Malkin's record goal
Pittsburgh is one of the most unpredictable teams in the current Stanley Cup season.
On the one hand, it has such stars as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, who work wonders on the ice.
On the other hand, they are already quite old athletes and cannot act as brightly as they did a couple of years ago.
However, despite this, in the playoffs, Mike Sullivan's team demonstrates that experience, when used correctly, can defeat younger and more daring opponents.
A vivid example of this is the confrontation in the Rangers: out of four matches, only in one Penguins did not look the best, losing 2:5 and allowing Artemy Panarin to score three points.
At the same time, veterans shoot at the right time.
In the first meeting, it was Malkin's goal that gave the team victory in overtime, and at home the puck of 37-year-old Jeff Carter became the key.
Of course, it is not always possible to issue a series of several games in a row.
So, after a bright performance in New York, the Russian went into the shadows, but in the fourth fight he again managed to make himself known, distinguishing himself in the 53rd minute.
However, even in the first half of the meeting, Crosby removed the question of the winner.
The Canadian chalked up three effective actions at once: a powerplay goal and two assists, after which Mike Matheson and Jake Gunzel scored.
The forward earned 200 points in his career in the Stanley Cup and became the sixth hockey player in the history of the tournament, who managed to reach this mark.
Crosby's activity discouraged the Rangers, and then the pucks one after another began to pour into the gates of Igor Shesterkin - by the 40th minute the score was already 6:2.
As a result, Gerard Gallan had to again, as in the previous confrontation, go to extreme measures and change the goalkeeper.
At the same time, after the match, the mentor emphasized that he trusted the Russian.
“He must be very upset.
But Shesterkin will be back and ready to win the next match.
Absolutely sure of him.
This was a difficult game for our team, and I'm more disappointed with the whole team than with them alone, ”said the specialist in an interview with the official NHL website.
Alexander Georgiev took to the ice.
He got less work than his compatriot: Pittsburgh made only nine shots in the third period.
However, the goalkeeper failed to defend to zero - Malkin found a way to deal with an opponent.
He received the puck from Kasperi Kapanen and with an uncomfortable hand sent it under the crossbar.
This goal had no effect on the result of the meeting and could have gone unnoticed if it had not turned out to be historical for the striker himself.
Evgeny scored 177 points for his career in the Stanley Cup and became the best of the Russians in this indicator, surpassing the result of Sergei Fedorov, who stopped at around 176.
In addition, Malkin moved into third place in playoff goals in Pittsburgh history.
Evgeny scored the 66th goal and improved the result of Jaromir Jagr (65).
Only Mario Lemieux (76) and Crosby (71) are ahead.
The score in the series between the teams is now 3-1 in favor of the Penguins, who need to win only one match to advance to the next round.
Bobrovsky's decisive save
If “Pittsburgh” has already practically solved the problem of getting into the semi-finals of the Eastern Conference, then in the confrontation between “Washington” and “Florida” everything is not so clear.
In the first game at home, the Capitals seemingly found a way to deal with Sergei Bobrovsky and upset him six times at once.
However, it was not possible to arrange a rout in front of their fans twice.
Although at first everything was going well for the "capital".
They opened the scoring already in the eighth minute, having converted the majority: the puck flew into the goal from the foot of TJ Oshi.
However, the opponent did not allow to build on the success.
Florida, on the contrary, quickly restored equality - Aaron Ekblad and Carter Verage fled two to one, and in the second period the guests completely transferred Washington.
The hosts were saved only by the magnificent game of Ilya Samsonov, who made 12 saves.
At the same time, Washington remained in the minority three times.
10 minutes before the end of the match, Ovechkin and Kuznetsov brought their team forward.
The episode began with a clash between Osha and Sam Bennett.
The Panthers forward after the push by T.J. had a broken face, but the referees did not whistle.
The puck after the fight bounced off the captain of the Capitals, who sent Evgeny into the lead to the gates of Bobrovsky.
The forward paused and effectively outplayed his compatriot.
It seemed that the meeting would end like that.
But the all-important save of the Florida goalkeeper turned everything upside down.
Panthers mentor Andrew Brunnett was already releasing a sixth field hockey player in his place when Washington threw the puck out of his zone and Markus Johansson rushed to her.
Sergei was still at the gate and again was able to hit the puck.
These actions inspired the team.
The guests staged a final assault and yet, through the efforts of Sam Rinehart, equalized the score.
Overtime didn't last long.
Double in the match designed Verage.
At the same time, the goal turned out to be controversial.
Samsonov parried the shot, Aaron was the first to finish, but the goalkeeper was prevented by Lars Eller and Jonathan Huberdo.
Hockey players at full speed flew into the gate.
The referees watched the video to determine if there was interference with the goalkeeper, but no violations were recorded.
As a result, 3:2 in favor of "Florida" and equality in the series - 2-2.
After the meeting, Ovechkin, in his traditional manner, offered to forget the defeat and move on.
According to Kuznetsov, nothing has been lost in this confrontation.
“In the third period, everything was in our hands.
Now we are going to play a series to two victories.
There is no panic, we still have good chances.
This is one of those series where we have to be patient and wait, ”said the forward.