Ovechkin's 812th goal

Matches between "Washington" and "Pittsburgh" have always been distinguished by their principles, and the reporting meeting in the American capital was no exception.

The teams did not reveal the strongest either in regular or extra time, and only in the shootout series did the Capitals manage to snatch a victory - 3:2.

As usual, special attention was riveted on Alexander Ovechkin, and the Russian striker did not disappoint his fans.

First, even before the game, he showed his best human qualities by warmly welcoming Penguins defenseman Chris Letang at the reel.

The Canadian hockey player is known to be going through a difficult period.

In November last year, he suffered a second stroke in his life, then lost his father, but despite this, he returned to the ice in December and scored four points in the first match.

Hockey players exchanged a few phrases and embraced, which looked quite touching. 

But in the game, Ovechkin did without sentimentality.

Already in the seventh minute, he opened the scoring, calmly realizing the numerical advantage of his team with a branded throw from the "office".

Moreover, the goal turned out to be purely Russian - Dmitry Orlov and Evgeny Kuznetsov assisted the Great Eight.

For a native of Chelyabinsk, this transfer was the 35th this season, and he leads by a wide margin in this indicator as part of Washington.

Ovechkin, on the other hand, has already chalked up the 812th puck in the NHL regular season, and he did it on the day of Wayne Gretzky's 62nd birthday.

This fact could not be missed by the press service of Washington, which published on Twitter a photo of a jubilant Russian with the caption "Happy birthday, Wayne."

From the eternal record of the legendary Canadian Ovi is now separated by 82 washers.

In addition, this goal was Ovechkin's 401st in the home arena, which allowed him to reach fourth place in history in this indicator.

Only Jaromir Jagr (411), Gordie Howe (449) and the same Gretzky (492) are ahead.

And among those who most often distinguished themselves in their careers in the early periods, the Russian is now in fifth place with 223 goals.

Evgeni Malkin was not very noticeable in this meeting and was more remembered for a foul in overtime on TJ Oshi, for which he received a two-minute penalty.

In the shootout, Malkin was also unlucky, he did not realize the attempt, unlike Kuznetsov, who performed his throw for a feast for the eyes.

Meanwhile, the triumph of the Capitals, who won after two consecutive defeats, was watched by former team forward Alexander Semin.

When the announcer announced his presence, the Capital One Arena stands greeted the Russian with thunderous applause.

Three points by Kucherov and 37 saves by Vasilevsky

Another supermatch was given out by Nikita Kucherov, who helped Tampa beat the leader of the Eastern Conference.

The Russian participated in all three goals of his team against Boston, while becoming the first hockey player of the season to overcome the mark of 50 assists - he brought their total to 52. It took him 47 games to do this, and the gained progress gives hope, that by the end of the regular season, Nikita will improve his own record for assists among Russians, set three years ago.

Then he found 87 passes of partners before scoring.

In addition, it is worth noting that the Lightning forward was the first Russian to exceed 70 points abroad and almost got close to Leon Draisaitl, who is in second place in the list of top scorers.

Particularly spectacular in the match with the Bruins was Kucherov's pass in the first period, when in a difficult situation he laid the puck to Brandon Hagel directly to the opponent's goal.

And at the very beginning of the third game segment, the Russian himself celebrated a goal, hitting the gate with a lightning-fast throw after the throw-in, but then it turned out that the puck in flight slightly hooked Braden Point's skate.

As a result, scrupulous statisticians nevertheless recorded a goal for the Canadian, and Kucherov "got" another assistant hat-trick - already the sixth this season.

In addition, the Russian was recognized as the third star of the match after Andrey Vasilevsky and Viktor Hedman.

And the goalkeeper of "Tampa" held the 400th anniversary match for his career in the NHL, and reflected 37 of 39 shots on his own goal.

The current victory was Andrey's 251st in the league, and this is the best result for goalkeepers who have already played four hundred matches.

Braden Holtby is second with 244 and Frederik Andersen is third with 233.