While Ovechkin is silent: how Kuznetsov scored the winning goal in overtime, and Svechnikov scored 250 points in the NHL

Robin for Ovechkin

Formally, going to visit Columbus was not supposed to be difficult for Washington.

In the standings, the teams shared more than 30 points, and the two previous matches of the regular season ended in favor of the capital's hockey players.

In addition, Niklas Beckström continued to get in shape, returning to action in mid-January.

But contrary to expectations, the guests had an extremely difficult time, and at a critical moment, one of the Russian legionnaires had to take on the role of leader.

Local fans are used to the fact that Alexander Ovechkin usually acts in this capacity.

Since joining the Capitals, he has chalked up 124 winning goals and ranked first in this indicator in the history of the team.

If we talk about the league as a whole, then only Jaromir Jagr (135) scored decisive goals more often.

But this time the captain was clearly not at ease.

In attack, he was not as active as usual, and during the entire game he only hit the Blue Jackets on target three times, which could well have been the tactical decisions of Peter Laviolette.

The Russian started in the top three with Dylan Strome and Conor Sheary, but went into the third period on a line with Lars Eller and Nicolas Aube-Kubel.

However, this did not bring any benefit.

By this time, Ovi already had a "-1" in the "utility indicator" column and could not correct his personal statistics.

Then “Washington” was already leading with a score of 3:2.

Garnet Hathaway and Trevor van Riemsdyk, who scored twice in the regular season for the first time, scored goals for the hosts.

And he should be thanked for this by Evgenia Kuznetsova.

It was his cruising pass through the gate and the thinnest pass to the nickel that helped the American to distinguish himself for the second time and strengthen the advantage of the “capital”.

True, after two and a half minutes they missed the second time and gave Columbus hopes for a comeback, which were later brought to life by Johnny Gaudreau.

The star forward hit exactly in the top nine and restored parity.

It is noteworthy that a few minutes before this, Ovechkin had a great chance to score, but his roundhouse shot was unthinkably parried by Joonas Korpisalo.

Finn sprawled on target and stopped the puck almost on the ribbon.

The confrontation went into overtime, where everything was decided in less than 30 seconds.

Markus Johansson rolled into the opponent's zone and gave a pass to Kuznetsov, who literally repeated the actions of Gaudreau.

With a wrist shot, he sent the puck exactly into the far corner and brought the Capitals a major victory.

Thanks to this, Kuznetsov broke a "dry" streak of 14 meetings and went into seventh place in the decisive goals in the history of the club, overtaking Kelly Miller and Dale Hunter.

And if he continues in the same spirit, then by the end of his career he can move up the list.

At the moment, he is nine accurate hits from Beckström, who occupies the fourth line.

At the same time, if we take his debut in the league as a starting point, then more often than not, only Ovechkin brought success to the “capital” (65 times).

250 Svechnikov points

And although it was Kuznetsov who helped Washington put the squeeze on Columbus, NHL experts recognized him as the third star of both the match and the day as a whole.

Unlike his compatriot from the Carolinas, who, although he failed to re-ignite his name on the scoreboard, helped the partners organize a comeback from 1: 4 and break the resistance of Los Angeles.

And this time it all ended in overtime.

It was thanks to Andrei Svechnikov that the Hurricanes managed to take the lead already in the 14th minute.

The Russian picked up the puck that ricocheted off the opponent's stick in the Kings zone and addressed it to Brent Burns.

And the defender-scorer in the corporate style broke through the flank and caught the Phoenix Collie by surprise.

True, the hosts did not rejoice for long.

Over the next 22 minutes, they missed four times and found themselves in an extremely difficult position.

However, the wards of Rob Brindamore did not give up and, with the help of their veterans, were able to close the gap to a minimum - Paul Stastny and Jordan Staal scored accurate shots.

And seven and a half minutes before the final siren, Teuvo Teräväinen restored parity.

And again, Svechnikov became one of the assistants.

Together with Brady Shay, they stretched the defense of the opponents who were in the minority, and the Finnish striker “clicked” with all his strength from the right face-off circle.

In overtime, “Carolina” put the squeeze on “Los Angeles” and took the upper hand for the sixth time in a row, and Svechnikov received the title of the second star of the meeting.

At the same time, Sebastian Aho became the first both within the framework of this confrontation and the entire game day.

And this despite the fact that the Finn is no longer remembered for anything, and his utility indicator turned out to be neutral.

Against its background, Kuznetsov's achievements look more impressive.

One way or another, Svechnikov for the fourth time overcame the bar of 40 points for the regular season and reached the mark of 250 effective actions for his career.

Before reaching the age of 23, only four Russians managed to achieve this - Alexander Ovechkin (310), Evgeni Malkin (304), Ilya Kovalchuk (303) and Pavel Bure (277).