The double and Malkin’s miracle pass, Kucherov’s saving goal, 41 saves by Vasilevsky: Russian hockey players scored in NHL matches

Two goals and a “blind” pass by Malkin

For the Pittsburgh Penguins, the home game against Minnesota Wild has become special. One of the leaders of the team, Sidney Crosby, returned to duty after a hernia removal operation, due to which he missed 28 matches in a row. At the post of Pittsburgh's main scorer, the Canadian was successfully replaced by Eugene Malkin, who scored six points in his last five games. Together, they became even more dangerous force for rivals.

Already in the eighth minute, at the first draw of the majority, Crosby burst into an alien zone and gave the puck to Malkin. The Russian effortlessly traveled around the defenders and made a pass to the right to Brian Rast, and he returned the puck to his partner already on an empty spot. This goal brought Malkin to 72nd place in the list of top scorers in NHL history, allowing him to break away from Henry Richard.

A brilliant understanding between Malkin and Rast was also shown half an hour later, when the score was already 2-0 in favor of the hosts. The Russian striker took the puck on his blue line and headed for someone else's goal. Although he faced the only obstacle in the face of the Minnesota goalkeeper Dwan Dubnik, he suddenly decided to make a pass from behind. This “blind” broadcast immediately found the addressee in the person of Rast. The American, without thinking twice, ended the attack with a strong throw.

“I was hoping there was someone there, but I felt that Rast was behind,” Malkin commented on his action to the NHL official website.

A minute later, Eugene again realized the majority, this time cool aiming from the left circle of the face-off. Assisted the Russian and Crosby, and defender Chris Lethang, for whom this transfer was the 400th in the NHL. Malkin, on the other hand, finished the match with 1049 points in the asset for his entire career. The next goal in the list of top scorers for the striker will be Canadian Denis Potvin, who is still three points ahead of the Pittsburgh player.

In the third period, it was time for Crosby's recital. The captain of the “Penguins” first scored after a pass lying on his back Jared McCann, and after 39 seconds scored a fourth point for the match, making a brilliant pass from behind the gate to Dominic Simon. Pittsburgh eventually won with a score of 7: 3, winning the fourth match in a row.

Salvation from Kucherov and Vasilevsky

The Tampa Bay Lightning match against the Los Angeles Kings was not so rich in goals, but there was much more intrigue in it. By the seventh minute, the Californians took the lead 2-0, but they were stopped by Alexander Volkov. The 22-year-old Tampa striker organized an attack on his team and eventually became the author of an assist pass to Alex Killorn, thanks to which he recorded his first point in the NHL.

Steven Stamkos equalized by the 12th minute, and after that for two periods goalkeepers became the main characters on the ice. Andrei Vasilevsky and Jonathan Quick did not miss a single shot, although both teams attacked a lot. The first to surrender after all was the Russian goalkeeper. After Volkov’s second removal in a row, Nikolai Prokhorkin threw the puck off the blue line and Dustin Brown put Los Angeles ahead in the 53rd minute.

Lightning was saved by Nikita Kucherov. The whole match, like the previous two, he was unlucky in the attack. But 75 seconds before the end of normal time, the attacker sent a puck into the nine net of someone else after a perfect throw-in. The game went into overtime, and after five minutes into a series of shootouts. This time, Kucherov did not realize his attempt, but everything was provided for by Vasilevsky in this regard. His three saves allowed Tampa to win. In total, the Russian goalkeeper, taking into account a series of shootouts, averted the threat from his goal 41 times.

Gusev series and Zadorov ricochet

Forward “New Jersey Devils” Nikita Gusev in the game with “Toronto” extended his productive series to four matches. He launched a counterattack, starting beautifully with his back to the gates of others, and on the move gave the puck to Blake Coleman, who scored a double. True, by that time, “New Jersey” was “burning” with a score of 1: 6, and there were eight minutes to play, so Gusev’s efforts were not enough, although he was one of the best on the throws and dangerous moments.

Nikita Zadorov in the match with the Dallas Stars interrupted the 37-match series without goals. In this, the defender of the Colorado Avalanche was helped by defender Miro Heiskanen, who substituted the club for the transfer of the Russian and brought the puck into his own net. The owners of the ice in such a curious way opened an account, but the Dallas had a whole match ahead to recoup.

The Texans did this largely thanks to Denis Guryanov, who reduced the gap in the middle of the meeting. For the Russian striker, this goal was mostly the second in the last three games. True, Guryanov could not improve statistics further - Dallas head coach Rick Bowness unexpectedly put him on the bench. Instead of Guryanov, his partners won the victory in overtime.