They never cease to amaze: Panarin scored a double, Buchnevich scored an assist hat-trick, Gavrikov outshone Kucherov

Extravaganza from Panarin

Artemiy Panarin continues to delight hockey fans with his performance. In the last six matches, the Rangers striker added eight goals to his treasury, and also came close to a significant milestone in his career. Just one step separates him from 100 points, a bar he has never surpassed in the NHL. The Russian was close to doing this already in the home game with Florida. At least he tried very hard and was the most active player in the attack - Artemy had seven shots on target.

The game situation itself encouraged them to give their best, since the Rangers lost the first period with a score of 0:1, and at the very beginning of the second they conceded another goal. Sergei Bobrovsky managed to keep his possessions intact for the time being.

Things started looking up for the Reinders midway through the second 20 minutes when Kyle Okposo was sent off for holding Adam Fox. The victim converted the power play himself, and two minutes later Panarin caught the Panthers goalie off guard with a powerful shot from the left faceoff circle.

At the end of regulation time, Igor Shesterkin missed an offensive goal from Carter Verage into the near corner, especially since during the entire third period the Florida forwards made only two shots on target besides this one. Then Panarin got involved again. While his teammates were crowded on the spot, he shot in the hope that one of them would be able to correct the puck into the goal, but it turned out even better - the projectile ricocheted off the defender.

“I didn’t see any other options. If I see an open player, I always pass, you know me. But yes, at that moment I just quit without looking. Thank God, the puck jumped ten times and flew into the goal,” Artemy noted after the game.

This goal allowed the Rangers to send the match into overtime, and it ended in a shootout, in which Panarin removed all questions about who would be recognized as the first star of this match. The 32-year-old forward beautifully beat Bobrovsky, and this shot was ultimately victorious.

New York head coach Peter Laviolette simply showered compliments on his main sniper at a press conference.

“Artemy played another amazing game. He's incredibly dangerous. On the ice, he gives everything he has and returns to the bench completely exhausted. He gives himself completely to the game every time,” said the specialist.

Shesterkin also deserved praise, stopping 27 shots and winning his 30th victory this season. The Russian became the third goalkeeper in Rangers history to achieve this number in three seasons. Before Igor, Henrik Lundqvist (11 seasons) and Ed Giacomin (5) managed this.

The efforts of Tarasov, the goals of Barbashev and Dorofeev

Daniil Tarasov tried his best to lead his team to victory. The Columbus goalkeeper made 43 saves in the match with the reigning champion Vegas, but his team still lost - 2:4. After the final siren, he admitted that it was the most difficult game of his career.

The Blue Jackets' Russian trio didn't shine too much - only Kirill Marchenko scored an assist, so the main characters among the Russians were Golden Knights forwards Ivan Barbashev and Pavel Dorofeev, recognized as the second and third stars, respectively, at the end of the match. Each has a goal to their credit, and Dorofeev’s is the winning one.

The 23-year-old forward beautifully beat Tarasov, forcing him to stretch out on the ice, and then brought the puck past the goalkeeper into the goal, despite the desperate attempts of the defenders to block its path.

And Barbashev scored the first goal for Vegas in this meeting. It tied the game and started a four-goal streak for the Golden Knights.

Buchnevich's assist hat-trick and Kaprizov's two assists

A bright match was given out by “St. Louis” and “Minnesota”, where Pavel Buchnevich and Kirill Kaprizov met on the ice. The Blues, although they were playing away, started the match like a master, completely outplaying their opponents in the first period. They outscored the Wild more than twice (11 shots on target versus 5) and naturally took the lead 1:0. However, the second 20 minutes remained with Kaprizov’s team, and he himself actively participated in this. The Russian made two assists to Marco Rossi. The first one was especially effective, thanks to which the Austrian went one-on-one with the Blues goalkeeper.

Buchnevich did not remain in debt and scored a hat-trick of assists, with all three combinations completed by Jordan Kayrou. Thanks to these three points, Pavel moved into second place in the team in the number of assists, ahead of Tory Krug and the same Kaira.

Gavrikov's sixth goal and Kucherov's series

Vladislav Gavrikov was recognized as the first star of the match between Los Angeles and Tampa. The Russian defender, not known for his high performance, scored the winning goal in overtime, and quite impressively. He made a solo pass from his own half of the court and left no chance for Andrei Vasilevsky. The goal came 26 seconds into overtime and was the fifth fastest in Kings history. The record here belongs to Aaron Miller, who scored 15 seconds into overtime in 2001.

Nikita Kucherov recorded an assist in this meeting and thereby set a personal record for the longest scoring streak in the NHL. He hasn't left the court without a point in 13 games. During this time, he scored 5 goals and made 24 assists.

The Russian forward continues to lead the NHL scoring race with 123 (41 + 82) points. Colorado's Nathan MacKinnon is four points behind.