Enchanting start: how Panarin, Shesterkin, Vasilevsky and Kucherov lit up in the opening match of the NHL regular season

In the first game of the 2022/23 NHL regular season, the semi-finalists of the previous season, Tampa Bay and Rangers, met.

Their spectacular showdown in June culminated in a six-game victory for the Florida team, and the New Yorkers were definitely looking to get even at the earliest opportunity, especially at home.

This match, no doubt, lived up to all expectations, and Russian hockey players, of whom there are many in both teams, were in the first roles.

The meeting ended with a score of 3:1 in favor of the hosts. 

The fighting spirit of the New Yorkers was embodied in incredible activity in the attack.

Tampa goalkeeper Andrei Vasilevsky had to work hard: in the first period alone, he chalked up 14 reflected shots, and 36 of them accumulated in the entire match. not allowing the American to play the rebound.

In the starting twenty minutes, the hosts failed to break through the two-time Stanley Cup winner, but they were able to keep their gates intact.

However, the Rangers still suffered one loss: striker Vitaly Kravtsov was forced to leave the ice ahead of schedule after a forceful reception by Victor Hedman.

How serious the injury turned out to be is still unknown, but head coach Gerard Gallan hopes that this is only a minor injury and the hockey player will recover soon.

Being out of action for a long period may be inappropriate for the 22-year-old Russian, who is making another attempt to gain a foothold in the team.

Since 2019, Kravtsov has been flying to the USA, then returning to Traktor Chelyabinsk, and finally, this season, Gallan decided to give him a chance to gain a foothold, putting him on a link with Artemy Panarin and Vincent Trochek.

Despite the intensity of the match, Madison Square Garden spectators saw the first goal only at the beginning of the second period.

The guests at the wrong time started a change of links in the majority and forgot about Mika Zibanejad.

He, without meeting any resistance, rolled out of the blue line one on one with Vasilevsky and sent the puck into the far corner with an uncomfortable hand.

However, Tampa bounced back almost immediately.

This puck was attended by Nikita Kucherov, who made an assist for Steven Stamkos.

Thus, the 29-year-old striker became the first Russian to earn points in the new regular season.

Panarin also actively held the meeting.

He seemed to be hovering on the ice, continually winding up opponents and breaking through to the Lightning gate.

With the score 1:1, the Rangers forward managed to run one on one with Vasilevsky, but this duel of two Russians remained with the goalkeeper.

However, already at the beginning of the third period, Khlebushek earned a point for performance.

In the majority, he gave a filigree cross pass to Zibanezhad, who scored a double and brought the hosts ahead.

Now on account of the 30-year-old forward 570 points for his career in the NHL, of which 383 - for assists.

Not without reason, on the eve of the start of the regular season, the Daily Faceoff portal named the Russian the best passer in the league.

And in the reporting match, Artemy had a few more skillful passes that the partners failed to use.

At the end of the game, the Russian's partner in the game link, Vincent Trochek, admitted with a smile that he sometimes admired Panarin's work on the court.

“Even when I’m on the ice, it’s hard not to stand at a distance and, damn it, not follow his game,” said the American.

No doubt, Rangers goalkeeper Igor Shesterkin deserved similar compliments, who repelled 25 attacks on his goal and only once allowed the red light to light up behind them.

At the same time, the owner of the Vezina Trophy praised his partners for insuring him in difficult times.

“Defensively, the guys were just great.

They blocked the shots, and even when they didn’t block, they opened the corridors so that I could see the puck, ”Shesterkin emphasized.

In the light of the meeting between Tampa and the Rangers, a discussion flared up again, which of the goalkeepers is stronger - Shesterkin or Vasilevsky.

Thus, observers of the official site of the NHL Tracy Myers and Mike Morreale in this dispute were on opposite sides of the barricades.

According to Myers, the Lightning keeper is the number one today, because he is the owner of the Vezina, as well as a finalist for this award for four consecutive seasons (2017–21).

In addition, Vasilevsky won the Stanley Cup twice and stopped a couple of steps away from the third title.

36 saves in the opening match of the season clearly show that Andrei is superbly prepared and does not intend to slow down.

However, Morreale is sure that the goalkeeper of the New Yorkers is superior to his counterparts in terms of the quality of the game, and will soon bypass the number of awards and titles.

“Shesterkin is able to withstand tremendous pressure and consistently save shots against his team in stressful situations - the 110 points scored by the Rangers in the regular season became the third highest among the teams of the Original Six.

It seems to me that last season for Igor was just the tip of the iceberg - in this he will show himself even better, ”the league website quotes the expert as saying.