Kucherov’s double, Malkin’s two assists and Vasilevsky’s achievement: Russian hockey players excelled in NHL matches

The defeat in Winnipeg

The winner of the past regular season of the NHL Tampa Bay continues to demonstrate a phenomenal form. In the last 15 meetings, Florida hockey players won 13 victories and traveled from a playoff challenger to one of the leaders of the Eastern Conference. At the moment they are in fourth place and are only seven points behind Alexander Ovechkin and the company.

The next two points were obtained in the match with Winnipeg. After an insulting defeat from the Minnesota, John Cooper's wards were over-motivated and did not leave stone unturned from opponents. At the gates of the Jets were seven goals, three of which turned out to be involved in the Russian players Lightning. Nikita Kucherov scored twice, and Mikhail Sergachev was marked by another assists. At the same time, the opponents were able to answer with only one accurate throw. The blatant mistake of Eric Chernak was taken by Jack Roslovik.

Before a long break for the NHL All-Star Game, the Tampa coach decided to shake up the links and again released his strongest three in the face of Stephen Stamkos, Braden Point and Nikita Kucherov. The result was not long in coming. By the 28th minute, this trio had two scoring attacks on Connor Hellebach’s goal, both of which were completed by a Russian.

Moreover, the first goal turned out to be especially mocking. Andrew Kopp made a grave mistake in front and allowed the guests to carry out a quick counterattack. Point made the transfer through half the area, but Stemkos and Kucherov did not leave a chance for the gate guard.

Russian striker Lightning gave a successful cut and chalked up five goals in his last three meetings. He has 22 abandoned goals, which allowed him to catch up with Mark Shayfli and reach 12th place in the list of the best snipers of the league in the 2019/20 season. On the first line is the striker of “Boston” David Pastrnyak with 36 accurate throws. Only two points behind him are the forward of “Toronto” Oston Matthews, another three less in the track record of Alexander Ovechkin.

It is noteworthy that in the ranking of scorers Kucherov also takes 12th place. But after a phenomenal performance last season, the current state of affairs can hardly please Nikita. He currently has 54 points in 47 matches, gaining an average of 1.15 points per game. For comparison, he completed the last regular season with 128 (41 + 87) points and scored 1.56 points per meeting.

Returning to the reporting game, the main star of the confrontation with Winnipeg was Anthony Cirelli. Even in the first period, the Canadian twice left Helleback out of business, but in the final upset his successor Laurent Brossua. Carter Verhege and Alex Killorn also had the goal, with Sergachev assisting the latter. The Russian defender organized a sharp counterattack, and an experienced Canadian scored the 20th goal in a season.

However, the success of Tampa Bay would not have been possible without goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevsky. It was in his absence that the team lost to New Jersey and Minnesota, while with it it did not concede since December 22.

This time, the Russians repelled 30 shots on goal and was only the fourth goalkeeper in history, who managed to win ten or more wins in a row in two consecutive seasons. Previously, only Yevgeny Nabokov, Martin Broder and Michael Larok obeyed this bar.

As a result, Kucherov and Vasilevsky were recognized as the second and third stars of the match, Sirelli became the best player.

Hard Drive to Detroit

Unlike the Eastern Conference rival, Pittsburgh experienced serious problems in a guest meeting with Detroit. The worst league team suddenly imposed serious resistance and lost only in overtime. In this match, the success of the Russians was not without. Evgeni Malkin participated in both goals of his team and showed that even after returning to the system Sidney Crosby does not intend to go by the wayside.

In general, the game was not very productive - 2: 1. At the beginning of the second period, the talented Czech striker Philip Zadina pushed Detroit ahead, and the Penguins fans had to wait a whole period for a return goal. Darren Helm earned the removal, and it took Pittsburgh just 29 seconds to realize the majority. Malkin received a pass from Chris Lethang and cast Brian Rast. The link partner did not fail.

In the course of the meeting, hockey players from Pennsylvania had a number of chances to resolve all issues in the main time, but Jimmy Howard worked perfectly in the “frame”. He repelled 35 shots, six of them in the performance of Malkin. The Russian had more than one great chance, but could not deal with the goalkeeper. As a result, everything was decided in extra time. The hosts again earned the deletion, and the Penguins special team was magnificent. This time, Eugene assisted Sidney, who had recently recovered from his injury, who could only substitute the club under the most powerful backache.

Malkin again acted as a leader and continued to delight his personal fans. In his last six meetings, he chalked up 10 (4 + 6) points, failing to distinguish himself only in a lost duel with Boston. It is all the more remarkable that in January the team was invariably inferior if Eugene could not score points for performance, and in the remaining six games he got the upper hand.

The Russian was marked by 645 programs in his career and was equal in this indicator to the legendary Bobby Orr. At the moment, he takes 67th place in this indicator, but in the near future he can enter the top 65. Daniel Sedin is ahead of him by only three accurate passes, and Brett Hull - by five.