The end of the unsuccessful series of "Washington"
For Washington in general and its main star in particular, the last two weeks have been extremely difficult.
Alexander Ovechkin lost his father, his long-term partner Dmitry Orlov was traded to Boston, and the team could not return to winning ways.
The unsuccessful series began even before the captain's departure for Russia, continued in his absence and did not end even upon his return.
On the eve of the principled confrontation with the Rangers, Peter Laviolette's wards had six defeats in a row in liabilities, and Ovechkin could not score points in five meetings.
The “capitals” managed to get out of the protracted peak in the match with the New Yorkers.
In the first two periods, they upset Igor Shesterkin five times, and in four cases this happened with the participation of the Russians.
Evgeny Kuznetsov not only assisted TJ Oshi and Sonny Milano, but also distinguished himself, and Ovechkin organized a counterattack that ended with Tom Wilson's accurate throw.
The captain won the fight at the boards and addressed the pass to Trevor van Rimsdyk, who had already sent the Canadian striker into the gap.
In a similar style, Kuznetsov also lit his name on the scoreboard.
The Rangers once again failed in defense and allowed the attacker to go to a rendezvous with Shesterkin.
He was all alone on the border of the blue line and rushed forward, after which he dealt with his compatriot without any problems.
And already in the third period, Eugene designed a double.
And again, he got the opportunity to perform an impromptu bullet, and none other than Ovechkin organized it.
"Washington" confidently prevailed over the "Rangers" (6:3) and won the first victory since February 11.
Then he was away stronger than the leader of the Eastern Conference - "Boston".
Ovechkin scored 56 (32 + 24) points and cemented himself in fifth place among the best Russian scorers in the league, and Kuznetsov scored four points per game for the second time this season and received the title of the second star of the match.
Shutout Vasilevsky and two points Kucherov
The main characters of the meeting with Detroit included two Russians from Tampa Bay.
Nikita Kucherov in the tenth minute brought Braden Point one on one with Ville Husso and helped him reach the bar of 35 goals for the championship for the second time in his career.
And half an hour later, the Canadian returned the favor: after his pass, the Russian with a spectacular reverse grip shot sent the puck right between the Finn's shields.
All this time, the Red Wings were desperately trying to restore parity and literally bombarded the Lightning gate.
For the entire match, Andrei Vasilevsky had to demonstrate his skills 45 times, but the owner of the Vezina Trophy caught the courage and reflected everything that flew in his direction.
One Dylan Larkin tried to surprise the goalkeeper six times, and in one of the episodes Tyler Bertuzzi attacked an already empty corner, but the goalkeeper was unmistakable.
“Tampa” prevailed with a score of 3: 0, and the goalkeeper was recognized as the first star of the match and the second of the day.
Thus, Vasilevsky became only the sixth Russian in history to complete 30 shutouts in the NHL.
According to this indicator, he is behind Ilya Bryzgalov (34), Semyon Varlamov (37), Sergei Bobrovsky (38), Nikolai Khabibulin (46) and Evgeny Nabokov (59).
At the same time, since his arrival in the league, only Connor Hellebike (31) and Marc-Andre Fleury (45) have left their gates intact more often.
Achievements of Marchenko and Svechnikov, two passes by Nichushkin
In turn, Kirill Marchenko entered his name in the history of Columbus.
In the confrontation with Edmonton, he scored a double and repeated the club's record for the number of matches with two or more goals in his debut season.
Before him, only Serge Aubin managed to score at least two goals in three championship meetings as a rookie.
At the same time, the Russian excelled in the classic style for a powerful forward: at first he turned out to be quicker than everyone on the penny, and then he opened opposite the target and loaded with brushes just under the crossbar.
Thus, he helped the Blue Jackets break the resistance of the Oilers in one of the most action-packed thrillers of the day - 6:5.
Evgeny Svechnikov, on the contrary, could not bring San Jose a victory in the home game with Chicago.
The Sharks lost on shootouts, but the striker himself hardly has anything to reproach himself for.
He not only remained in the black, but also scored a goal, updating his personal sniper record.
Previously, he had never scored more than seven goals in the regular season.
Valery Nichushkin did not leave the ice without glasses either.
In the confrontation with Calgary, he assisted first Nathan McKinnon, and then Mikko Rantanen, thanks to which he earned the title of second star of the match.
Forward “Colorado” has benefited the team for the fourth meeting in a row.
He gave out a longer hitting streak at the start of the championship, when he distinguished himself in seven games in a row.
The Russians were also in sight in the game "St. Louis" with "Pittsburgh".
At the 23rd second of the second period, Pavel Buchnevich turned his stick and scored after a throw by Robert Thomas.
But already six minutes later Evgeni Malkin answered him.
Together with Brian Rast, he organized an exemplary attack, and together they literally rolled out both the defense and the hosts' goalkeeper.
In regular time, the Blues failed to put the squeeze on the distressed Blues: they responded to the exact hit of Markus Pettersson with an irresistible throw of Justin Faulk from the pass of Alexei Toropchenko.
But in overtime, the Penguins still got their way - this time Rust acted as a sniper.
As for Malkin, for the first time in three years and for the 12th time in his career, he reached 60 points in a season, equaling this indicator with the legendary Mario Lemieux.
In the history of the club, more often than not, only one hockey player managed to do this - Sidney Crosby (15).