Assists hat-trick and goal 709: Panarin outshines Ovechkin in NHL Rangers vs. Washington

The match between the New York Rangers and the Washington Capitals initially aroused increased interest among domestic fans, because a number of Russians were to meet on the ice: Igor Shesterkin, Alexander Georgiev, Artemy Panarin and Pavel Buchnevich on the one hand and Dmitry Orlov and Alexander Ovechkin on the other.

The result is a truly addictive game.

The teams scored six goals for two, and the fate of the confrontation was decided only at the very end. 

But the main character, despite the final defeat of the Capitals (2: 4), can be called Ovechkin.

Alexander knew that the next goal would be 709th for him in the NHL and would help him reach a clear seventh place in the list of the league's top scorers in history.

As a result, the attacker was more than ever aimed at other people's gates, which were defended by Shesterkin.

First, he spent 27 minutes and 17 seconds on the ice.

Over the past ten years, this is only the second such indicator for a hockey player in the regular season.

Secondly, the forward made seven shots at once. 

“I felt good.

I was fresh, I felt the puck, and we needed to take this match.

Sometimes in situations like this, someone has to double shifts to turn the tide.

And I was ready for this, "- quotes the words of the striker on the official website of the NHL. 

As a result, one of seven shots in the middle of the third period turned out to be effective.

Ovechkin shot Shesterkin with a trademark shot from the left throw-in circle and reduced the backlog of Washington to a minimum - 2: 3.

This goal put him in seventh place in the race of the best snipers in NHL history.

Moreover, the Russian Mike Gartner bypassed, who also spent most of his career in Washington.

Now only six hockey players are ahead of the domestic athlete: Wayne Gretzky (894), Gordie Howe (801), Jaromir Jagr (766), Brett Hull (741), Marcel Dionne (731) and Phil Esposito (717).

“Yes, it's great to move on.

But I haven't finished yet.

You just need to enjoy the moment.

This time is here and now.

Of course, our team is not playing perfectly yet.

We are only looking for ourselves, but you know, this happens at the start of the season.

I think every time we play hockey, we win.

But when we stop playing, it costs us points and victories, ”Ovechkin added.

However, in the current season, Alexander's performance indicators are still quite modest.

In seven matches of the regular championship, he hit the other's goal only three times and gave five assists.

At the same time, he missed four meetings from January 22 to 28 due to falling into the league's COVID protocol.

But the head coach of Washington, Peter Laviolette, believes that the 35-year-old veteran is still ahead.

“This is an amazing achievement.

I think Alex has been hunting him this whole evening.

He shot and shot from different positions.

For many years I watched him from the other bench, and now I am on the bench with him, where I can once again fully appreciate his talent.

This is something special.

And I repeat: this is a very great achievement for Ovechkin, ”the specialist noted.

However, Alexander's historic puck did not help Washington score points.

This evening, the Russians "Rangers" did everything to make their team stronger.

Panarin scored three assists at once and scored three points for performance in the second match in a row.

In the first ten meetings of the regular season, Artemy has already 15 points (5 + 10), and he shares the places from fourth to seventh in the race of scorers with Joe Pavelski, Patrice Bergeron and Quinn Hughes.

Artemy also managed to beat the record of Brian Leach (1990/1991 season), Jagr (2005/2006) and Mikael Nylander (2006/2007) in points scored for the Rangers in ten games from the start of the regular season.

Unsurprisingly, the striker was eventually named the third star of the match.

The second was recognized by Shesterkin.

At the end of the second period, the goalkeeper missed a funny puck from Karl Hagelin, unable to fix the projectile in a trap, but later corrected himself and made 31 saves.

It is also curious that Igor became the 143rd goalkeeper who was upset by Ovechkin during his NHL career.

“With each game I feel better and better, and today, perhaps, was my best match of the season at the moment,” admitted the domestic hockey player.

Finally, Buchnevich, 27 seconds before the end, hit the already empty net of “Washington” and scored the third puck this season.

And Panarin and Shesterkin after the final siren, in addition, made their own fans laugh.

On the ice, they probably parodied the conflict between Georgiev and Tony Diangelo, because of which the latter was put up for the draft refusals.