The magnificent eight: how Ovechkin beat Messier on the list of the best snipers in NHL history

Ovechkin beat Messier

A break due to the NHL Stars Match benefited Alexander Ovechkin. If in a meeting with “Nashville” the leader of “Washington” chalked up a goal and a pass, then in the confrontation with “Ottawa” he burst out with two goals. This allowed him not only to be equal to the leader of the list of snipers this season, but also to climb to the eighth line in the number of accurate shots in the history of the league.

At the same time, Ovechkin spent the first half in the shade, while his partners soloed on the ice. One of them was Yevgeny Kuznetsov, who interrupted a series of nine “dry” matches. The attacker broke up the Capitals attack, after which he closed a cross on the far post. The goal was also taken by Dmitry Orlov, who scored the 20th assists of the season. By this indicator, he strengthened in first place among Russian defenders. Two assists in less than his colleague from Tampa Bay, Mikhail Sergachev.

After that, the time has come for Ovechkin. In the middle of the second period, Alexander the Great received a pass on the unusual right edge of the attack, became close to Marcus Hogberg and sent the puck right under the goalkeeper’s hand. For the striker, this goal was 694th in his career, which allowed him to catch up with the legendary Marc Messier.

However, Ovechkin did not stop there and 15 seconds before the final whistle he reached clean eighth place in the list of the best snipers in NHL history. Alexander grabbed the puck and sent it into the empty goal of the owners of ice. At this point, “Washington” led with a minimum difference, after the Russian forward, “Ottawa” Artyom Anisimov accurate throw reduced the backlog of his team. However, after the Capitals striker again widened the lead, the Senators were no longer able to take effective action.

“These numbers are impressive. Few in the NHL did it. Being in the same company with them is a special honor. When you come close to this mark, you want to throw this puck as quickly as possible. But I try not to get hung up on thoughts about it. I just want to speak as best as possible, ”the NHL press service quotes Ovechkin.

With the next achievement of the Russian striker, Marc Messier himself congratulated him. The six-time Stanley Cup winner admired Ovechkin's “skill, excellent cast and character,” calling it “a unique combination of qualities.”

“But more importantly, you became an example for a whole generation, infecting them with your passion to score and the desire to play hockey. I wish you success in your further advancement in the list of the best snipers of the league, where you will overtake the legendary hockey players, ”Messier concluded.

As for the current championship, Ovechkin distinguished himself for the 37th time and caught up with the leader of the sniper race, Boston striker David Pastrnyak. In the event that the captain of the “capital” does not slow down dramatically, he will be able to not only compete for the record ninth Maurice Richard Trophy in his career, but also become the first hockey player in the history of the league who managed to score at least 40 goals in 11 seasons contract.

Also, one cannot ignore the performance of the Russian goalkeeper Capitals. With Ilya Samsonov, the team scored 11 victories in a row at the goal, which is a major achievement. Previously, only three novice goalkeepers could boast of such indicators. The same number of meetings won in the assets of George Hainsworth, and three more at Ross Brooks.

Three Malkin points

A magnificent move was scored by the Russian leader of Pittsburgh. If in eight previous games he pleased 11 (4 + 7) points, then this time he took part in three productive attacks of the team at once. This helped the Penguins cope with the unyielding Flyers, who have won four of their last five meetings.

Unlike his compatriot, Evgeni Malkin said his weighty word in the first half. At first, he once again reminded that he should not be left naked at the far post, and then proved that he is one of the main specialists in the game in unequal compositions. At first, he helped Brian Rust to excel, and then assisted Chris Letang.

Thus, Malkin’s assets included 16 goals and 37 assists in a season. In the dispute of the best assistants, he went to 11th place, catching up with Roman Yosi, Michtell Marner and Nikita Kucherov, and in the scorer race he was in 17th position with 53 points. David Perron has the same points and only one more from Ovechkin.

True, the successes of Malkin did not help Pittsburgh to prevail in normal time. Until the end of the third period, Philadelphia equalized, and the winner was postponed until overtime. There, it took Sydney Crosby only 55 seconds to upset Brian Elliott and catch up with Malkin in terms of points per match.

The successes of Panarin and Buchnevich

The Rangers, as expected, easily dealt with the worst league team this season in the person of Detroit. In the first 46 minutes, hockey players from New York hit the opponent’s goal four times, after which they allowed themselves to relax a bit and miss twice. It is noteworthy that one of the main characters was the Russians Artemy Panarin and Pavel Buchnevich, who took part in three goals of the team.

The beginning of a confident victory was laid by Buchnevich. He left in the first link and did not disappoint, organizing a lightning counterattack with Chris Krider and Mika Zibanezhad. The American launched a counterattack of the “blue shirts”, and the Swede performed a cross along the gate, the target of which was the Russian. Pavel scored in the second match in a row, which is unlikely to brighten up not the most successful season. After a powerful start, he gave an unsuccessful segment of 28 meetings, in which he scored only eight (4 + 4) points.

Panarin, by contrast, looks great in the current championship and continues the fierce struggle for the title of top scorer of the season. This time he scored twice - first he abandoned himself, and then acted as an assistant in the episode with the goal of Zibanezhad. Moreover, his puck turned out to be an application for a masterpiece. Artemy with a spectacular feint dealt with the defender of the Red Wings, after which he beautifully beat the goalkeeper.

Panarin's asset was 70 points, which allowed him to gain a foothold in fifth place in the ranking of scorers. Just by two points he is surpassed by the same Pastrnyak and Nathan McKinnon, and the leading position is occupied by the magnificent duet from Edmonton. Connor McDavid's track record has 77 points, while Leon Dreisaitle has 79 points.

Two points Kucherov

The best team of the last season met fierce resistance from Anaheim. “Tampa Bay” led throughout the match, but the hosts every time managed to find the strength to reduce the gap to a minimum. As a result, John Cooper's wards won with a score of 4: 3, and Nikita Kucherov became one of the creators of success.

First of all, the Russian showed himself great in a positional attack and helped Erik Chernak distinguish himself, and then became the author of the winning Lightning puck. Kucherov received a pass in the opponent's zone, dealt with three defenders of the opponent and upset John Gibson. It is worth noting that the goalkeeper “Dax” went on the ice in a special helmet in memory of the lost basketball player Kobe Bryant.

Kucherov extended his impressive series and for the fifth time in a row scored two points. At the moment, he has 60 (23 + 37) points, thanks to which he shares 11th place in the dispute between the scorers and Auston Matthews. Of course, this time Nikita is unlikely to be able to repeat his last year’s achievement, but to score 100 points seems to be a doable task.