Panarin's Achievement and Ovechkin's Nerves
Washington's home game against the Rangers was one of the last opportunities to stay afloat in the fight for the playoffs. The capitals have suffered six defeats in their last seven meetings and their situation can only be called deplorable: 8 points behind the eighth place, the leader in the Stanley Cup. Gerard Gallant's men, however, while finishing the regular season without undue pressure, were hardly happy with two straight losses. As a result, the meeting turned out to be very tense, and not so much in sports as in the emotional component, and one of the main actors was usually Russian hockey players.
Artemi Panarin once again shone for the visitors, who for the sixth time this season scored an assist hat-trick and was recognized as the second star of the match. The Blueshirts' first assist came midway through the opening twenty minutes, sending Vincent Trocek to the attack, who in turn passed to C'Andre Miller. For Panarin, this assist was the 60th in the current championship. This is the third time in his career that Artemi has reached this landmark mark, and only legendary defenseman Brian Leach, who shone in New York from the late 1980s to the early 2000s, could boast of the same achievement in the history of the Rangers.
Thus, the visitors took the lead and just two minutes later doubled their advantage through the efforts of Alexi Lafrenière. And early in the second period, Kaapo Kakko brought the score to a threatening 3-0.
To upset Igor Shestyorkin, who for the game saved a total of 26 shots, Washington managed only in the 33rd minute of the meeting. In that episode, Alexander Ovechkin took a direct part, who for all the previous time was remembered only for a few spectacular power techniques. Dylan Strome, having received a pass from his captain, cleverly threw from behind the net, and the puck ricocheted from the goalkeeper directly into the net. But the capitals failed to make a difference in the unsuccessfully developing game. In the second half of the match, Panarin replenished his piggy bank with two more assists. First, he helped to distinguish compatriot Vladimir Tarasenko, who immediately threw from the wrists into the far nine, and then - Mika Zibanejadu.
After the fifth goal, Washington's players finally lost their nerves. Ovechkin, faced with a hit from Barclay Goodrow, became enraged, chased his opponent and hit him several times with his stick. This outbreak provoked a mass brawl, which also involved Niko Mikkola, Tom Wilson and Martin Fehervari. They all received five minutes of sending-offs from the referees, and the Capitals captain received two. However, after Alexander sarcastically applauded the referees for the punishment imposed, he was given another ten minutes of disciplinary punishment. This hasn't happened to the Big Eight since the 2009-10 season, when he was given 15 minutes per game three times.
Washington head coach Peter Laviolette explained the emotions of his main star by the fact that the referees missed a blow to the face in the episode when the Rangers scored the fifth goal.
"He was annoyed that at the other end (of the site. - RT) the violations were not noticed, and returned back, gripped by this irritation. Our guys played hard and emotionally... we had a certain advantage, and I think it all overlapped with each other. First, you need to hold out until Shiri runs out of penalty time, then the referees miss the violation - as a result, the irritation gradually increases, "the American specialist said.
Malkin's record penalty
Another Russian, Evgeny Malkin, also distinguished himself by excessive emotionality on this game day. In the second period against Philadelphia, the Pittsburgh forward earned three straight two-minute sending-offs and, when he was sent back into the box early in the third, began yelling at the referee. For this, the Russian was punished with a double disciplinary fine of 10 minutes, and he had to go to the locker room. Thus, Evgeny received 28 minutes for the match at once. This is a kind of anti-record, because this has never happened in his career. Previously, the longest punishment was 16 minutes in a game against New Jersey in December 2014.
"He was played with a high stick, and (the judges. - RT) didn't see it. It seems to me that he was upset because he received 3 small penalties, one of which was for playing with a high stick, and when they also played against him, they did not notice it. He's obviously an emotional guy. His emotions took over him in those circumstances. We'll discuss that. He needs to be in better control of his emotions because we need to. But he's an emotional guy, and the stakes are high right now," Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan commented on Malkin's behavior.
It is worth noting that before his flash, Malkin managed to record two assists and bring the number of points in the current regular season to 80. He now has 25 goals and 55 assists. And for the entire career in the NHL, Evgeny has already made 757 assists, which allowed him to reach a clean 45th place in the ranking of assistants. The Russian surpassed Doug White, who has 755 of them.
A curious goal by Rickard Rakell, which happened after Malkin won a faceoff. The Swede threw the puck into the barrage glass, from which it flew straight into the back of Philadelphia goaltender Samuel Ersson and then ricocheted into the net. And just three minutes later, the combination of Malkin and Rakell worked again: Evgeny made a false swing, gave a pass to his partner on the spot, and he did not miss.
Columbus Rookie best
Columbus forward Kirill Marchenko had a great game against Ottawa. The Russian scored an assist in normal time and became the author of the winning goal in overtime, simultaneously updating a couple of club records.
Marchenko struck the back of the net as early as 16 seconds into extra time, the second fastest result in Blue Jackets history. It took striker Jakub Voracek exactly the same amount of time to goal in February 2022. And the absolute record of the club for this indicator belongs to Seth Jones, who in December 2018 scored at the 10th second.
For the Russian hockey player, this goal was the 21st in this regular season, and this is a new record among the team's newcomers. It was previously owned by Pierre-Luc Dubois, who scored 20 times in the 2017/18 season.
"It's very cool. I am very happy to score the 21st goal in front of our fans. It's not so nice to score on the road, but here, in front of your fans, it's something special," Marchenko commented on his first career overtime goal.