The next game day of the NHL regular championship was remembered for a number of outstanding performances by Russian legionnaires.
Seven domestic hockey players were among the main stars of matches with the participation of their teams and established several achievements.
Artemy Panarin and Evgeny Dadonov scored doubles, Kirill Kaprizov scored his 14th goal of the season, simultaneously repeating one of Minnesota's records, and goalkeepers Andrei Vasilevsky, Sergei Bobrovsky and Ilya Sorokin helped their clubs achieve victories.
Panarin's performance and Kaprizov's achievement
Artemy Panarin continues to prove that at the moment he is one of the strongest players in the NHL.
After returning to the team in mid-March, he played 12 matches and scored 18 (6 + 12) points.
Only his Rangers partner Mika Zybanejad (9 + 10), as well as Gabriel Landeskog and Nathan McKinnon of Colorado (both 7 + 13) can boast the best performance during this period.
Moreover, the Russian forward scored seven points in the last three meetings, and in the last game with Buffalo, he scored the second double of the season.
Panarin opened the scoring in the middle of the first period, taking advantage of the sluggishness of Sabers goalkeeper Linus Ulmark.
He coped with Chris Cryder's shot from the left edge, but lost sight of the puck, which led to the goal being scored.
The Russian did not turn off the episode and scored from the opposite side into the near corner.
And towards the end of the second 20-minute, Artemy completed the Rangers' positional attack with a one-touch shot from the left throw-in circle.
It turned out not as powerful as that of Alexander Ovechkin, but that was enough.
True, not for victory.
David Quinn's wards lost in shootouts (2: 3), and the title of the first star was a weak consolation for the striker.
Panarin still has 36 (11 + 25) points and the status of the best scorer of the New York team in the regular season.
According to this indicator, he surpasses Ryan Strom (11 + 23), Adam Fox (4 + 29) and Pavel Buchnevich (14 + 18).
And this despite the fact that they played 10-11 more matches.
In addition, with 159 goals in his overseas career, he bypassed Maxim Afinogenov and climbed to 27th place in the list of the best Russian snipers in the NHL.
Other Russian forwards in the reporting matches were able not only to replenish the spectacle baggage, but also to help their teams win the most important victories.
One of them was Kirill Kaprizov, who continues to go full steam ahead to conquer the Calder Trophy.
The Minnesota striker began his comeback in a 2-1 away game with Vegas and not only earned the title of second star of the match, but also repeated the club's record for the longest streak among newcomers.
In the 47th minute, Kaprizov showed scoring flair and prudently stayed at the opponent's right-hand post after Wilde's attack had slightly died out.
Kevin Fiala's breakthrough was stopped by the defender, but Joel Erickson Eck was the first on the rebound and cut out an accurate pass to the Russian.
Cyril substituted the club and restored parity, and the Swede was so inspired that after 55 seconds he established the final score.
In addition, the Russian scored for the first time in three NHL games in a row, repeating the club record for the newcomers of the team, which was previously achieved by Marian Gaboric and Pascal Dupuis.
The confrontation between Montreal and Ottawa (3: 6) was remembered for the benefit performance of two Russian attackers, the Senators.
Evgeny Dadonov scored a double and was recognized as the first star of the match, and Artyom Anisimov chalked up three assists and closed the top three players.
All goals with the participation of the Russians were scored in the period from 28th to 43rd minutes and became key.
By the time Dadonov first lit his name on the scoreboard, the score was equal (2: 2) - Montreal restored equality for the second time.
However, until the end of the second period, Artyom twice assisted Eugene, and at the beginning of the final segment, Anisimov helped Alex Forementon to excel.
Vasilevsky's series and Bobrovsky's rescue
In addition to the forwards, Russian goalkeepers also demonstrated their skills.
The first of them was the representative of Tampa Bay, Andrei Vasilevsky, whose successful performance was the key to victory over Detroit, which is in a protracted crisis (2: 1).
True, the 11-time Stanley Cup winner did not give up without a fight and made 26 shots on goal for the owner of the Vezina Trophy.
As a result, Vasilevsky made 25 saves, was recognized as the second star of the meeting and led Lightning to the 26th victory of the season.
Separately, it is worth noting that on their ice, the team of John Cooper since the beginning of the season has not lost in any of the 13 matches when the Russian was at the gate.
According to this indicator, Vasilevsky bypassed the legend of “Montreal” Ken Dryden (12) and came close to the absolute league record holder Gilles Gilbert from “Boston” (16).
Ilya Sorokin also spoke successfully.
The Islanders goalkeeper saved 30 of 32 shots in regular and extra time against Philadelphia (3: 2 B), and left his goal intact in the shootout.
As a result - the title of the third star of the match.
One of the main newsmakers of the day was Florida goalkeeper Sergei Bobrovsky.
On the eve of the match with Columbus (5: 2), teammates staged a special event in honor of the 500th game of the Russian in the NHL and went to warm-up in sweaters with the names written in Cyrillic.
The goalkeeper passed the grandmaster mark back in February 2020, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, the celebration was postponed for almost 14 months.
However, during the game itself, Bobrovsky did not feel much support from his partners.
The Florida hockey players looked extremely unconvincing in defense, which is why the players of one of the league's outsiders in terms of the number of shots (28.9 on average per game) disturbed the Russian 46 times.
But Sergei himself was on fire that day and missed only twice, rightly receiving the title of the first star of the match.