Toronto Maple Leafs 7-3 Washington Capitals
Alexander Ovechkin’s goal streak spanned four games, and the forward continued his strong race for Gordie Howe, the second best goal scorer of all time in the National Hockey League.
Gordie Howe was 25 goals away (Ovechkin 776, Howe 801 and lead Wayne Gretzky scored 894) and the NHL’s regular season game against the Toronto Maple Leafs gave hope that that gap would be closed.
The meeting of the teams was decorated with another bright sign – the confrontation between Ovechkin and the American striker “Toronto” Auston Matthews, who scored 21 goals in the last 17 games and took the first place in the list of snipers this season.
However, neither one nor the other could show themselves particularly bright. The Russian finished the game without scoring, kicking the Leafs only once, and is remembered on the ice only with a hit to Colin Blackwell – forcibly knocking out the American attacker and sending him to the ice.
Matthews, on the other hand, scored a two-goal pass and hit the 100-point threshold for the season, but he didn’t look like the leader of his team in this game.
His game against Toronto was Ovechkin’s 1269th game of his career. According to this indicator, the Russians caught the outstanding Canadian hockey player Brett Hull – they share the 80-81 place in the history of the league.
Ovechkin’s closest goal is 78-79, currently playing 1,270 matches. Draws Rob Blake and Ryan Smith.
In total, the Russian has 1405 (776 + 629) points in 1269 NHL games and is ranked 21st in the list of NHL top scorers in career points.
But after that game day, Ovechkin began to share the spot with Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sindney Crosby with the same points, but there are 167 fewer games – 1269 against 1102. Four points separate the players from 20th – Dale Havercuk, 1409 points throughout his football career recorded.
Against the background of the silence of Ovechkin and Evgeny Kuznetsov, the Russian hockey players of Toronto distinguished themselves. Defender Ilya Lyubushkin failed to score for more than a year (he last managed to reach the opponent’s goal on April 8, 2021), but in the middle of the second period the hockey player supported the offense with a second speed. and managed to achieve the goal of his compatriot Ilya Samsonov.
This was the third goal for the Russian goalkeeper to miss in the match, after 18 seconds he missed the fourth and was sent to the bench, where Vitek Vanechek took his place at the door. However, this did not help Washington much, as another Russian from the Leafs, Ilya Mikheev, took the job.
About four minutes after the Capitals second baseman appeared on the ice, he sent the puck into the home net and scored the first goal of the game.
In the third quarter, Mikheev upset Vanechek again – the hockey player, having received a pass from the blue line, gracefully dealt with the defenders and sent the puck into the goal. This goal was “Toronto”‘s seventh.
Other matches of NHL game day
Another Russian goalkeeper played badly: Tampa Bay Lightning’s leader Andrey Vasilevsky was replaced by the Anaheim Ducks in the second period of the game.
The current owners of the Stanley Cup started the match confidently, leading the first 20 minutes with a score of 2-0, conceding three goals in seven minutes in the second period. After that, the coaching staff decided to castling – Vasilevsky went to the bench, and Brian Elliot took his place at the door. As a result, Yildirim won a labor victory in overtime – 4:3.
With 13 seconds left in the final siren, Nikita Kucherov recorded the save puck and sent the match to overtime, while Mikhail Sergachev assisted Anthony Cirelli, who scored the winning goal in extra time.
Score match St. Louis Blues and Buffalo Airs. The game ended with the Blues’ 6:2 victory, with Russian hockey players Vladimir Tarasenko and Pavel Buchnevich as the main characters. For the first time in his career, Tarasenko had five points, hat-tricks and two assists in one game. Buchnevich scored three points – once when he hit the opponent’s goal, and twice as an assistant for Tarasenko, who was recognized as the first star at the end of the match. Buchnevich took third place in the list of the best players.
Later, Tarasenko was named the first star of the entire NHL game day. This season, the forward has 72 (31+41) points in 67 games.
The Vancouver Canucks defeated the Arizona Coyotes 7-1 and Russian Vasily Podkolzin contributed to the win. The forward had 3 points, 2 goals and 1 assist in 4 minutes. The couple became the first in Podkolzin’s career in the NHL, and as a result of the meeting he was chosen as the second star.
Evgeny Dadonov scored two points (6:1), scored the puck and provided an assist in the Vegas Golden Knights’ win over the Calgary Flames. Colorado Avalanche forward Valery Nichushkin also provided an assist (3:1) in the game against the New Jersey Devils.