Washington Capitals – Buffalo Swords – 5:4 B
For the second time in a week, Washington had to fight for victory in a shootout. Last Friday, Caps lost 2-3 to New Jersey. Now the Capitals have pinned Buffalo, a direct contender in wild card combat in the NHL playoffs.
However, there were intense events before the “conflict” after the match.
In the ninth minute, the Sabers were up 2-0 and Russia’s Ilya Lyubushkin became the author of Blades’ first disc.
A little over a minute later, TJ Oshie reduced the “Washington” backlog, and Alexander Ovechkin scored a point for an assist (2: 1). However, thanks to Tyson Jost’s puck in the 19th minute, the Sabers went to the first timeout and again won two more goals (3:1).
The second period was goalless and the situation was reflected in the last 20 minutes: the guests scored a goal and the hosts turned on the lights behind the opponent’s goal three times (4:4). Evgeny Kuznetsov started the save, then Ovechkin scored and Tom Wilson evened the score.
Ovi reacted fiercely to his goal – and it’s no wonder: he hasn’t scored at home since January.
But one should not forget about his mandatory “vacation” in connection with a tragic event – he went to Russia for a week due to the illness and death of his father. And when he returned to Washington, Alexander did not immediately start scoring again.
Returning directly to the match, we note that in overtime the opponents did not announce the winner, and in the shootout, Caps made two attempts, while Blades realized none. Kuznetsov’s shot was the winner.
“Important win, key points. We obviously had a chance to save the game in the previous game, but we didn’t succeed. And playing against a young and fast team is a challenge, we got a good two points,” says Ovechkin. official site NHL.
The captain of “Washington” with two points was recognized as the first star of the meeting. The puck into the Buffalo goal is 37th for the Russian forward this season, continuing to chase the legendary Wayne Gretzky’s sniper record.
The famous Canadian has scored 894 goals in the NHL during the regular season, and Ovechkin currently has 817 goals, 77 goals behind Gretzky.
It is also notable that Alexander the Great has a clean fourth place in home goals among all players in NHL history. Ovechkin scored the 402nd time on his ice. It is interesting that here the Russians also follow Gretzky, the record holder of this indicator: 492 goals. Second place belongs to Gordie Howe with 449 goals, third place is Czech Jaromir Jagr – 411. It seems that very soon Ovechkin will squeeze him.
Louis Blues 5-8 Minnesota Wild
The most productive match of the day was in St. Petersburg, where the local “bluesmen” lost to “Minnesota” playing without Kirill Kaprizov. Made in Louis. The Russian striker continues to recover from injury.
However, even in his absence, the Savage is not silenced. In the game with Louis, the main character was Ryan Hartman – he scored two goals and assisted in the “musicians” goal. It was he who was recognized as the first star of the meeting.
But the second star was Russian winger “St. Louis” Pavel Buchnevich. It was he who opened the score and tried to drag the team behind him, scoring a total of three goals.
However, their efforts were not enough to give their opponents a real fight.
Meanwhile, the head coach of the “savages”, Dean Evason, does not stop trolling Kaprizov. The other day, he joked that the team had “recovered from dead weight”, referring to the injured Russian.
And Minnesota, St. After Louis sent eight goals into the goal, Wild’s mentor said: “Well, who needs this whim?”
Toronto Maple Leafs – Colorado Avalanche – 1:2 B
Another match of game day ended in a gunfight – Colorado visited Toronto and took a win. At the same time, the opponents, who scored mutual baskets in the first 15 minutes, could not score until the series after the match. Nathan McKinnon scored the Avalanche-winning goal.
It is noteworthy that the first and second stars of the day were the Russian goalkeepers – Alexander Georgiev from Colorado and Ilya Samsonov from Toronto, respectively.
Georgiev saved 17 shots and Samsonov – 28. Maple Leafs head coach Sheldon Keefe did not hesitate to compliment his goalkeeper after the game.
“It was like they locked the doors. I don’t think we gave the opponent very good opportunities, the shots mostly came from the points and the environment. But once we gave our opponents a chance to shoot from comfortable positions, he was reliable. He was athletic and dynamic and made some great saves. I think it was great,” said Keefe.