack. When this happened for the last time, Radulov was removed from the squad for one match. However, since then a new head coach has appeared at Dallas, and Rick Bowness may have a different opinion about possible sanctions.

Denis Guryanov was left without scored points, but at the same time he played more useful than Radulov. He distracted the defenders while Joe Pavelsky implemented a two-in-one attack. The Russian was worthy of a point for his direct participation in the goal, but he still did not touch the puck.

Kovalchuk in Canada

Outside of hockey ice, another important event for Russian fans occurred. Ilya Kovalchuk, with whom the Los Angeles Kings broke the contract, found a new club. He will continue the season at Montreal Canadiens. Once upon a time, a Canadian club tried to dodge a young Russian star and after 19 years still got an attacker.

Kovalchuk previously refused the option to continue his career at home - he still cherishes the dream of winning the Stanley Cup, and after his second return to Russia, it is almost impossible. He had to stay in the NHL and accept any options in order to leave at least some chances. Large clubs were not interested in the services of Kovalchuk, mindful of his very unsuccessful experience in Los Angeles. And then, unexpectedly, an option came up with Montreal, which, in the last turn, would be associated with the Russian players among the fans.

It so happened that both the player and the club are in a position in which their cooperation has proved beneficial. “Canadiens” struggling to get into the playoffs, while having as many as five attackers in the infirmary. The club urgently needs any forward available on the market, and even Kovalchuk with its inexpressive statistics, but with a lot of experience in playing the majority, they were urgently needed.

Thanks to the desire of the Russians to stay in the NHL, “Montreal” also saved a lot. Kovalchuk signed a bilateral contract for only $ 700 thousand with the opportunity to go to the farm club, where the Olympic champion will receive another ten times less. Given that half the season is behind, Kovalchuk can get completely crumbs by the standards of both the NHL and the KHL, but at the same time he should have a game practice that is very useful for improving his image overseas. In addition, over a year and a half at Los Angeles, Kovalchuk managed to earn $ 14 million.