In qualifying for the NHL playoffs, the first favorite to reach the Eastern Conference quarterfinals appeared. Carolina took the upper hand over the Rangers (4: 1) and won the second victory in the series, and the main characters of the match were Russian hockey players. Andrey Svechnikov scored a hat-trick, and Artemy Panarin became the author of the only goal against Petr Mrazek.

As part of the "Rangers" Panarin and Pavel Buchnevich could have been accompanied by Igor Shesterkin or Alexander Georgiev, but the first did not have time to recover from the injury, and the second remained in reserve. The experienced Henrik Lundqvist took the place in the goal of the New York team, but he reflected only 88.2% of the shots.

After the first period, the score was equal. At the beginning of the meeting, Svechnikov caught Lundqvist by surprise, and in the 13th minute Panarin restored parity. Artemy helped his partners realize the majority and deal with three defenders and a goalkeeper. For both Russians, these goals were the first in the current Stanley Cup.

Unlike the nominal guests, the hosts did not stop there and at the beginning of the second period secured a comfortable gap in the score. At first, Svechnikov demonstrated that he performs well in unequal compositions, and after 71 seconds, Jordan Martinuk scored.

At the end of the match, the Russian scored a hat-trick. The assistant was Sebastian Aho, who took part in all three episodes that ended in goals from the Russian.

Svechnikov became the first three goalscorer in a playoff game in Hurricanes history, as well as only the eighth under-21 hockey player to score a Stanley Cup hat-trick.

As for the Russians, the last time a hat-trick in the NHL playoffs was marked by St. Louis forward Vladimir Tarasenko. This happened on April 28, 2015 in the Stanley Cup first round match with Minnesota (4: 1).

At the end of the meeting, praises to Svechnikov sounded both from teammates and opponents. So, Rangers mentor David Quinn admitted that the Russian is quickly becoming one of the best hockey players in the league, and Carolina head coach Rob Brindamore shared his joy that Andrei is his ward.

Unlike Carolina, the other participants in the qualifying round of the playoffs were unable to chalk up a second win in the series. Connor McDavid's hat-trick allowed Edmonton to level the playing field against Chicago, while a goal and assist from Adam Lowry helped Winnipeg level the score with Calgary. And this despite the fact that the leaders of the "Jets" Mark Scheifle and Patrick Laine, who were injured in the first game, did not go out on the ice. Winnipeg defender Dmitry Kulikov played 20 minutes and had two power holds, but this time he was left without points for performance.

Also, so far, Evgeny Malkin has not scored a single point for performance in the current qualifying tournament. In the first two matches, the Pittsburgh forward scored a total of 15 shots on goal for Carey Price, but none of them became a non-take for the winner of the Vezin Trophy. But luck smiled again at Sidney Crosby, who opened an account in the playoffs for the 16th time in his career. Only nine hockey players can boast of this, including Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux and Jaromir Jagr. In the reporting match for the Penguins, Jason Zucker and Jake Güntzel were on the scoreboard, and for Montreal - Esperi Kotkaniemi.

In addition to the qualifying round matches, there were also regular group stage matches, in which the top four teams from each conference compete for a higher seed in the first round of the playoffs. For Russian fans, the most interesting was the confrontation between Tampa Bay and Washington, during which seven Russian athletes appeared on the ice.

Nikita Kucherov and Evgeny Kuznetsov showed themselves most vividly. In the first period, the Lightning leader famously rocked the opponent's defender, after which he put the puck into the far corner of Braden Holtby's goal. The Russian forward of the Capitals scored 28 seconds before the end of the second game segment. At this point, the scoreboard was burning 2: 1 in favor of Tampa. Kuznetsov took advantage of Andrei Vasilevsky's mistake and played on finishing off after Dmitry Orlov's throw.

In the time remaining until the end of the match, the score did not change, and the winner was determined in a shootout. The correspondence duel between Kucherov and Kuznetsov became the key again. Nikita managed to realize a one-on-one exit, and Evgeny could not beat Vasilevsky. Tampa Bay won their first NHL group stage win and increased their chances of a top seed.

As for the other Russian hockey players, they were not so noticeable that evening. Although Alexander Ovechkin performed six power techniques, he made only three shots at the Lightning goal in 21 minutes 29 seconds. Ilya Kovalchuk was not only less productive, but was also on the court when Kucherov was “shooting” Holtby. At that moment, Mikhail Sergachev was on the ice and ended the meeting with a positive indicator of usefulness.

Dallas missed the victory in the confrontation with Vegas. After the second period, the nominal guests were leading with a score of 3: 1, but in the third they managed to concede four goals in ten minutes. William Karlsson, Mark Stone and Nate Schmidt scored two points each, while Miro Heiskanen became the most productive player. The Stars defender acted as an assistant three times. Russian legionnaires Alexander Radulov and Denis Guryanov were left without points, and Guryanov even finished the meeting with a usefulness indicator of "-3".