The return of Kucherov, Guryanov's accuracy and saves of three goalkeepers: what to expect from the Russians in the Stanley Cup semifinals

Will Vasilevsky announce claims for personal awards

As you know, the winner of the Vezina Trophy - the prize for the best goalkeeper of the season - is determined based on the results of the regular season.

General managers of all teams cast their votes in favor of various candidates, and the final results are kept secret until the end of the season.

Until then, the fans were only told the names of the three main candidates.

If the results of the Stanley Cup could somehow influence the determination of the winner, then Andrey Vasilevsky would have received the prize for the second time in a row.

Of all the top three nominees, only he continues to fight for the main NHL trophy.

Connor Hellebike did not even qualify for the playoffs with the Winnipeg Jets, and Tuukka Rusk left the Boston Bruins during the series with the Carolina Hurricanes and did not actually save the team from further relegation.

Vasilevsky played tirelessly and so far never conceded the gate to his partner Curtis McElinney.

Thanks to the actions of the Russian, Tampa Bay Lightning remains the only team that did not have to bring the showdown with rivals to the seventh match.

Vasilevsky's statistics remain one of the best in the current playoffs - he concedes an average of 1.91 goals and reflects 93.1% of shots.

The Russian goalkeeper was especially good in overtime.

He never missed in them and made 50 saves in total - more than other goalkeepers do in two or three matches.

With his playoffs, Vasilevsky cannot influence the vote for the Vezina Trophy and win it for the second time in a row, which no one has sought since 2008.

But before him the doors remain open to another prestigious award - the Conn Smythe Trophy, which is awarded to the most valuable player in the Stanley Cup.

According to ESPN, Vasilevsky is now in fifth place in the conditional rating of the main contenders, behind, among other things, his partner Braden Point.

But the series with the New York Islanders and the final that follows it may still change everything if Vasilevsky remains as reliable.

Will Kucherov threaten Varlamov

One of the main intrigues in the Lightning and Islanders series should be Nikita Kucherov's return to service.

On September 1, in his fifth game against the Boston Bruins, he received a painful punch in the face from Zdeno Hara.

Although the Russian striker was able to re-enter the ice after the initial examination, he soon finally went into the locker room, and the team had to win in overtime without him.

"Tampa" in the current playoffs and so are playing without one of their leaders.

Stephen Stamkos received an injury on the first day of training camp, which took him out of the game for a long time.

Although the Canadian has started training in the general group, he will again miss the entire streak with the Islanders.

In such a situation, the loss of Kucherov, the team's top scorer in the regular season and second in the Stanley Cup, would be completely disastrous.

Luckily for the Lightning, they got a one-week break between two Stanley Cup rounds - no other rest for that long this year.

This time was enough for the Russian to fully recover, and in the first game against the Islanders, he should already appear on the ice.

Usually, in the playoffs, a week without game practice negatively affects the team and it falls out of the competitive rhythm, but in the case of Tampa, this should just be to their advantage.

Moreover, John Cooper's wards, and so, taking into account overtimes, played almost two hours more than they should.

In the Stanley Cup bombing race, Kucherov is in tenth place with four goals and 12 assists.

It should be the main problem for the Islanders goalkeeper Semyon Varlamov, but only if the Russian goalkeeper goes on the ice at all.

The last matches in the series with the Philadelphia Flyers are difficult for him to include.

Although Varlamov managed to set a new Islanders record for the length of the dry streak in the playoffs (the goalkeeper did not miss 138 minutes 17 seconds), with the score 3: 1 in the series, he twice failed to save his team in overtime.

The 32-year-old Russian conceded nine goals after 63 shots - a very small percentage of reflected shots for a top-class goalkeeper.

Varlamov was able to replace Thomas Griss in time, so much so that in the seventh match of the series the German did not miss a single puck at all.

Now it is him who should be expected at the Islanders goal, which for the first time since 1993 made it to the conference finals.

Unless, of course, Kucherov and company force Barry Trotz to change his mind about Varlamov again.

Will Khudobin emerge from Bishop's shadow

The current NHL playoffs are notable for the fact that the gates of three semifinalists at once are protected by Russian goalkeepers.

In addition to Vasilevsky and Varlamov, this list also includes Anton Khudobin from Dallas Stars.

He, however, still does not have the status of the main goalkeeper of his team, but the confrontation with Vegas Golden Knights may change everything.

Fans are accustomed to the fact that Khudobin always plays the role of a stunt double.

This was the case not only in Dallas, but also in previous teams.

As part of the Stars, he, too, found himself in the shadow of Ben Bishop before he was injured.

During the playoffs, the American goalkeeper returned to the goal, but was in such poor shape that Khudobin had to finally replace him and accompany the team himself until the Western Conference final.

According to statistics, Khudobin slightly loses to many stars in the goalkeeper workshop.

Before the Vegas streak, he averaged 2.94 goals and reflected 90.9% of shots.

Conversations that Bishop is still entitled to a place in the starting lineup continued until the conference finals, but in the opening match Khudobin was able to prove that it was time to consider him the first number of “Dallas”.

He made a crack and became a co-author of a 1-0 victory - in the history of Dallas, only three goalkeepers managed to do this.

True, in this meeting, not so much the Russian goalkeeper was good as Vegas itself was terrible.

For the first two periods, Khudobin had to reflect only 12 shots.

In the third, the Golden Knights have already aimed at someone else's goal 13 times, but they did not have any really dangerous moments.

However, this should not diminish the merits of Khudobin, who should go out on the ice not only because of Bishop's bad shape.

Should we wait for new feats of Guryanov and Radulov

The main field stars from Russia in the current playoffs are Alexander Radulov and Denis Guryanov from Dallas.

Radulov in the series with Colorado Avalanche scored two winning goals and a double in the seventh match.

Guryanov was remembered for his historical poker against the Calgary Flames, thanks to which he became the best sniper of his team along with Joe Pavelski.

In total, the young Russian striker scored eight goals, and this performance is rather unexpected than natural.

He plays in the fourth link and only once spent more than 18 minutes on the ice and at the same time shares the lead in goals among the hockey players remaining in the Stanley Cup.

At the same time, the role of Guryanov is gradually increasing - his link with Yoel Kiviranta and Roope Hintz played the longest in the seventh match with Colorado.

The Russian may well become Dallas' trump card in the series against Vegas, since the Nevada team has a very balanced line-up, in which the difference between the links is very small.

Much will depend on how the newcomers and young players of the Stars play.

Radulov is one of the leaders of Dallas, and the demand from him is always high.

This season, he has to replace Tyler Seguin in this status, whose playoffs are not going at all as expected of him.

Because of this, the Russian had to change triplets on the move, but this did not affect the performance, since he gains his points during the majority draws.

True, in the opening match of the series with Vegas, Radulov found himself in a small disgrace, having spent less than 12 minutes on the ice, but then Dallas decided to play by the score and preserve the advantage gained thanks to the goal of Jon Klingberg.

Although the Russian himself does not like to sit on the bench, the team can sometimes benefit from it.

When "Stars" feel confident or find themselves on the edge of an abyss, then Radulov's energy may come in handy.