Birthday present: how Kucherov and Vasilevsky took Tampa forward in the Stanley Cup semifinal series

The Russian players of the reigning NHL champion Tampa Bay Lightning Nikita Kucherov and Andrey Vasilevsky continue to make significant contributions to the advancement of their team towards the defense of the title.

John Cooper's side took the lead in the Stanley Cup semi-final with the New York Islanders, winning a 2-1 away victory in match three.

After confidently passing Carolina (4-1) in the quarterfinals, Tampa started a new streak with a defeat.

In the first meeting, Kucherov scored an assist, but the team was unable to reveal the opponent's defense, and Cooper complained about a large number of individual mistakes.

In addition, Semyon Varlamov was reliable at the last line of the Islanders, who made 30 saves.

As a result - 2: 1 in favor of the New Yorkers.

However, in the next meeting, "Tampa" revived.

In the first period, the rivals exchanged goals, and then the "lightnings" scored three unanswered goals.

Only at the end of the third twenty minutes did the opponent manage to close the gap, but this was not enough to turn the tide (4: 2).

In that meeting, Kucherov did without scored goals, but chalked up three assists.

By that time, he had 22 points (5 goals, 17 assists) in 13 playoff games, setting a new record for the Lightning in Stanley Cup history.

But the Russian does not intend to stop there.

Tampa entered the third meeting, which fell on Kucherov's birthday, with a clear attitude to please themselves, the fans and one of their leaders with a victory.

And she began to implement the plan already in the middle of the first period, when Yanni Gurd opened the scoring after a mistake by the Islanders defenders, who left him unattended.

However, the hosts were not going to surrender without a fight and in the 38th minute of the meeting equalized the score through the efforts of Cal Clutterbuck.

For the sake of fairness, it should be noted that organizing the first goal of Vasilevsky was "helped" by his teammate Eric Chernak, who missed the puck during the next attack in an attempt to help his goalkeeper.

And again, Tampa's main stars came to the rescue.

Two minutes later, Kucherov started the attack, gave a pass to Viktor Herman, who ferried the puck to Braden Point, who scored in the fall after the push by Casey Sizikas.

The Canadian has distinguished himself in his last six matches.

“The fact that Braden has scored for the sixth match in a row is certainly impressive.

But the whole link - Pointer, Palat, Kuch - plays brilliantly and leads the team.

They have an amazing "chemistry", and they are real leaders, "- quotes the words of Gurda on the official website of the NHL.

As it turned out later, this goal was victorious for the "lightning".

In the third period, Cooper's hockey players tried not to take risks and neatly kept the minimum advantage, and all the New Yorkers' attempts to recoup rested on Vasilevsky's skill.

In total, the Russian goalkeeper saved 27 of 28 shots, and taking into account the defender's mistake, he did not deserve criticism for a goal conceded.

That is why Vasilevsky was recognized as the first star of the day.

The second place went to Point, the third to Clutterbuck.

Thanks to the success in the reporting match, Vasilevsky established an important personal achievement.

In total, he has 43 Stanley Cup victories, which is the best indicator among Russian goalkeepers.

Largely thanks to its goalkeeper, the Florida team is considered one of the most successful in terms of away meetings.

In the last four away matches, the Russian has conceded no more than one goal.

It is interesting that on the eve of Vasilevsky, who was criticized at the beginning of the playoffs, was recognized as the best NHL goalkeeper in the 2020/21 season according to hockey players.

54.12% of players voted for it.

Significantly fewer votes went to Vegas Golden Knights goalkeeper Marc-Andre Fleury (8.88%).

The third was closed by the guardian of the gate of the Montreal Canadiens Carey Price (8.25%).

As for Kucherov, with 23 points, he continues to confidently lead in the race of scorers, 8 points ahead of forward Nathan McKinnon, who finished Colorado Avalanche's performance this season.

Point (15 points) is his closest pursuer among the hockey players who continue to fight for the championship.

In the last six games, the Russian striker scored at least one point for effective actions, and for the entire current playoffs, only in two meetings he did without assits or goals.

Now he has 118 (41 goals, 77 assists) points in the NHL playoffs during his career.

According to this indicator, the striker took fourth place among the Russians, ahead of the two-time Stanley Cup winner Sergei Zubov.

To enter the top three and repeat the result of Alexander Ovechkin, he needs to score another 17 points.

Cooper was pleased with his players, who managed to cope with the poignant moments that arose throughout the match.

“I always say the best players should be the best players. This is a simple yet important recipe for success. The guys played for two minutes without fail and, of course, were tired. But they did not lose focus for a second, did not forget why they went out on the ice. This is will. And the way we played the ending when the Islanders seriously improved is also will. Yes, we could take advantage of the free zones that arose as a result of their desire to recoup, and we did not succeed. On the other hand, the guys acted brilliantly on the defensive, ”the expert summed up.