Russian snipers: Ovechkin scored his 832nd NHL goal, Kuzmenko scored in the first match after the trade

Excellent debut from Kuzmenko

Despite the NHL All-Star Game being held, it was the Russian hockey player who became one of the main characters of the past week. Andrey Kuzmenko was involved in one of the most high-profile trades of this season and, in the company of a couple of lesser-known colleagues, went to Calgary, while center forward Elias Lindholm went to Vancouver. And by the will of the calendar, both teams were destined to demonstrate almost simultaneously how successful their decision was to part with some of the strongest performers, and in meetings with extremely serious opponents. If the Canucks were up against the formidable Carolina, the Flames faced a test against one of the main contenders for the President's Cup, Boston, and on the road at that.

And Kuzmenko himself was more motivated than ever to prove that Rick Tocquette and company were in vain marinating him in the lower ranks, and sometimes even left him in reserve during the regular season. Ryan Huska immediately placed him in the second three with Jonathan Huberdeau and Yegor Sharangovich and was right. In the first shift, the Russian got a good hold on the puck several times and created a couple of chances for his partners, and in the fifth minute he opened the scoring with his own goals for the new club. The Bruins acted extremely recklessly and got too carried away with the attack while playing in the minority, allowing the Flames to organize a devastating counterattack. And it was Andrei who completed it, “shooting” Jeremy Swayman’s goal.

As it turned out, this success inspired Calgary so much that it was happy to destroy one of the two strongest teams in the championship. Subsequently, the hosts were upset three more times, allowing them only to dampen the score, although Boston managed this only in a five-on-three game. And although it was Kuzmenko who started this defeat, he did not find a place among the three main stars of the meeting. It was made up of Jonathan Huberdeau, who scored a goal and two assists, Nazem Kadri, who scored an assisted hat-trick and put an end to the confrontation with Noah Hanifin - 4:1.

However, the author of the fifth fastest goal among Flames debutants still received his share of attention. During a conversation with reporters, Kuzmenko called the last match good, but far from ideal, because the guests did not take advantage of many chances. And he spoke highly of the new pairing partners, calling Huberdeau and Sharangovich excellent hockey players, and especially noting the special team of the majority.

In turn, Huberdeau was also pleased with his new teammate, while Haska admitted that he was not entirely confident in the ability of this unit to work equally successfully in both their own and someone else’s zone. According to him, his consistency in defense raised questions in him, but thanks to Sharangovich’s responsibility, no serious problems arose. In attack, the trio looked good and created dangerous moments.

One way or another, Kuzmenko’s debut turned out to be more than impressive, although not as bright as that of the other participant in the deal. Lindholm scored twice on the power play with a difference of 19 minutes and was subsequently recognized as the main creator of the victory over Carolina (3:2), simultaneously spoiling the emotions of Peter Kochetkov’s return to action. On January 11, the Russian suffered a concussion in a meeting with Anaheim and has not been on the ice since then. And this time he limited himself to only 16 rescues (84.2%).

Ovechkin's tenth goal

But if Carolina lost for the first time since January 22 and failed to extend its successful streak of four matches, Washington suffered its fifth defeat in a row for the first time this season. This time, Spencer Carbery's charges were defeated by Montreal, and on their own ice. By the 14th minute, the guests were leading by three goals, and then stopped the hosts’ attempt to organize a comeback (5:2). And largely thanks to the efforts of Juraj Slafkowski, who still does not justify his status as the first pick in the NHL draft. The Slovak scored a double and reached 22 (9 + 13) points in the regular season, but is not even among the top two hundred scorers in the tournament. And in terms of usefulness indicator (“-15”), it ranks 42nd from the bottom.

It is all the more surprising that despite the major fiasco, some Capitals hockey players managed to end the confrontation in the black. One of them was Dylan Strome, who twice assisted his teammates, the second was Alexander Ovechkin, who distinguished himself in the second game in a row. The capital's captain took advantage of the confusion of the defenders and rolled into the zone on the right flank, after which he left Sam Montembeault out of action with a one-touch throw.

Thus, Ovechkin scored the tenth goal of the season and the 832nd in his career, reducing the gap from the legendary Wayne Gretzky to 62. And thus inspired his teammates. According to him, after that they “woke up” and began not only to find themselves in the opponent’s zone and put pressure more often, but also to make smart decisions on the ice. As a result, in the second 40 minutes of the match, Washington almost tripled the number of shots on target (34:13), but failed to even reduce the gap to a minimum.

And in the near future, it will be extremely difficult for the Capitals to break their losing streak. In the near future they will have difficult trips to Florida and Boston, followed by two home games, but also with one of the leaders of the championship - Vancouver and Colorado. And if Carbery’s team fails to adequately overcome this period, then by mid-February they risk falling behind the playoff zone by more than ten points. Now they and Philadelphia are separated by seven.