Panarin's double, Kuzmenko's two points, Georgiev's 41 saves and Kaprizov's masterpiece: how the Russians “lit up” in the NHL regular season matches

An exciting match was given in the NHL regular season by the Rangers and Vancouver.

The teams scored 10 goals for two, and Russian hockey players became the main characters.

Artemy Panarin chalked up a double and an assist and was recognized as the first star of the match, while Andrei Kuzmenko scored two points and was awarded the second.

Goal extravaganza began in the first period.

The account was opened by the hosts at the end of the fifth minute by the efforts of Curtis Lazar, but less than a minute later Mika Zibanejad sent the puck into the goal.

And after another minute or so, Panarin already scored, taking advantage of the flawless transfer of Jimmy Vesey.

So the Rangers took the lead 2-1.

After a short lull, the Canucks managed to restore parity, but then the Russian striker got down to business again.

He slightly corrected the flight of the puck after Niko Mikolla's shot from the blue line - and the hosts' keeper Artur Shilov again had to get the projectile out of the net.

And Panarin scored a brace in this way and scored the sixth goal in two meetings.

Thus, the 31-year-old striker repeated the club record.

Previously, only Zibanejad (2020), Mark Pavelic (1983), Steve Vickers (1972) and Frank Bush (1928) were able to do this.

Artemy, by the way, could score a hat-trick and surpass this achievement, but at the close of the match he did not hit the empty net of the Canucks.

Zibanejad picked up the puck that flew off the board and sent it to the net, and the Russian thus added an assist to the statistics instead of a goal.

After the match, Vesi noted that Panarin, although he began to score quite a lot, is especially distinguished by his skill in the unfolding.

“I know he has a good streak now, but I have never seen anyone like him find partners with passes, especially with the back of the stick – he has some kind of crazy ability to give these passes.

Right now he is on a roll, and I think it is difficult for our rivals to oppose this, ”said the American.

In addition, in his opinion, in the match with Vancouver, not only the Russian, but also the Swede Zibanejad played well, and this combination leaves almost no chance for the opponent.

“They are world class players who can turn the tide of any match in their favor.

If one does not succeed, the second can prove himself.

Today, Mika scored twice, and Khlebushek too, and when this happens, it’s hard to beat us, ”Vessey emphasized.

At the beginning of the second period, the team's newcomer Vladimir Tarasenko, who was traded just a week ago from St. Louis, also contributed to the victory of the Rangers.

He chalked up an assist during a three-on-two attack played like clockwork and ended with a Chris Kreider goal.

Of course, it is too early to say that the Russian has fully adapted to the new team, but it is obvious that he is already groping for the main threads of interaction with partners.

For three matches, Tarasenko has a goal and an assist.

Against the backdrop of the last five meetings for the Blues, in which he did not score a single point, this looks very encouraging.

In the ranks of Vancouver, Andrey Kuzmenko reminded himself of himself, having experienced some kind of bombardment lull lately.

The new head coach, Rick Tocquet, having come to the team, tried to shuffle the triples, and the Russian did not work out with new partners.

In five February matches, he scored only two points - exactly as much as in one game with the Rangers.

In the middle of the second period, Andrey fantastically dragged the puck to the goal, moving with his back, but in the final stage of the attack he could not beat the goalkeeper.

Conor Garland brought the matter to an end, and the Russian chalked up an assist.

But Kuzmenko did not stop there and in the third twenty-minute period gave the hosts hope, reducing the gap in the score to a minimum of 4:5.

Having received a transfer from Elias Pettersson, he literally flashed Igor Shesterkin, as if stating to Tocquet that he should not be discounted.

An interesting confrontation with the participation of Russian hockey players also took place in Minnesota.

A huge contribution to the victory of "Colorado" (3:2) was made by goalkeeper Alexander Georgiev, who made 41 rescues.

He admitted that the meeting meant a lot for his team in terms of tournament prospects, because before it started, both teams had an equal number of points.

Surely with the same attitude, the Wild hockey players, who suffered four defeats in five meetings, went on the ice, but for them the match did not turn out the way they wanted.

The hosts conceded first and lost right up to the final siren.

Kirill Kaprizov could not correct the situation either, although he made every effort to do this and scored a beautiful goal in the end.

Minnesota head coach Dean Evason did not dramatize the outcome of the meeting, noting that now the team will be "angry and hungry" for Friday's game with Dallas.