Goal and pass Panarina, Vasilevsky's record and silence Ovechkin: how the Russians spent the game day in the NHL

The silence of Ovechkin

“Washington” away defeated “Colorado” in the NHL regular season. The confrontation ended with the score 3: 2 in favor of the wards of Todd Rirden, which allowed them to approach their main competitors in the fight for the Presidential Cup - hockey players Tampa Bay and Boston. Nevertheless, the leader of the “capital” Alexander Ovechkin could not distinguish himself in the third game in a row and become one of the seven players who overcame the mark of 700 goals in his career.

Ovechkin spent 25 minutes 48 seconds on the ice and delivered seven shots on goal of his former teammate Philip Grubauer, but not one of them was successful. As a result of the meeting, Alexander’s utility indicator was “0”, despite the fact that he was on ice in episodes with two abandoned partners pucks. So, he twice successfully reached the realization of a numerical advantage, but did not take part in the combinations.

It is worth noting that this season Ovechkin already had problems with a set of points, leading to dry series of three matches in a row. Both times this happened in December. At first, he could not score points for the performance in the games with San Jose, Los Angeles and Anaheim, and then with Boston, Tampa Bay and Columbus.

As for Ovechkin’s partners in Capitals, Evgeni Kuznetsov did not go on ice due to an injury, Ilya Samsonov remained in reserve, and Dmitry Orlov could not score goals or assists. Thanks to this, striker “Avalanche” Vladislav Kamenev became the most productive player of the meeting among the Russians. He acted as an assistant in the episode with a goal by Andre Burakovsky and helped the team open an account. Thus, in his asset became seven (1 + 6) points in 25 matches.

Two points and a bullet Panarina

The leader of the Rangers extended his successful series to four meetings, becoming the main creator of the victory over the Minnesota. Hockey players from New York experienced serious problems in the guest duel and were able to gain the upper hand only on shootouts. At the same time, both in the main and in extra time, Artemy Panarin stood out on the ice, who not only scored a goal and a pass, but also realized a throw in the post-match series.

The Russian striker scored in the 12th minute, having scored his 145th goal in the NHL. By this time, the “blue shirts” were inferior due to Ryan Donato, but managed to quickly restore parity. The guests succeeded in a sweeping attack with a transfer from the right flank to the left, where Panarin turned out to be undisguised. In the style of his colleague, Ovechkin, he settled down in a throw-in circle and with a strong wrist throw asked the net.

However, the “Wild” did not give up and in the next 26 minutes left Alexander Georgiev out of work two more times. The Rangers comeback came in the last ten minutes. First, Pavel Buchnevich scored the 12th goal of the season, and 66 seconds before the final siren, Mika Zibanezhad scored. Panarin acted as the organizer of the attack, and the Swede confidently seized the moment.

As a result, the winner was determined in a series of shootouts, where the guests succeeded. The hosts could not upset Georgiev, and Zibanezhad and Panarin made excellent use of their chances. Especially worth noting the goal of Artemia. The Russian beautifully beat Alex Steylok, but the manner of execution caused controversy. According to the rules, the hockey player has no right to interrupt the movement and stop the puck on the way to the goal. The referees even had to use a video replay, but in the end they sided with the Rangers forward.

“The goal should have been canceled. I just read the rules, and it says that the puck should move forward continuously. Maybe I have vision problems, but in the end it doesn’t look like moving forward, ”said Minnesota coach Bruce Boudreau to The Athletic.

The Rangers mentor David Quinn agreed that the judges had reason not to count Panarin's throw, but he himself was inclined to believe that the referees would side with the Russians. Subsequently, the verdict was explained in the NHL press service.

"The video replay confirmed that Panarin kept the puck in constant motion towards the goal line, therefore, he scored a goal according to the rules," the league said in a statement.

After this meeting, Panarina has 76 (29 + 47) points. He is fifth in the scorers, and Nathan McKinnon is only four points ahead of him (32 + 48). Edmonton forward Leon Dreisatl with 90 (32 + 58) points leads the rating.

Record series of Vasilevsky and the failure of compatriots

In the absence of injured Nikita Kucherov, Tampa Bay managed to cope with Edmonton not without difficulty and retained second place in the standings of the Eastern Conference. The team of John Cooper chalked up three abandoned goals, allowing guests to check out just one accurate throw. The reason for this was largely the goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevsky, chalked up 29 salvations.

This season, the presence of Vasilevsky at the gate is the guarantor of the success of Lightning. So, he is the leader of the season in the number of victories (31), as well as the owner of a club record for the duration of a win-win series in regular time. The triumph in the duel with the Oilers helped extend it to 20 meetings.

Meanwhile, other domestic gate guardians cannot boast of such a confident game. Sergei Bobrovsky still could not find himself in Florida, and the confrontation with Philadelphia turned into another disappointment for him. One of the highest paid goalkeepers of the league (an average of $ 10 million per year, according to CapFriendly) spent 20 minutes on the ice, for which he missed three times and was replaced. As a result, the Panthers lost with a score of 2: 6 and suffered a fifth defeat in six meetings. Unlike his compatriot, Semyon Varlamov came out during the match, but also did not save the Islanders from defeat. “Nashville” twice upset the Russian and took the lead with a score of 5: 0.

Goals of Guryanov and Namestnikov

Another gaming day was successful for Denis Guryanov. Forward “Dallas” chalked up the 17th puck of the season and helped his team get the better of the formidable “Toronto”. Thus, the Russian man scored four goals in the last five games and came in second place in the list of the best Starz snipers.

In this rating, Jamie Benn is the leader, with 18 exact shots. Guryanov shares the second line with Rup Hintz. At the moment, Denis has 23 (17 + 6) points in 52 matches, which is the best result in his career. So, in the last championship he appeared on the ice 21 times and managed to score only four (1 + 3) points.

Successfully performed and the Russian legionnaires of the Ottawa. Vladislav Namestnikov scored the 12th puck and strengthened his status as the fifth best sniper team. At the same time, he takes only one accurate throw from Tyler Ennis, who is in fourth place. Artyom Anisimov also acted as an assistant in the episode with the goal of Nick Paul and helped the Senators interrupt a series of six defeats in a row.

For the 15th time this season, Ivan Barbashev was noted for an effective pass, but couldn’t help St. Louis interrupt the unsuccessful series. The current Stanley Cup winners lost in the third game in a row, and opponents from Vegas acted as offenders. The guests were not helped by the successful actions of the Russian, nor by poker Zack Sanford. In a super-productive duel, the hosts took the lead - 6: 5.