The reporting game day turned out to be incredibly successful for two domestic forwards at once: Evgeni Malkin and Nikita Kucherov scored four points each.
But Gino's accomplishment looks special as he helped Pittsburgh make an amazing comeback against Vancouver.
The beginning of the match turned out to be a failure for the Penguins.
Already by the eighth minute they missed three unanswered goals, and all in equal compositions.
And if in the first two cases the claims should be presented rather to the defenders, then in the next Casey Desmith could not cope with not the most dangerous throw of Quinn Hughes in the near.
After that, Mike Sullivan changed the main goalkeeper to Dustin Tokarski.
It seemed that the team had no chance to at least score points.
However, the Canucks are known for their lack of character and have squandered a solid lead more than once.
Especially at a difficult moment, a veteran from Russia took over the game.
“We, sitting on the bench, believed that we could recoup.
We are such a team.
This is a huge victory.
The guys support each other, ”the official website of the league quotes Malkin as saying.
Even before the break, the hosts through the efforts of the striker managed to even the score.
First, he himself realized a double majority with a powerful click from the right circle.
Then Sidney Crosby closed the cross of Brian Dumoulin.
By the way, this goal was the only one in Pittsburgh that evening, in which Malkin did not take part.
But just a minute later, he won the face-off, and Jason Zucker sent the puck exactly into the far nine - 3:3.
And immediately after the break, it was Eugene who first brought the partners ahead.
This time he did everything on his own: on someone else's blue line, he made a selection from compatriot Ilya Mikheev, found the same Zucker with a pass and opened up great at the far post.
Sullivan's wards put the point in the 35th minute, when they converted the second majority in the match.
After the throw of the domestic athlete, Ricard Raquell was the first to finish.
Moreover, in the final period, Malkin almost scored a hat-trick, but the opponent was saved by the crossbar.
As a result, Travis Dermott even reduced the gap to a minimum in the end, but Vancouver failed to make their comeback.
But Pittsburgh, after six defeats in a row, extended the winning streak to two meetings and returned to the playoff zone in the East, rising to eighth place.
And Malkin scored four points in the NHL for the first time since March 27 last year and the 28th time in his career.
According to this indicator, only three are ahead of him in the entire history of the league: teammate Crosby (37), Alexander Ovechkin (32) and Connor McDavid (30).
Also, with 39 points (14 + 25) this season he climbed into the top 50 scorers of the race.
Surprisingly, on the same evening, another Russian Kucherov scored a similar achievement.
Nikita helped Tampa Bay to confidently beat the underdog Columbus and gain a foothold in seventh position in the East.
Moreover, this time the striker not only habitually assisted his partners, which he succeeds almost better than anyone in the league, but also scored a double.
It was he who opened the scoring in the debut of the meeting.
The forward lost the puck, but returned to his zone and, having made a selection, began a counterattack with a long pass.
As a result, he himself, having eluded the defenders, closed Erik Chernak's cross on a penny.
And soon he gave out an amazing pass to Nick Paul in the majority, after which he had only to substitute the stick.
“When you go out on the ice with him, you always expect something unusual.
A couple of shifts before that, Nikita had not looked in my direction even once, but I always kept the stick on the ice ready.
And then, without even looking, he gave me a pass right on the hook when I was in a shock position.
This is a special hockey player,” Paul admired his colleague.
However, the Blue Jackets did not think of giving up and in the middle of the second, as well as the beginning of the final periods, reduced the gap to a minimum.
An accurate shot by Vladislav Namestnikov fit between their goals.
The striker playing in the fourth link made a selection in the center of the site and realized a one-on-one exit with Elvis Merzlikin.
“Goals are not easy this season, so you need to take the opportunity, and in this situation I just had a chance.
I saw that the line is free, and the goalkeeper is not in his position.
Therefore, he performed a throw with the back side, ”the Russian rejoiced.
However, at a difficult moment, the hosts and Kucherov personally again taught the opponents a lesson in playing in the majority.
In the 47th minute, Nikita established a comfortable advantage for the team with a powerful shot from the right circle, and then helped Braden Point score.
A minute later, Ross Colton brought the score to devastating.
The only fly in the ointment for the native of Maykop was a mistake in the ending.
He made a loss and allowed Kirill Marchenko to upset Andrei Vasilevsky.
Thus, the young forward scored the ninth goal this season, although he started it in the farm.
Kucherov, with 43 assists, caught up with McDavid in the list of the best assistants of the current NHL regular season draw and bypassed Erik Karlsson (42) from San Jose.
And in the race of scorers, he, having 59 points in the asset (16 + 43), is located on the third line.
Only McDavid (77) and Leon Draisaitl (62) are ahead of him.