Malkin captured the NHL legend and became the second Russian goalscorer in history.

Pittsburgh Penguins 3-2 New York Rangers

Led by Artemy Panarin and Igor Shesterkin, Rangers approached the away game against Pittsburgh with a seven-game winning streak, while beating their opponents with an overall score of 32:14.

The match was particularly interesting not only because of the struggle between the Penguins and the New Yorkers on the border of the playoff zone, but also because it was the teams’ first game after the series in the last Stanley Cup, where the Rangers were behind. in the matches they managed to go further, with a score of 1-3, but dramatically.

“We have a lot of respect for their team. This is a very good hockey team,” said Pittsburgh head coach Mike Sullivan. “We’ve had a lot of close matches against them over the last few years. Every time we play with them, they all seem to come down to one goal. These are big, important games both here and away.”

“Two teams are competing for the playoffs in the same league, so there will always be competition between us. This is a good test for us tonight,” he praised.

After the transfer of Vincent Trochek (1-0), it was Kreider who opened the score in the first period to score his 15th goal of the season.

The home team’s response came towards the end of the second 20-minute period, when Evgeni Malkin received a pass from the majority Sidney Crosby and forced Igor Shesterkin to surrender for the first time (1:1) with a hard wrist shot.

The Russian player extended his streak to nine matches and scored 13 (3+10) points. But that’s not the point.

Thanks to this goal, Gino scored 1179 (455 + 724) points in 1013 games in the regular NHL championships and caught Sergei Fedorov in the strongest league in the world!

Moreover, he took 1248 matches for Fedorov’s 483+696. Now Evgeny and Sergey are second in history among Russian scorers, after Washington captain Alexander Ovechkin, who continued their success with 1446 (800 + 646) points in 1308 games.

But even before the second timeout, the Penguins took the lead. Moreover, Sullivan’s team again oversold. 13 seconds before the siren, Brian Rast successfully placed his stick under Pierre-Olivier Joseph’s shot (2:1).

This goal has seen Pittsburgh score at least one powerplay goal in at least nine consecutive games, 13 of 37 tries (37.14%). This is the longest streak in club history since February 2013, when the Penguins powerplayed 12 games in a row.

In the third period, home team captain Sidney Crosby stepped up the advantage by famously sliding the puck and sending a bullet to Shesterkin through the shields after Jake Gunzel’s transfer from a good hand to an uncomfortable hand (3:1).

And although the Rangers immediately minimized the gap again after a two-to-one match, where Trochek again assisted Kreider (3:2), the guests no longer deserved more.

At the same time, Gallan’s wards — even before Malkin regained his balance — hit Tristan Jerry’s goal post three times, but neither Trochek, Jimmy Vesey, nor Philip Khitil had a chance to rebound.

Toronto Maple Leafs 4-1 Tampa Bay Lightning

Another brilliant match of the first round of the final playoffs was “replayed” tonight as part of the regular season. He came to visit Tampa Bay Toronto and again the win went to the team that lost the series in seven games in the Stanley Cup.

True, there was no real conflict in the reporting match. The Maple Leafs have traditionally prepared themselves for matches with Lightning in a special way, and this time they even outdid themselves.

In the first two periods, a real hurricane broke out on the ice from the site owners. They completely dominated all areas of the pitch, the best proof of which is their accurate shooting statistics in the first 40 minutes – 29-8.

At the same time, thanks to Andrey Vasilevski’s great play, Yıldırım conceded only two goals in the first period. And if Michael Banting scored for Toronto in equal compositions, then Oston Matthews converted the majority (2:0).

“I don’t know what part of the game the Toronto players reinvented and made us play so badly,” said Tampa Bay coach John Cooper of the first two episodes of the game. Note to self: Don’t come to Toronto three days before the game. It was painfully obvious because we certainly didn’t get on the ice in time tonight.”

In the third period, however, the game was balanced, and Russian forward “Tampa” Vladislav Namestnikov played on rebound after Steven Stamkos’ shot and scored his second goal of the season, minimizing the gap (2:1).

And although the guests continued to look for ways to save themselves until the end, they did not manage to win it back, but Toronto players Pierre Engvall and William Nylander sent two goals into the goal, which Vasilevski (4: 1) abandoned in the last game. minutes of the game.

All in all, Vasilevski had a great match, he shot 36 of 38 shots into his own goal, Namestnikov added +1 benefit to the goal, but Nikita Kucherov and Mikhail Sergachev finished the meeting with a -3 in twos.

Carolina Hurricanes 4-1 New Jersey Devils

The leaders of the metropolitan division, Carolina and New Jersey, also played among themselves. The hosts, who had previously broadcast a series of 11 consecutive matches and had points (9-0-2), came out as the favorites of this match. But the Devils, who had smashed everyone at the start of the season, caught a losing streak and lost three games in a row ahead of the Raleigh trip.

The expectations were right. The Hurricanes left their opponents no chance and beat them at the top of the division table. The main hero of the meeting was again the young Russian goalkeeper of the Carolinas Peter Kochetkov.

Hurricanes, who took the lead in the first period, tried to reverse the game in New Jersey in the second 20-minute period. 14 shots were fired at the sensational newcomer’s doors, including Jasper Bratt’s most dangerous shot as he went 1 to 0 half a minute before Kochetkov’s skating sounded siren.

By this time, the scoreboard was already burning 3:0 and therefore Jack Hughes’ puck in the final episode did not change anything (3:1). Answered by Stefan Nosen, who determined the final score (4:1).

Striker “Carolina” Andrey Svechnikov was goalless, assisted, and even shot into goal this time, only to be suspended for two minutes.

However, Kochetkov, who made 37 saves, became the main star of the match and the runner-up of the entire matchday in the NHL.

Kochetkov has won the last five starts in a row and has been 8-0-2 in the last ten games. Thus, he caught up with Cam Ward, who had a ten-game run three times in the club’s history and scored by the team’s points (9-0-1, 6-0-9) in the 2008/09 season. 4th in the 2015/16 season and 8-0-2 in the 2017/18 campaign).

Other matches

Philadelphia Flyers – Columbus Blue Jackets – 5:3
Winnipeg Jets 5-1 Ottawa Senators
Seattle Kraken 5-2 St.Louis Blues
Los Angeles Kings 4-1 Anaheim Ducks
San Jose Sharks 3-7 Calgary Flames

Kirill Marchenko’s puck only sweetened the pain of Columbus’ defeat in Philadelphia, but right now the Blue Jackets were ahead and the Flyers finally made a comeback.

Louis forward Alexei Toropchenko’s first assist of the season didn’t help the Blues in their Seattle away game. His teammate Pavel Buchnevich Toropchenko scored a goal in this match.

Striker Alexander Barabanov scored for the first time in the last ten games to equalize San Jose’s game against Calgary, who scored twice in the first 30 seconds of the game. But in the end, Flames made another breakthrough and literally crushed their opponents.