Ovechkin’s 701th goal, Panarin’s record and Gusev’s two points: how the Russians spent the game day in the NHL

Ovechkin's leadership qualities and Kovalchuk's debut

The NHL regular match between Washington and Winnipeg was of great interest to fans for at least two reasons. Firstly, the game was supposed to be the first for Alexander Ovechkin in the status of a member of the "club 700" and show how motivated the leader of the "capital" will go on the ice. Secondly, in this match Ilya Kovalchuk made his debut as part of the hosts, the exchange of which from Montreal became one of the highlights of Monday.

The match at the Capital One Arena was preceded by a ceremony in honor of Ovechkin's anniversary goal. To watch the memorable video, the hockey player was joined by his wife Anastasia Shubskaya and one and a half year old son Seryozha. On the big screen they showed the best goal scoring performed by Alexander the Great, as well as congratulations from parents and legendary colleagues. The success of the Russians was noted by Mike Gartner, Phil Esposito, Marcel Dionne, Brett Hull, Jaromir Jagr, as well as the best sniper and scorer in the history of the NHL Wayne Gretzky. The Russian hockey player himself with difficulty restrained his emotions during the ceremony.

But already at the 115th second of the meeting with the Jets, it became clear that the touching event did not adversely affect the psychological state of the captain of Washington. Ovechkin suddenly appeared on the right flank of the attack and on the second attempt sent the puck into the net. In this he was helped by compatriots Yevgeny Kuznetsov and Dmitry Orlov, who acted as assistants. For Alexander, this goal was 43rd in the season, which allowed him to catch up with Auston Matthews and get closer to the result of David Pastarnyak. The assets of the best sniper are 45 accurate shots.

By the middle of the second period, the Capitals players had lit another red light behind the guests' gates twice (Orlov was again involved in one of the episodes), but this did not allow the hosts to resolve all issues in normal time. The Jets responded with three goals, two of which were drawn in the presence of Kovalchuk on the ice. At the same time, he completely had a hand in Kyle Connor's success, almost giving the opponent's forward a pass on the move.

As a result, the outcome of the meeting was decided in a series of shootouts, where luck was on the side of the hosts. Even unsuccessful attempts to execute the same Kovalchuk and Kuznetsov could not stop them, and Ovechkin became the author of the decisive cast. The leader of the “Washington” abruptly removed the puck under an uncomfortable hand and left Laurent Brossua out of work. In turn, the Capitals goalkeeper Braden Holtby bailed out his team three times in a series of post-match shots.

Success of Panarin

In New York, the attention of the audience was riveted to the derby between the Islanders and the Rangers, while initially the nominal owners were in a better position. Firstly, the team of Barry Trotz was strengthened by a high-class center forward in the person of Jean-Gabriel Pajo, and secondly, their rivals were left without Igor Shesterkin and Pavel Buchnevich. The other day, Russian hockey players got into an accident, but if the striker got off with a slight startle, the goalkeeper got a broken rib. As a result, a place in the gate was taken by his compatriot Alexander Georgiev.

At the same time, Artemy Panarin was not ready to put up with the status of an outsider. At the end of the first period, he organized a sweeping attack by the Rangers, which he himself completed. The Russian man rolled into the zone at speed, defeated Ryan Lindgren and Tony Deangelo, after which he struck the goal of Semyon Varlamov with an accurate wrist throw.

For the 10th number of blue shirts, this goal was the 32nd of the season, which allowed him to set a personal record for this indicator in the NHL. In addition, he became the first hockey player of the league in the 21st century, who managed to issue twice an championship series of ten games in a row. The last time such a bar obeyed Gretzky during the championship-1996/97. It is noteworthy that Wayne then joined the Rangers.

But, as in the previous meeting, the sniper achievements of the Russian did not help his team deal with the counterpart in 60 minutes. The guests led by a difference of two goals, but the hosts made a comeback and brought the matter to overtime. True, there Artemy again entered the stage. This time he acted as an assistant and helped to distinguish himself Mika Zibanezhad.

