Shestyorkin's emotions, Malkin's series and Barbashev's double: what surprised the Russians in the NHL

Congratulations from McGregor

All the attention of fans, and not only Russian, last night was riveted to the match in New York between the Rangers and Washington. Before the meeting, the American media announced this game as a duel between Artemi Panarin and Alexander Ovechkin. But the confrontation of compatriots on the ice did not happen. The Capitals captain suffered a lower-body injury and was unable to help his teammates.

In Ovi's absence, the capitals looked toothless again. The hosts almost removed the question of the winner of the match in the first period: Mika Zibanejad scored a brace, another goal was scored by Patrick Kane. Moreover, the Russians took part in both goals of the Swede.

Another point was scored by Vladimir Tarasenko. He went down the right flank and played a precise pass to a team-mate who was in the central zone and easily beat Darcy Kemper.

Zibanejad's second goal was even more spectacular. The attack was launched by Igor Shestyorkin. He sent the puck to Artemi Panarin on the wing. The forward burst into the away zone and made a pass to Mika, and the Swede once again shot at the Washington goaltender, this time making a shot from an awkward hand.

Panarin scored his 643rd point in 575 NHL career games and came close to Igor Larionov (644) in the Russian scorer standings in league history. The head coach of Torpedo takes the 15th place in the list.

For Shestyorkin, who was recognized as the third star of the game, the assist was the first effective action in the regular season. Last season, he also managed to connect to the offense once against St. Louis. However, Igor also had enough work at his gate. He made 28 saves. At the same time, in one of the episodes he could not cope with nerves. There was a stubborn struggle for the puck right in front of the goaltender, and he emotionally snatched the stick from Washington player Alexei Protas, throwing it behind his back and almost hitting Panarin.

As a result, the meeting ended in favor of the Rangers - 5: 3. And to congratulate the team on the victory, former UFC champion Conor McGregor came to the locker room.

"Great job, guys. It was cool to watch the game live. A few times it almost came to a fight, but even that wasn't necessary. Congratulations, amazing game, thank you," the Irishman joked.

Washington once again showed how much it depends on Ovechkin. The Russian has missed six matches this season, and all of them ended in defeat for the capital.

Malkin series

Pittsburgh forward Evgeni Malkin is consistently picking up points for his team. Against Montreal, he extended his scoring streak to six games, scoring a goal and assist in the majority.

Both episodes with the participation of the Russian turned out to be very similar. However, in the first, after a shot from distance, the puck immediately flew into the net, and in the second it was corrected by Jake Genzel. Thus, Malkin went to the 45th place in the list of the best scorers in the history of the NHL. He scored 1218 points (468+750) in 1048 games in his career in the league, surpassing Larry Murphy (1217).

In addition, Evgeny became the fourth Russian to overcome the mark of 70 points this season. Earlier, Nikita Kucherov, Kirill Kaprizov and Artemi Panarin managed to do this.

Unfortunately, Malkin's success didn't help Pittsburgh win the game against Montreal. The Penguins lost 4-6. And in the composition of the winners, Denis Guryanov again attracted attention. The forward has improved significantly since the trade from Dallas. He extended his scoring streak to four games, scoring for the third straight game.

Kucherov's pursuit of McDavid

Tampa forward Nikita Kucherov continues to chase Conor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl in the list of the best scorers of the current season. In the match against New Jersey (4:1), the Russian recorded his 96th point (27 + 69). The forward scored the puck in the final second of the second period, just as the siren sounded.

However, getting a Canadian and a German is not an easy task. Both Edmonton hockey players scored against Ottawa.

McDavid scored a goal and an assist, breaking Kucherov's record set in the 2018/19 season. Then the Russian forward of the Lightning scored 128 points in 82 regular season games, which was the best result in the XXI century. The Oilers captain now has one more assist, and he has 14 more games ahead of him.

Moreover, McDavid and Draisaitl became the first players who managed to reach the grandmaster mark of 100+ points in the season. This is only the second time in NHL history that teammates have made such an achievement two years in a row. Previously, only the legendary Boston hockey players Phil Esposito and Bobby Orr could boast of such performance.

Barbashev's double and Kuzmenko's series

The Russians also attracted attention in the confrontation between Vegas and Philadelphia. The Golden Knights comfortably won 5-3. Ivan Barbashev scored a brace in the match for the second time this season. Previously, he had only managed to hit Montreal's goal twice.

First, the forward scored a long-range shot, converting the majority at the start of the second period. And then he scored at the very end of the game when the Flyers replaced the goaltender with a field player.

Another goal was scored by Pavel Dorofeev, who played only the second match in 2023, but managed to earn his third point. The day before in the game against St. Louis, he scored a goal and an assist. Moreover, he hit the goal with his head.

Andrey Kuzmenko continues his scoring streak. The Vancouver forward scored for the fifth straight game, this time upsetting the Dallas goaltender. The Stars, after a successful road trip to Seattle, where they took four points in two games, could not counter the Canucks (2-5). And Evgeny Dadonov finished the meeting with a utility index of "-1".

Defender Dmitry Orlov does not slow down after moving to Boston. His team lost to Chicago (3: 6), but the Russian again scored effective actions. The hockey player in the second period gave an assist to Hampus Lindholm and scored the 11th point in 9 games for the new team.

Alexander Barabanov and Nikolai Knyzhov scored for San Jose in a 5-6 OT win over Columbus. In this game, Blue Jackets goaltender Daniil Tarasov came to the fore. In addition to the fact that he made 27 saves, the goalkeeper also followed the example of Shestyorkin gave an assist. And two assists by Vladislav Gavrikov helped Los Angeles beat the Islanders (5-2).