Place in history: how Kuzmenko repeated the record of Bure, and Panarin equaled on points with Larionov in the NHL

On the same level as Bure

Andrei Kuzmenko continues to justify the bet of the Vancouver management and prove that he was not in vain offered a two-year contract worth $ 5.5 million, and this is during his first season in the National Hockey League, as a result of which the team most likely will not make it to the playoffs. But even staying in the bottom half of the Western Conference table and a negative balance of wins and losses are not able to spoil the impression of the Russian's performance. After all, he immediately became one of the leaders of the Canucks and has already repeated the achievement in the number of goals in the debut championship.

Kuzmenko conquered this bar in an away match against Arizona. Already in the sixth minute, the Russian demonstrated the instinct inherent in snipers and was exactly where it was needed. The three-move involving Elias Petterson and Anthony Beauvillier was sumptuous: the Swede picked up the puck near the boards and addressed it to the Canadian lurking at the post, and he in two touches transferred it to the opposite. It was there that Andrei was on duty, immediately ferrying her to the net of Ivan Prosvetov's goal.

Thanks to this, Kuzmenko had 34 accurate shots, which allowed him to surpass Brock Boeser and catch up with Pavel Bure. Until now, in his debut season for Vancouver, it was the Russian legionnaire who scored the most. True, the legendary Russian rocket was limited to only 60 (34 + 26) points in 65 meetings, while his compatriot already has one more. And in the future, it may well become the first in this indicator. So far, the same Pettersson is in the lead (66).

Kuzmenko may be a shame that his next efforts did not help Vancouver to get a sixth victory in a row and continue the desperate pursuit of Winnipeg, which is eighth in the West. Subsequently, the visitors conceded three times, managing to respond to it with only one accurate shot - 2: 3.

Panarin's Pass and Shestyorkin's 30 Saves

At the same time, in New York, the confrontation between the Rangers and the Penguins ended, which could subsequently seriously affect the struggle for places in the playoffs in the East. If the hosts are in fifth position with 88 points and are unlikely to fall out of the Stanley Cup, then the visitors have yet to fight for this right. At the moment, Evgeni Malkin and company are in seventh place with 78th and are ahead of the ninth-placed Florida by only three. The one that, along with Montreal, scored ten goals in the first period and subsequently defeated the opponent - 9: 5.

Pittsburgh, on the other hand, limited itself to just two tonight. Both were organized by Sidney Crosby, but this was not enough for the victory (2: 4). And this despite the fact that Artemi Panarin and Vladimir Tarasenko recorded only one assist each. And they did it synchronously, acting as "shell carriers" for Mika Zibanejad. The former St. Louis forward helped the puck get to his compatriot, and he led the Swede to a rendezvous with Tristan Jerry with a gorgeous pass from the board to the floor of the court.

Thus, both scored for the second game in a row, and Panarin not only reached the bar of 75 points for the regular season, but also went to the 15th place among Russian scorers in the history of the NHL. The Rangers leader equaled Igor Larionov (both 644), and he needed to play 345 fewer games for this.

Nevertheless, without the presence of Russians in the list of the main stars of the confrontation could not do. On the second line climbed Igor Shestyorkin, whose confident game and guaranteed the Rangers another victory. The Russian goalie stopped 30 of 32 shots (93.8%) and missed only Chris Kreider, who scored a brace.

Sergachev's assisted double and Kucherov's achievement

Unlike his compatriot, Tampa Bay goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy did not get into the top three of the match with New Jersey, although he made two more saves. Perhaps the reason for this was the three goals conceded at once, which did not allow the Lightning to break the resistance of the opponents in normal time. It was possible to squeeze the uncompromising Devils only in a shootout, where the Russian again shone and did not allow Timo Mayer and Jesper Bockvist to score.

As for field hockey players, Nikita Kucherov and Mikhail Sergachev did not leave the ice without points scored. At the same time, the defender was again more productive. Already in the 69th second of the game, he participated in the goal of Ross Colton, and then paired with the striker assisted Steven Stamkos. An instant change of direction of attack led to the fact that the Canadian was left without guardianship in the faceoff circle and irresistibly "clicked" in the style of Alexander Ovechkin.

Thanks to this, Sergachev for the first time in his career overcame the bar of fifty points for the regular season (7 + 44) and simultaneously reached the eighth place in the list of the best passers of the current season among defenders. And Kucherov for the second time gave 70 assists for the championship. Among the current players, only Crosby (twice) and Connor McDavid (five times) managed to do this. By the way, for a Canadian, this day also became more than remarkable. The Edmonton forward hit the 130-point mark, something no one has been able to do in the twenty-first century.

Nichushkin's contribution and Orlov's next pass

Other Russian NHL legionnaires also showed themselves well. So, Valery Nichushkin skillfully put his stick under the throw of Cale Makar and helped Colorado to a fourth victory in a row. The reigning Stanley Cup winners struggled with Ottawa to move up to fifth in the West table (84). Minnesota's bloodied loss of Kirill Kaprizov is just two points away.

Calgary, located in ninth position, did not switch off from the struggle for the playoffs. This time, Darryl Sutter's charges created a sensation and skated through the conference leader , Vegas. Jonathan Quick missed seven times, while his counterpart Jakob Markström only missed twice. And if ivan Barbashev, who recently joined the Golden Knights roster, could not extend the scoring streak and finished the game with a -3 utility rating, Nikita Zadorov performed more successfully and demonstrated his skills as an organizer for the first time since January 28.

That brings Calgary closer to eighth-placed Winnipeg within three points. And for this it is worth thanking Boston, which sent three unanswered goals to the goal of the Canadian team. One of them involved Dmitry Orlov, who opened up from a new side after moving to Massachusetts. In ten games for the Bruins, he has already scored three goals and nine assists.

In turn, the 17th goal of the season was scored by Kirill Marchenko. This time, Columbus' Russian forward took Los Angeles goalie Phoenix Copley by surprise. The two-time World Youth Championship medalist received a pass from his opponent a couple of meters from the target and left the goalkeeper unseen with his second touch. However, this helped the Blue Jackets only to soak up the score - 1: 4.