Like behind a stone wall: Vasilevsky and Shesterkin made 69 saves and became the second stars in NHL matches

Minnesota, which was actively gaining points at the beginning of the year, has recently been in a protracted crisis.

The loss to Dallas was the team's eighth since mid-February.

Moreover, in this segment, she won only two victories - over Edmonton and Philadelphia.

Such results call into question even getting into the playoffs.

Only Kirill Kaprizov pleases the fans, who, against the background of faded partners, does not slow down in performance.

Actually, in the last two meetings, with the "Buffalo" and "Dallas", the asset of the Olympic champion turned out to be double.

In the last match, the hockey player turned on at the end, and this was almost enough to save a hopeless confrontation.

By the middle of the second period, Kaapo Kyahkönen missed four unanswered goals and was replaced.

Cam Talbot took the ice instead.

But shortly before the final siren, Dean Evason removed the goalkeeper, and this almost helped to escape.

In just a minute and 44 seconds, Kaprizov scored twice.

First, he jumped into the gates of others along with Kevin Fiala and, having received the transfer, confidently struck an empty corner.

And then he delivered a powerful click from the left circle of the face-off after Mats Zuccarello's discount.

So Minnesota reduced the gap to a minimum - 3:4.

However, the comeback failed.

In the time remaining until the final siren, the opponent hit an empty target twice and put an end to it.

However, there can be no questions to the Russian.

He made four shots, two of which were productive, spent 24 minutes and 53 seconds on the ice - more than other representatives of his role in both teams - and was recognized as the second star of the game.

And most importantly, a native of the Kemerovo region for the first time in his career reached the mark of 70 points per season in the NHL.

At the moment, he has 28 goals and 42 assists.

Moreover, he became the top scorer of the current league draw among Russians, ahead of Alexander Ovechkin (68).

Not so far behind the leaders Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid of Edmonton (79 each).

But the day was especially successful for the Russian goalkeepers, who worked real miracles at the last frontier and helped their teams win important victories with their inspired play.

Another amazing meeting was held by New York Rangers goaltender Igor Shesterkin.

A few days ago, he made 32 saves against the New Jersey Devils, and surpassed himself on Sunday.

In the match with Winnipeg, the domestic hockey player had an incredible 45 rescues.

Along the way, he managed to become the author of a curious statistical achievement.

He won the tenth game of his career in the NHL, in which he made at least 40 saves and, if he saved the team more than 40 times, did not lose.

According to this indicator, only Tuukka Rask bypasses the Russian, who has 11 such victories.

Shesterkin's partners actively started the meeting and by the first break they were leading - 2:0.

Goals were scored by Barkley Goodrow and Chris Kreider.

In the second period, the opponent brought down a flurry of throws and attacks on Igor's possessions, but only Nikolai Elers managed to excel.

And in the final 20-minute Rangers finished off the opponent.

Kreider scored a brace, and Mika Zibanejad finally removed all questions - 4:1.

It is not surprising that after the final siren, the partners did not skimp on words of praise for their goalkeeper.

For example, Kreider called it incredible.

“The way he plays now, well, we are just delighted.

He's incredible.

He was the best in the team all year.

Now, in fact, nothing surprises me anymore.

He's just from another planet.

He is so good that it seems that we have spent all the compliments on him.

Incredible, ”the official website of the NHL quotes the striker.

The goalkeeper himself was extremely modest and only thanked his teammates for their dedication in defense and a large number of blocked shots.

Artemy Panarin also made a significant contribution to the final success of New York.

The striker has two assists.

At the end of the first period, he timely transferred the puck to Kreider, after which he had to hit an empty corner.

In the end, he took part in the effective combination, which was completed by Zibanejad.

Tampa Bay goalkeeper Andrey Vasilevsky also had an amazing meeting.

Although he missed three goals in the match with Chicago and made not as many saves as Shesterkin (24), he managed to delight the stands with a number of amazing saves at the most important moments.

For example, in one of the episodes, he somehow miraculously parried Kirby Duck's throw almost point-blank with a stick handle, having managed to move to the near corner.

Finally, already in the final period, he stopped another two-on-one attack of the opponent, incredibly managing to react to Patrick Kane's shot from a lethal position.

The last thing left was to grab his head.

The head coach of the Lightning, John Cooper, was also shocked by this save, who admitted that at first he simply did not believe what had happened.

“You can look at the highlights, and there will be only Andrey's rescues.

One of the most amazing matches performed by a goalkeeper that I have seen in many years, ”said the specialist after the game.

The meeting really turned out for the second team of the Eastern Conference is not at all easy.

Already in the eighth minute, she allowed Dylan Strome to open an account.

And in the middle of the second period, Kane again brought Chicago ahead - 2: 1.

But even before the break, Victor Hedman and Cal Foote turned the tide of an unsuccessful confrontation.

And immediately after the Swede scored a double, and Corey Perry scored the fifth goal into the opponent's goal.

The sixth was chalked up by Mikhail Sergachev.

He also twice assisted partners.

Thus, the Russian scored a goal in the second match of the regular season in a row and for the first time in the current season scored three points for a meeting according to the “goal + pass” system.

In total, the defender now has 31 points (5 + 26).

Going back to Vasilevsky, he won the 30th standoff and went into clear first place in this indicator in the current NHL draw, ahead of Carolina's Frederik Andersen.

Tampa, on the other hand, won the seventh victory in the last eight matches and continues the battle for first place in the East just with the Hurricanes.