Kuzmenko's double, Malkin's three points and Georgiev's 37 saves: what eclipsed Ovechkin's 811th goal and a new record in the NHL

Return of the Sniper

Throughout his long and illustrious career, Alexander Ovechkin was famous for his incredibly high resistance to injuries and practically did not miss the NHL regular season matches.

And it hasn't really changed with age.

The only exception was the 2019/20 season, in which he played 68 meetings, but at the same time he almost scored 50 accurate throws.

Practically without “days off”, the Russian worked in the current competitive year, until he was left out of the application for the game with Vegas.

Without the captain, who was absent due to damage to the lower body, the Capitals lost devastatingly and allowed Buffalo to close the gap on them in the standings, thereby aggravating the fight for a ticket to the playoffs.

The team needed its leader, so in a principled confrontation with the current owner of the Stanley Cup, Ovechkin appeared on the ice.

And although the Capitals were defeated with a minimal score difference (2:3), the striker himself looked decent.

He played for more than 23 minutes, scored two power moves, hit the target three times, but most importantly, he scored another goal and approached Wayne Gretzky's record.

Taking the gate turned out to be ordinary.

Two Capitals players struggled on the right flank, while the forward "unstuck" from the defender and remained completely uncovered in the beloved faceoff circle.

It would seem that in a nearly 20-year career, the rivals should have understood that Alexander should not be given so much space, but the Colorado hockey players stepped on the same rake.

As a result, Dylan Strome “robbed” Nathan McKinnon and instantly performed the pass to the captain, who scored the 811th goal in his career with a signature shot and came close to reaching Gretzky at a distance of 83 goals.

But in terms of the total number of accurate shots in away meetings in the regular season and the playoffs, he has already caught up with the legendary Canadian (both - 477 each).

As for the current season, the Russian ahead of Jack Hughes, came out on the seventh line in the list of the best scorers (31) and continued to chase Connor McDavid.

The Canadian has nine more accurate hits.

In the remaining ten minutes, Washington had a chance to restore parity.

In total, for the third period, Peter Laviolette's wards made five times more shots on goal (15:3), but failed to surprise Alexander Georgiev again.

The Russian goalkeeper made a total of 37 saves and helped Colorado extend their unbeaten streak to five matches, and scored a spectacular save in the end.

Erik Gustafsson attacked from a killer position, but the goalkeeper saved the puck with his helmet and was subsequently deservedly recognized as the first star of the meeting.

Duel Kucherov and Kaprizov

In turn, the Minnesota forward continues the dispute with Ovechkin for the title of the best Russian sniper of the tournament.

In the confrontation with Tampa Bay, Kirill Kaprizov did a great job finishing off and with 27 goals he climbed to 12th place in the list of contenders for the Maurice Richard Trophy.

But like Alexander, he failed to bring points to the team.

The Wild lost on foreign ice and dropped out of the top eight in the West.

But not only Kaprizov pleased domestic hockey fans in this match.

He was more than adequately answered by the Russian trio Tampa.

Mikhail Sergachev interrupted the “dry” series of four meetings and scored an assistant double, and Nikita Kucherov chalked up not only an assist, but also a goal.

First, together with his compatriot, he organized a spectacular counterattack, which ended with an accurate hit by Stephen Stamkos, and 17 seconds before the siren buried the hopes of the guests for a comeback, hitting an empty net.

Kucherov scored points in the fourth game in a row and continued to fight for the title of McDavid's main pursuer (40 + 48) in the scorer race.

The Russian has 68 (19 + 49) points.

David Pastrnak (37 + 32) and Leon Draisaitl (28 + 45) have more.

In addition, this day became significant for Andrey Vasilevsky.

The Russian goaltender made 33 saves and won his 250th NHL win.

To do this, he needed to spend only 399 matches.

In the entire history of the league, only the legendary Ken Dryden from Montreal (381) managed to get to this bar faster.

Three points by Malkin and a double by Kuzmenko

One of the brightest meetings of the season was held by a Pittsburgh veteran.

The confrontation with the “Florida” turned out to be super-tense and no less productive.

For two, the teams scored 13 times, and the victor was determined only in overtime.

Moreover, the “Penguins” three times found themselves in the role of catching up, but each time they managed to recoup.

And largely thanks to the actions of one of its leaders.

It was Evgeni Malkin who helped the hosts organize the first mini-comeback in the middle of the first period, and at the end of the third one almost brought success.

In the first episode, the Russian, who was with his back to the goal, put his stick under the backache of Chris Letang and thereby, without looking, he made a pass to Ricard Raquell.

And five and a half minutes before the siren, he became the author of the sixth goal of the team.

In Ovechkin style, the attacker positioned himself near the faceoff circle in a numerical advantage and slammed the puck into the net.

“Florida” miraculously escaped, but already in overtime again remained in the minority and was punished for it.

This time, Malkin did without sophisticated gears and simply left the puck to the same Letang, and he “shot” into the corner with all his might.

As a result, the Canadian, who missed a month due to injury and the loss of his father, scored four (2 + 2) points and became the main star of the meeting, and the Russian (1 + 2) came second.

In turn, Vancouver won the first victory since the dismissal of Bruce Boudreau.

Wards of Rick Toquette defeated Chicago (5:2), and one of the main creators of success was the team's newcomer Andrey Kuzmenko, who scored a double.

In both cases, he dealt well with Petr Mrazek in close combat, and his teammate Elias Petterson acted as an assistant.

The Swede showed himself especially well in the episode with the second goal, when he swung Jason Dickinson smartly and cut out a cross pass to the Russian.

At the same time, another domestic Canucks legionnaire, Ilya Mikheev, took part in the first.

As a result, Kuzmenko received the title of the first star of the match and, with 43 (21 + 22) points, took third place in the list of Vancouver's top scorers.

Quinn Hughes (4 + 39) has the same amount, only Horvath (31 + 19) and Petterson (19 + 37) have more.

One of the most discussed Russian NHL hockey players of recent days was also noted for a bright performance.

Ivan Provorov, who refused to participate in the action in support of LGBT, scored two points per game for the third time this season and closed the top three of the main stars of the confrontation.

Largely thanks to his excellent passes, James van Riemsdyk and Wade Ellison distinguished themselves, but Philadelphia still could not avoid a second defeat in a row.

In overtime, she was beaten by Los Angeles.