THE REJECTION OF SHESTERKIN
The best goalkeeper of last season sets a personal record: for the fourth time in a row, starting from the start, he conceded at least four goals! Yesterday, Shesterkin in Washington made just 12 of 17 shots, and with the score 1:5 at the second break, he sat down and reserved. His Slovak replacement, Galak, was not left dry thanks to Kuznetsov’s efforts: Zhenya, after Ovechkin’s diagonal, completed a one-on-one in the style of Forsberg’s golden shootout at the 1994 Olympics, thus scoring a double. , earning 4 (2 + 2) points. As a result – 6:3.
The Rangers suffered their fourth loss in a row, while the Capitalinos, on the contrary, interrupted a streak of six consecutive losses. Tarasenko, who came from St. Louis, was completely depressed: “minus 3” and two games without points. His link partner Panarin has “minus 1” and the third idle race. And this is after a seven-game scoring flash of 15 (6 + 9) points!
Kuznetsov deservedly received the second star of the match. However, nothing could have happened if the judges had shown integrity and in the 10th minute, with the score 1:1, they would have sent off the Ural player until the end of the game for a frank stabbing blow from the Czech Khytil. The referees limited themselves to a small penalty.
The Russian captain of “Washington” seemed solid. Alexander had a couple of good chances to score, but the loss of practice is taking its toll. Ovechkin has yet to get into the rhythm. However, he earned two points for assists.
The Capitals proved that the loss of Orlov and Hathaway, traded to Boston, would not be fatal. While the team has the Great Eight.
Note that during the game it became known that New Yorkers forward Vitaly Kravtsov was traded to Vancouver.
VASILEVSKY PROFIT
What is the difference between a great goalkeeper and a mediocre one? Good! He does not allow two failures in a row!
Vasilevsky obviously made a mistake in the previous round, when Tampa flew home to the losers from Buffalo – 5:6. Andrei not only got all these six goals out of the gate, the last hosts managed to miss in extra time in the majority!
Today in Detroit, the Siberian was completely rehabbed: 3:0! There is a cracker number 30 in his career and a personal record for reflected shots: 45! As a reward, the first star of the match and the third went to Kucherov. As always, Nikita came up with several ingenious family solutions. With a fine cut into the play, he helped Point open the scoring, and seven seconds before the second break he doubled it with a clever push from an awkward hand. Rayo made 18 shots – against 45! – for a sure victory. Because of the result, but not because of the content of the game, because, to be honest, Vasilevsky pulled it out on his own.
Unfortunately, Kucherov, with 61 assists, lost his leadership in the championship dispute as an assistant, but he retains the third position among the scorers: 83 (22 + 61) points.
McDavid floated in space
Of course, the playoffs will decide everything, but personally I am ready to admit that in the regular season there is no more spectacular player in the NHL than the Edmonton captain. Connor delivered another stunning show in Columbus, outshining Kirill Marchenko himself.
In the 27th minute, the guests seemed to be desperately on fire: 0:4. Marchenko scored the third double of the season and repeated the club record for rookies. It was then that astronaut McDavid woke up somewhere in Earth orbit. In a five-on-three game, he helped Draisaitl score. Then, in shorthand (!), he scratched the puck from the tables in his zone, flew all over the site, knocked out Gaudro and Roslovik along the way and reduced the gap to a minimum. While the hosts digested what had happened, the Canadian with a snap of his ears restored the balance – 4:4. Exactly five minutes were enough for these three injections No. 97!
The problem with the Oilers is that there is no one to support McDavid. Although he got one more point for an assist in this meeting, the “uniforms” celebrated the victory-6: 5. Connor broke his personal goalscoring record, now, apparently, it’s up to points. He Now he has an astronomical 113 (48 + 65) points in 60 rounds or 1.88 points per game on average!
Does anyone doubt that this sleepwalker will surpass his high score of 123 last year? These are the kind of legionnaires the KHL needs, and not the muddy scum of farm clubs.
ORLOV STARTS WITH A LESS IN BOSTON…
With a 3-1 victory in Vancouver, the Bruins are only five points away from becoming the first in the championship to reach 100. The second current “Carolina” after a sensational home defeat of “Anaheim” – 2:3 (Svechnikov didn’t score anything, unlike Slavin) he still has 86 points.
Orlov’s debut in the dominant team was generally successful, if not for one problem – Dmitry is the only one among the guests with negative utility. He grabbed this “minus 1” when Garland intercepted his pass outside his own net, gave it to Bezer for a nickel, so the score became 1:2. However, the Russians are not particularly to blame here. He still has to fit in with the team. As well as another former Washington striker, Hathaway. The American played in the usual way – aggressive and skillfully provocative.
It is clear that they trust Orlov: he skated for more than 20 minutes. More often, only the main defender McEvoy (22:14) and the main scorer Pastrnak (20:12) appeared on the ice.
The Swedish goalkeeper of the “bears” Ullmark bravely put the heroes of the day ahead. On 26 saved shots, he didn’t stop. 50 seconds before the final whistle, with a slippery 2:1 lead, I decided to impersonate Pastrnak, lobbed the puck across the court on horseback into Vancouver’s empty net, and oh, a miracle! – hit.
… AND MALKIN DRAWS “PITTSBURG”
The Penguins came to St. Louis after four losses. The Musicians, having delivered Tarasenko to the Rangers and team captain O’Reilly to Toronto, also fell into a stupor – they forgot about the victories after February 17.
The game with Pittsburgh, led by three veterans Crosby, Malkin, Letang, showed that the Blues’ case is hopeless. Unless Buchnevich and partly Barbashev and Toropchenko are ready to create something. The rest are indifferent passengers.
Thanks to goalkeeper Binnington, the Canadian kept the hosts in the game for a long time. In the first third alone, he saved 21 shots and held to a goalless draw, and in total he had to save the Bluesmen 48 times! And that was not enough…
Buchnevich opened the scoring at the start of the second half. Malkin tied. Toropchenko, two and a half minutes before the end of regulation, helped Faulk send the game into extra time. Well, there Malych had 76 seconds to finish the match together with Rust – 2:3 in favor of the guests. Gino continues to maintain the “point per game” rhythm: 60 (22 + 38) in 58 games. This is his best performance in three years, and over 20 tours to go!
Interestingly, Evgeny was not included in the trio of the best in St. Louis. But in Denver, Nichushkin was tagged with the second star. “Colorado” thanks to two passes from Valery knocked out “Calgary” – 4:1. Alexander Georgiev saved 28 of 29 shots.
