10. Ilya Kovalchuk (“Montreal Canadiens”)

Ottawa - Montreal. 65th minute

The rating opens an accurate throw performed by a Russian veteran. By that time, Ilya Kovalchuk had just replenished the structure of Montreal and was going to prove to the management and coaching staff of Los Angeles that they had in vain put an end to it. In the first three meetings, the striker assisted his partners three times, and the fourth was his debut puck in the Canadiens sweater.

Kovalchuk assumed the leadership role at the very moment when it was needed most. “Montreal” unsuccessfully held an away match with one of the outsiders of the championship in the person of “Ottawa”, as a result of which it came to overtime. Everything could well end with a series of shootouts, but 52 seconds before the final siren, Ilya made a solo passage and a well-aimed wrist throw left Markus Hogberg out of work.

9. Denis Guryanov (Dallas Stars)

Dallas - Carolina. 33rd minute

For Russian fans, one of the most important events of this season was the breakthrough of Denis Guryanov. In the previous season, the Russian forward, “Dallas” went on the ice 21 times and scored four (1 + 3) points, but in this he broke through. 20 goals and nine assists in 64 matches - albeit not a grandmaster, but a good indicator for a 22-year-old hockey player.

Throughout the championship, Guryanov repeatedly delighted personal fans with goals for every taste, differing both after solo passages and in spectacular combinations. But the brightest of them fell on the game with Carolina. Denis is located in the right face-off circle and in the style of Alexander Ovechkin left Peter Mrazek out of work. The touch-throw was so powerful and accurate that the Czech had no chance.

8. Evgeny Dadonov (Florida Panthers)

Vegas - Florida. 21st minute

The Panthers forward has been at a high level for a long time and is one of the leaders of its team. And although this season Dadonov is much less likely to assist partners, he himself has not forgotten how to score. Evidence of this are 25 goals in 69 meetings. If the regular season resumes, then Eugene will have a great chance to surpass the personal record. To do this, he needs to distinguish himself four more times.

At the same time, one of the most memorable was the exact hit in the game with Vegas. Dadonov came to the realization of the majority and acted as the final attack. “Florida” organized a lightning-fast entrance to the zone and in four actions figured out the whole defense of the hosts. Jonathan Huberdo, Kate Yandl and Alexander Barkov played a brilliant combination, and Eugene had only to redirect the net.

7. Nikolai Prokhorkin (Los Angeles Kings)

Anaheim - Los Angeles. 32nd minute

Prokhorkin’s debut season in the league is not very successful. Nikolai does not enjoy the confidence of a mentor and spends on ice about ten minutes per match. All this invariably affects the productivity of the athlete, who has just 14 (4 + 10) points in 43 meetings.

However, one of the four goals of the 26-year-old left striker turned out to be truly masterpiece, and Prokhorkin himself demonstrated that he has excellent technique for both riding and owning the puck. The Russian received a pass on the blue line, broke between two defenders of Anaheim, after which he beautifully beat goalkeeper Ryan Miller.

6. Artemy Panarin (“New York Rangers”)

Carolina - The Rangers. 42nd minute

The line above is the exact throw of one of the candidates for the title of top scorer. Unlike Ovechkin, Panarin was never famous for a powerful click, but he was distinguished by the speed of thinking and the ability not only to play cool multi-trip, but also to be at the right time in the right place. That is precisely what he did in the match with Carolina, completing a combination with the participation of Kaapo Kakko, Philip Khitil and Mika Zibanajad. Hurricanes players were not ready for such a quick move of the puck, and Artemy could only finish off the confused counterparts.

It is worth noting that this hit was for Panarin the 31st in the championship and helped him repeat his best sniper achievement in his career. But Artemy did not stop there and subsequently scored another puck. As for the points, in the event of the resumption of the championship he will have a chance for the first time to overcome the mark of 100 productive actions. To do this, he needs to score only six points in the 12 remaining meetings.

5. Nikita Kucherov (Tampa Bay Lightning)

Tampa Bay - Los Angeles. 59th minute

The top scorer of the previous championship cannot boast the same outstanding performance this year. Nevertheless, Kucherov performs at the highest level and, if the pace is maintained, is able to reach 100 points. In addition, it is the Russian who is the leader of Lightning, which his statistics eloquently speaks of. So, he shares the second line with Stephen Stamkos in the number of winning goals and single-handedly leads in goals in overtime.

