Gusev’s winning goal, Panarin’s assist and Kovalchuk’s achievement: how the Russians spent the game day in the NHL

Puck Guseva

One of the main characters of the day in the NHL among Russian hockey players was New Jersey striker Nikita Gusev. The former SKA player continues to master in the overseas league and tries to benefit the team, although this is not obtained on a regular basis. This time he helped the Devils beat the formidable Washington by becoming the author of the winning puck.

On paper, the Capitals were considered a clear favorite in the confrontation with the New Jersey. The wards of Todd Rirden settled in the top of the Eastern Conference and outlined the claims for winning the Presidential Cup. Their rivals, on the contrary, had only 39 points in their assets and were among the four worst teams in the league. Only the main outsider of the season, Detroit, had less points. The fact that the meeting took place at the Capital One Arena in the US capital did not help them.

Nevertheless, the Devils made a sensation and won a major victory over the Capitals, sending five goals into their gates. The “metropolitan” were able to answer with only one accurate throw in the performance of Yakub Vrana, and their leaders did not look the best. Alexander Ovechkin finished the match with a utility score of “-2”, and under Evgeny Kuznetsov the team missed one more goal.

Gusev spent 14 minutes 20 seconds on the ice, which was enough for an accurate shot on goal by Braden Holtby, who played this match not in the best way. The goal fell at the beginning of the second period and was the result of a protracted positional attack, which Simmonds and Butcher took an active part in organizing. Wayne gave the transfer to Will, and he with a powerful wrist throw checked the goalkeeper's alertness. The Canadian did not play very confidently, and the Russian sent the puck into the net in touch.

Gusev scored the eighth puck of the season and became the third best sniper and scorer of the Devils of the season. The American is led by Kyle Palmieri with 16 goals and 15 assists, and the Russian is only five productive behind. Given the inevitable difficulties with adaptation and not the most trusting attitude on the part of former mentor John Hines, at the moment his performance can be considered quite successful.

Assistant double of Barbashev and transfer of Panarin

If four Russian hockey players took to the ice in Washington, then in St. Louis - one less. However, they were able to compensate for the difference in quantity by more successful actions and everyone scored points. Artemy Panarin and Andrey Buchnevich took part in both successful Rangers attacks, and Ivan Barbashev gave two assists and helped the current Stanley Cup winner to win the third victory in a row - 5: 2.

The account was opened already at the 94th second. Panarin won the fight for the puck and helped bring it to Philip Heatil. The Czech striker made an impressive solo pass and easily outplayed Jordan Binnington. “St. Louis” answered with three goals in a row, and in the first of them Barbashev acted as an assistant. He led to a rendezvous with Henryk Lundqvist Robert Bortuzzo, who left no chance for the Swedish veteran.

In the middle of the second period, the New York team reduced the difference in the score, and Buchnevich took part in the combination. It was completed by the same Heatil and Brett Howden. The Czech caught two Blues defenders on the counter, and the Canadian took the goalkeeper off guard. The answer came one and a half minutes later, when Barbashev and Zach Sanford mockingly dealt with Lundquitst and Tony Deangelo.

After this match, Barbashev won 19 (6 + 13) points, which allowed him to rise to eighth place in the ranking of the best scorer of St. Louis. At this rate, Ivan could well surpass his own record for points for the season in the NHL. At the moment it is 26 (14 + 12) points for performance.

As for Buchnevich and Panarin, they are doing much better. Pavel scored 25 (7 + 18) points and ranked sixth in the team for this indicator, and Artemy continued to fight for the “Art Ross Trophy” with 62 (24 + 38) points. At the moment, the race is led by Edmonton striker Connor McDavid with 25 goals and 46 passes.

The first washer Kovalchuk

For Montreal, the reporting game day has become one of the most successful in recent times. Firstly, the Canadiens got the better of Ottawa in overtime (2: 1) and broke off the protracted losing streak of eight matches. Secondly, the author of the winning throw was the team’s rookie Ilya Kovalchuk, who was the first to score a goal in the sweater of the oldest and most titled NHL club.

The main time of the meeting ended with an equal score and an additional five-minute time in 3x3 format was required to determine the winner. It is noteworthy that already at the start, Kovalchuk had a great chance to excel. The defenders of the Ottawa missed the jerk of the Russian striker, but he could not realize the impromptu bullet. Some time later, Ilya was again on the ice, unhindered, went to the goal of Markus Hogberg and sent the puck into the net with an accurate brush throw.

Thus, Kovalchuk not only brought the “Hubs” first victory since December 24, but also scored the 16th goal in overtime. By this indicator, he went to third place in the history of the NHL, catching up with Daniel Sedin and Patrick Eliash. Only Jaromir Jagr (19) and Alexander Ovechkin (23) have more.

In addition, Kovalchuk caught up with the legendary Pavel Bure in the ranking of the best snipers among Russians in the overseas league. They lit a red light 437 times behind the opponent’s goal. Often only Alexander Mogilny (473), Sergey Fedorov (483) and Alexander Ovechkin (684) differed.

After the match, the Montreal coach Claude Julien praised Kovalchuk's actions. According to him, the Russian helped partners a lot and was very disciplined.

“Kovalchuk is extremely professional. Today he made some cool programs, which led to scoring chances. He respects the duration of his shifts, our game system. Therefore, partners look at him and follow his example. It’s very easy to fall in love with him, ”the NHL press service quotes Julien.

The Russian himself admitted that he was very happy to score the first goal in the “Montreal”, but added that the main thing is the final team result.

“Of course, it’s very nice to score the first goal, especially like that. But victory is much more important, because we interrupted this series of eight defeats, ”said Kovalchuk.

Chat Out Vasilevsky

Goalkeeper Tampa Bay Andrei Vasilevsky has become one of the main characters in the confrontation with Philadelphia. The match ended with an unusual score for hockey 1-0, and the author of the only goal was Patrick Marun. The Russian player repelled all 23 shots on his goal and for the 20th time in his career left them untouched.

“I already said earlier that the shut-out is the merit of the whole team. Today, one goal was enough for us, because we played well in defense. But we need to work further, because everything can change very quickly, ”Vasilevsky admitted.

His compatriots Varlamov and Khudobin also performed quite confidently, but could not help their teams succeed. So, 30 saves of Semyon did not save the Islanders from losing to Boston (2: 3 OT), and Anton's 24 reflected throws did not prevent San Jose from beating Dallas (2: 1). It is noteworthy that for the Stars, this defeat was the first in the last seven meetings.