This allowed Panarin to score 85 (32 + 53) points in a season and come out on the third place in the scorers dispute. Forward “Rangers” beat the striker “Edmonton” Connor McDavid and approached the leader of the race - Canadian team mate Leon Dreisaytlyu. The German asset has 98 (36 + 62) points, ten times less from David Pastarnyak from Boston.

As for club achievements, the wards of David Quinn won eight away victories in a row for the first time in history. So far, the Rangers' best result has been seven successful meetings in a row. For the first time they achieved this indicator in the 1934/35 season, and the second time - 34 years later.

Reaching Kucherov and two points Gusev

Unlike his compatriots, Nikita Kucherov could not bring victory to his team. Tampa Bay on its ice lost to Toronto and could not get closer to Boston in the standings. At the moment, the Florida team is in second place with 85 points and inferior to five points to the main opponent in the fight for the Presidential Cup. At the same time, Lightning has one match in reserve.

Even the goal in the performance of their top scorer did not help win the wards of John Cooper. Already in the tenth minute, the hosts played a beautiful combination, which Kucherov completed with an accurate throw. The Russian scored in the 17th match in a row and scored the 30th goal in the championship. He reached this figure for the fifth time in his career, which allowed him to repeat the club achievement of Vincent Lecavallier. The Lightning leaders for this indicator are Stephen Stamkos and Martin San Luis, who have reached this mark six times.

However, by the end of the starting period, “Toronto” came forward thanks to the successful actions of Jake Mazzin and John Tavares, after which he managed to maintain an advantage. Ex-striker Islanders scored a double, and William Nyulander became the winner. The hosts scored Patrick Marun and Yanni Gourd before the end of the match, but this was not enough.

It is worth noting that Andrei Vasilevsky did not speak in the best way. The Russian goalkeeper conceded four goals, with a total of 19 saves. Unlike him, defender Mikhail Sergachev looked pretty good and finished the game with a +2 utility score.

In turn, Kucherov’s former Red Army partner Nikita Gusev helped New Jersey win a third victory in a row. The significance of this achievement is somewhat detracted from the fact that the Detroit League’s main outsider was the rival of the Devils, but you can’t ignore the successes of the Russians. Forward chalked up a goal and an assist, marking two points in three games in a row.

First, he assisted Esper Bratt, and then lit his name on the scoreboard. Gusev participated in the implementation of the numerical advantage and pleased with a beautiful cast. The Russian turned out to be naked in front of the opponent’s goal and beat Jonathan Bernier. He had 39 (11 + 28) points in the season, which helped him to reduce the gap with the best Devils scorer - Kyle Palmieri. The American has 43 (23 + 20) points.

Goal of Guryanov and transfer of Svechnikov

This game day was successful for striker “Dallas” Denis Guryanov. The Russian not only spent his 80th match in the NHL and helped the Stars defeat Carolina, but also scored an abandoned goal. In the middle of the second period, he found himself in operational space in front of the opponent’s “frame” and “shot” Alex Nedelkovich. This goal became for him the 18th of the season and allowed him to take first place on this indicator in the team. As many accurate shots on the account of Rup Hintz and Jamie Benn.

“Dallas” prevailed with a score of 4: 1. The author of the puck of prestige “Carolina” was Sebastian Aho, and Andrei Svechnikov, who rose to 28th place in the scorer dispute, acted as a pucker. The Russian account has 58 (24 + 34) points, the Tampa Bay striker Braden Point has the same score.

This day was also successful for Sergei Bobrovsky. For the third time in a month, the Florida goalkeeper conceded just one goal and helped his team interrupt an unsuccessful series of two losses in a row. He repelled 37 of 38 shots and helped the Panthers get the better of Arizona. Frank Watrano and Mike Hoffman scored among the guests, and Brad Richardson among the hosts.