Not a word about the scandal: how Panarin scored six points in three games after returning to the Rangers

The second straight home match between the New York Rangers and the Philadelphia Flyers was memorable for a variety of reasons.

The hosts did not notice the absence of the coaching staff and in a spectacular manner achieved a victory over a direct competitor, sending nine unanswered goals to his goal.

Artemy Panarin, who recently found himself at the center of a scandal, also took part in the defeat of the Pennsylvania team.

After returning to the location of the team, the Russian never left the ice without scored points and decided not to break the tradition.

This time, the forward scored himself and assisted a link partner.

On paper, the meeting with Philadelphia promised to be a serious test for the Rangers.

At least, for the reason that one of the top scorers Pavel Buchnevich and American defender Adam Fox, who two days ago were included in the COVID protocol, risked missing it.

However, a few hours before the match, a kind of castling took place: the players were allowed to go out on the ice, while their place on the list was taken by the entire coaching staff, led by coach David Quinn.

They were replaced by Chris Knoblauch, who runs the team's farm club, Hartford Wolf Pack.

“I didn't skate in the morning, I came to the arena - a meeting was held there, and we learned that the coaches passed positive tests for coronavirus.

None of the players knew what would happen next, "Buchnevich admitted after the game.

According to Knoublach himself, he learned about the need to urgently accept the leadership of the Rangers a few hours before the meeting with the Flyers.

“Everything happened very quickly.

I got a call at 11:30 in the morning and was told that perhaps I will lead the New York Rangers in the evening match.

I'm in a hurry home, packing my things.

At first it was supposed to be one game.

But then they told me: “Perhaps you will go on a trip.

So take all the things you need with you, ”Knoblauch admitted.

However, if such an event had an impact on the performance of the Rangers, it was only positive.

Already in the first period, the hosts twice upset Brian Elliott, and Panarin became the author of the second goal.

He first covered Joel Farabi at the boards and threw the puck back to Ryan Strome, and then delivered a compelling shot from the face-off circle.

For the Russian, this goal was the seventh of the season and already the second after returning to the squad.

As it turned out, in many ways it was the second puck that became decisive in the confrontation with Philadelphia.

It not only allowed the Rangers to consolidate their lead advantage, but also became a serious blow to the opponent's psychology.

True, the decisive one was struck at the beginning of the second period, when Buchnevich scored a double in 120 seconds.

Until the end of the 20-minute, Alain Vigno's wards missed five more times, and even the main goalkeeper Carter Hart could not save their partners from defeat.

The Canadian appeared on the ice closer to the middle of the meeting, but was powerless to change anything.

As a result, Mika Zibanejad (3 + 3) and Buchnevich (2 + 2) became the most productive.

In ten minutes, the Swede scored more goals than in the previous 27 meetings, and repeated the 1978 record for the number of points scored for a period.

Moreover, one of the Swede's goals became possible largely thanks to Panarin's hockey intellect.

In the majority, the Russian took it upon himself to get the puck into the zone and instantly appreciated how vulnerable the opponent's defensive formations were.

Artemy performed a pass behind the back, lined up in a line of defenders, and organized a one-on-one for his partner with the goalkeeper.

The third period became an empty formality, but not for the hosts goalkeeper Alexander Georgiev, who replaced the injured Igor Shesterkin.

The Russian made 26 saves and left the gate intact for the second time this season.

“Of course, the game turned out to be unreal.

There are a lot of heads.

I tried to think about my work at the gate.

But you can't ignore how incredible our guys played in attack.

Everyone did just the right thing.

We didn't play crazy open hockey.

Our defense also worked very well.

We waited for the opponent's mistakes, we used them, and were very effective in this, ”the NHL press service quotes Georgiev.

As for Panarin, he continued to prove that the recent scandal did not affect his performance in the least.

The forward missed more than three weeks, but did not lose his form, and in the last three meetings he gained an average of two points.

First, he gave an assist in the match against Boston, and then scored and assisted twice in the confrontation with Philadelphia.

Moreover, it took him just over seven minutes.

It is not surprising that then many rushed to ask Panarin about the accusations of beating a girl in Riga in 2011.

However, the striker himself said that he was not going to comment on this until the end of the season, and intends to focus on hockey.

“Now is not the time to talk about it.

I have nothing to hide.

I will tell you everything after the season, but now I want to pay all attention to the games, and not to talking on this topic, ”said the athlete.

But if the long break did not affect the player's mood, it deprived him of his chances to compete for the Art Ross Trophy at the end of the regular season.

At the moment, Panarin has 24 (7 + 17) points, which allows him to occupy only 52nd place in the NHL top scorers race.

Drew Doughty, William Nylander and Beau Horvath have the same number, as well as David Pastrnyak, who missed a number of meetings due to injury.

But this should not mislead the fans.

This season, Artemy did not slow down and still remains one of the strongest in the league.

This is confirmed by the statistics of points on average per game (1.41), according to which he is in third place and is second only to his Edmonton partners - Connor McDavid (1.75) and Leon Dreisatl (1.53).

For comparison, last season Panarin averaged 1.38 points per game and ended up finishing fourth in the NHL's top scorers list, leaving behind the same Dreisatl and McDavid, as well as Pastrnyak.

The Russian (32 + 63) and the Czech (48 + 47) had an equal number of points, but the Boston Bruins forward was higher thanks to more goals.

At the same time, the Rangers striker has less access to the ice, which must also be taken into account.

It is all the more remarkable that a solid downtime did not prevent him from staying among the Rangers' leaders in terms of performance.

At the moment, in terms of the number of points, he ranks second and is second only to his compatriot Buchnevich, who has the best season of his career.

At the moment, he has 26 (10 + 16) points in 27 meetings.

With regard to the current championship, do not forget that the Rangers play in one of the most even and competitive divisions.

Suffice it to say that it contains three of the four semifinalists of the Eastern Conference last season (Philadelphia, Islanders and Boston), as well as teams that have won three of the last five Stanley Cup draws for two (Pittsburgh and Washington ").

Against their background, Buffalo and New Jersey do not look very favorable, but the latter should not be discounted either.

Yes, over the past eight years they have made it to the playoffs only once, but at the moment they have a young and promising selection of hockey players who are already starting to meet expectations.

As for Panarin, he will be able to confirm the status of one of the strongest hockey players in the next three days.

During this period, the Rangers will play two away matches against Washington, DC, currently ranked first in the Eastern Division.

If successful, Quinn's wards will have a chance not only to bypass Philadelphia and rise to the fifth line, but also to get close to the playoff zone.

At the moment, the blue-shirts are six points away from her.