It is not surprising that the striking goal scoring by the striker was at the key moment of the meeting. Tampa Bay was inferior to Los Angeles in the long run and tried its best to restore the status quo. For the sake of this, John Cooper even released the sixth field, but Kucherov said his weighty word. After the face-off, Nikita was exactly opposite the target and clicked Jonathan Quick with a furious click.

4. Dmitry Kulikov (Winnipeg Jets)

Winnipeg is Washington. 7th minute

The Russian defender of the Canadian team has never been famous for attacking skills. Over the past ten years, he was only twice marked by more than five exact hits for the championship, and a year ago in the “goals” column he even had zero with 57 games played. This year, Kulikov is also not very pleased with the rate of fire, but if he scores, he does it spectacularly.

It was in this way that he lit his name on the scoreboard in a home confrontation with Washington. While everyone expectedly expected the most powerful clicks from Ovechkin, Kulikov took this role on himself and coped with it perfectly. Already in the debut, he was undisguised at the blue line and with a sweeping throw opened the gates of Ilya Samsonov. Subsequently, the Jets scored twice and won dry, but it was Dmitry’s hit that turned out to be victorious.

3. Eugene Malkin (Pittsburgh Penguins)

Washington - Pittsburgh. 49th minute

The top three winners are opened by another goal against the 2018 Stanley Cup winners. This time one of the main experts on Capitals, Evgeni Malkin, was noted. Over the course of his career, the Penguins leader crossed paths with Ovechkin and the company 47 times on ice and, during these duels, gathered a collection of 21 goals. One of them came at the second team meeting in the current championship and turned out great, although it did not help the guests succeed.

In the middle of the second 20-minute Malkin single-handedly scored the third goal of “Pittsburgh” and equalized. He went to someone else's goal, threw the puck between the legs of the defender and elegantly outplayed Braden Holtby. It is noteworthy that one of the main contenders for the Norris Trophy, John Carlson, turned out to be the "torn" defense player.

2. Ivan Provorov (Philadelphia Flyers)

Montreal - Philadelphia. 61st minute

In second place was an amazing goal by Ivan Provorov. After the not-so-successful last season, the Philadelphia defender again began to regularly score points and at the time of the pause was the best Russian defender both in terms of points and goals. Of course, most of them were the result of clicks from the blue line, but in a confrontation with Montreal, Ivan created a real miracle.

In overtime, Provorov received the puck in his half of the court and decided on a solo raid in the opponent’s zone. In the course of the race, he left Jeff Pitrie, after which, with a spectacular feint, he left the jet Max Domi out of work. After that, Ivan could only beat the goalkeeper Keith Kincaid, with which he easily coped. It is worth noting that for a Russian this success in overtime was the first in his career.

1. Alexander Ovechkin (Washington Capitals )

Islanders - Washington. 46th minute

On the first line is the next creation of Alexander Ovechkin. One of the best snipers in NHL history continues to not only stamp goals, but to do it in style. The selection could have included several magnificent works by Alexander, such as an accurate throw after leaving behind the goal in a match with Detroit or a shot between legs and a cool end in a duel with Buffalo. But the most memorable was his breakthrough in the game with the Islanders.

This puck is spoken of as a magnificent performance, and under what circumstances it was abandoned. Through the efforts of Alexander, “Washington” opened an account, but then missed four times. It seemed that it was already impossible to recoup, but over the past 17 minutes the guests scored five times in a row. Two accurate hits fell on the leader of the “capital”, and one of them recalled his masterpiece 14 years ago. In a match with the Phoenix, he was marked by an incredible drop in the fall, which was subsequently recognized as the best in NHL history according to ESPN.

This time it turned out a little less impressive, but more than enough to compete with the lacrosse goal of Svechnikov. Ovechkin threw the puck between the legs of the Islanders defender, and then in the fall with an elusive movement he sent it to the home team. The shell hit the skate of the enemy and ended up in the net.

Bonus Andrei Svechnikov (Carolina Hurricanes)

Carolina is Calgary. 50th minute

Nevertheless, the creation of Svechnikov can rightfully be recognized as the best this season. At least for the reason that earlier in the history of the league no one managed to distinguish themselves in a similar style. Svechnikov became the author of the first lacrosse goal in NHL history and forever inscribed his name in history.

The “victims” of the young Russian striker were Calgary hockey players. Svechnikov got the puck behind the opponent’s goal and could well have put it on a dime on Lucas Wallmark, but made a different decision. Andrei put her on the hook and threw her into the nine in one motion. David Rittich tried to save, but was late.