Five points of Panarin, Ovechkin's double and Barbashev's goal: how Russian hockey players became the main stars of the day in the NHL

Reaching Panarin

One of the main events of the gaming day in the NHL was the New York derby. On paper, the Islanders hockey players, who took fourth place in the Eastern Conference standings and were 12 points ahead of the Rangers counterpart, were the favorite of the confrontation. Nevertheless, Artemy Panarin and the company did not leave a chance to the opponents, and the Russian striker himself became the protagonist of the match and took a direct part in the five goals scored by the “blue shirts”. It is not surprising that such successes helped him get the title of the main star of the day.

However, the debut of the match for the nominal hosts turned out to be a failure. Already at the 18th second, David Quinn's wards were catching up when Jordan Eberle outplayed Alexander Georgiev in close combat. At the same time, Panarin was present on the ice, but was too far from the scene and could not interfere with anything. And two minutes later, viewers witnessed one of the most one-sided fights in recent times, when Ross Johnston struck about 30 blows to the head and body of Michael Haley.

This shake went to the Rangers for the benefit. The hosts scored six goals in a row, and Panarin took part in the first five of them. First of all, he demonstrated his skills as an organizer of attacks, acting three times as an assistant. First, Esper Fast played in finishing off after an insidious attack by Artemy, then Chris Krider converted his long throw into a goal. The goal, performed by Adam Fox, was more likely the result of the actions of the defender himself, but the Russian also contributed.

On this note, the second period of the meeting ended, and in the third, Panarin showed that he himself was capable of acting as a sniper. Already at the 48th second of the final segment, he kept in mind Michael Dahl Colle's mistake, after which he left no chance for compatriot Semyon Varlamov. And eight minutes later, he closed the transfer of Ryan Strom and brought the score to a major. In the remaining time, the teams once lit a red light behind each other's gates, which did not prevent the Rangers from winning a landslide victory in the derby.

This success helped Panarin break out into third place in the scorers rating. At the moment, he has 67 (26 + 41) points, only the star duo from "Edmonton" in the person of Leon Dreisaitl (70) and Connor McDeadyd (71) have more. It is worth noting that Artemy scored 52 points in equal compositions, which no representative of the North American League can boast of. In second place for this indicator is the Colorado striker Nathan McKinnon (42).

Among other things, Panarin again inscribed his name in the history of one of the oldest NHL clubs. Forward scored more than three points in a fourth home game in a row and repeated Andy Bathgate's achievement. It is noteworthy that the Canadian set this record in the 1961/62 season and remained one of a kind for almost 60 years.

“What impresses me the most is that Panarin does not risk in vain and does not shy away from protective duties. And this despite the fact that I played with many upscale players. He is also a very good forward of the defensive plan, which makes his level of performance even more impressive, ”NHL defender Jacob Trubu quotes the NHL press service.

Sniper achievements Ovechkin

“Washington” took advantage of the misfire of “Boston” and again came out on top in the Eastern Conference. The hockey players of the capital on their ice prevailed over opponents from Carolina, and Alexander Ovechkin became the main character. The captain burst out with two goals and interrupted the Capitals series of two defeats in a row, which allowed him to keep Panarin company on the list of stars of the game of the day.

It is noteworthy that all the goals were abandoned in the first period. Already in the 12th minute Ovechkin organized an attack on the opponent’s goal, which he himself completed with an accurate throw. And a little later, he once again demonstrated that he is one of the best specialists in the game in the majority in history. Alexander took a favorite position in the “personal office” (left circle of the face-off) and with a powerful click left Mrazek out of work, setting the final score of the match.

Ovechkin scored the 28th goal of the season and again broke into third place in the dispute of snipers. He walked around Nathan McKinnon and Jack Aikel and is now second only to Oston Matthews and David Pastarnyak. The Canadian asset has 31 exact shots, the Czech - five more.

For the leader of the Capitals, this puck became 686 for his career, which allowed him to reach 11th place in the ranking of snipers in the history of the National Hockey League. He beat the legendary Finnish striker Teemu Selanne, and in the near future can not only surpass Mario Lemieux, but also become only the eighth player with 700 goals in the NHL.

“Incredible names. When this happens, it will be a historic moment. But I will not concentrate on this, ”admitted Ovechkin.

Selanne himself did not stand aside and congratulated the captain of "Washington" on yet another achievement.

“You will throw many more goals, so keep up the good work and enjoy it,” the Finn said.

In addition, Ovechkin scored 109 victorious shots over his career and caught up with Brendan Shenahan in this respect. More often, only Brett Hull brought the success to their teams and the same Selanne (both 110), Phil Esposito (118), Gordy Howe (121) and Jaromir Jagr (135).

Other Russian “legionnaires” of “Washington” could not score effective actions, but goalkeeper Ilya Samsonov showed himself very well. For the first time this season, he left the goal intact, reflecting 23 shots.

“Samsonov plays very confidently. He works hard in training, like Holtby. I think that we have the best pair of goalkeepers in the league, ”said Ovechkin.

The success of Barbashev

St. Louis won a fourth consecutive victory and retained first place not only in the standings of the Western Conference, but also in the league. On his ice, Craig Beryube’s wards sorted out Anaheim, and Ivan Barbashev became the author of one of the goals.

The Russian joined the scorer list in the middle of the final period, and the goal was preceded by the monstrous mistake of the Dax hockey players. Defender Hampus Lindholm and goalkeeper John Gibson clashed behind their own goal, and Ivan was the quickest. He picked up the puck and sent it to the net. The Blues won with a score of 4: 1.

Barbashev scored a goal for the seventh time of the season and extended the scoring series to two meetings. With 20 points, he takes 15th place among Russian NHL hockey players and the total score is inferior to Dmitry Orlov from Washington. Higher are Tampa Bay defender Mikhail Sergachev and Toronto striker Ilya Mikheev. The assets of both are 23 points.