Five goals before Gretzky: the main achievements of Russians in the NHL

Russian hockey players playing overseas continue to demonstrate outstanding performance a few weeks before the end of the regular season. Another goal and a new record by Alexander Ovechkin, Nikita Kucherov's 100+ points and Matvey Michkov's anniversary performance.

The record is getting closer

Washington lost to the main rival in the fight for the Presidential Cup, Winnipeg (2:3 OT), but Alexander Ovechkin scored his 36th goal of the season against the Jets. The Canadian team, which used to be based in Atlanta, remains the most beloved opponent of the Russian forward. He scored 57 goals against her. In the 21st century, no one has scored so many goals against one opponent. Sidney Crosby upset Philadelphia 56 times, which missed Ovechkin 52 times.

Ovechkin scored 36 goals and scored 60 points with 24 assists in 55 games this regular season. Top scorer: 889 goals in 1,481 league games, five steps to repeat and six to pass Wayne Gretzky's sniper record of 894 in 1,487. There are 11 more meetings in the calendar of Spencer Carbery's team before the end of the regular season.

36 goals per season is the sixth result in history for a hockey player over the age of 36. Ovechkin and Johnny Busick scored more goals at 37, Brett Hull at 38, and Gordie Howe at 39 (three accurate shots remain before Ovi's age record). Howe also owns the main achievement for all age players. In the 1968-69 season, the 40-year-old Mr. Hockey scored 44 times.

"When I first saw Ovechkin in the team, I didn't dare approach"

Washington forward Alexei Protas — about the game with the Great Eight, salary and Belarusian records in the NHL

Washington will play its next game in Minnesota. Ovechkin, after the most missed club, will cross paths with the most missed goalkeeper from him, the former star of Pittsburgh and Vegas, Marc Andre-Fleury (28 goals in 47 games). The Wild's main goalkeeper, Philip Gustavsson, is expected to appear at the start (he missed from the sniper twice in three meetings).

The pursuit of McKinnon

Nikita Kucherov scored 3 (1+2) points in the match against Pittsburgh (6:1) and became the third player to reach the 100-point mark this season. Canadian Nathan McKinnon from Colorado and German Leon Dreiseitl from Edmonton scored as many points before the Russian forward. Moreover, Nikita has already overtaken the latter, although he is still inferior due to the fewer goals scored.

Kucherov is the best in the league in terms of the average number of points per match. He doesn't top the list of top scorers just because of a few minor injuries he suffered during the season. But there is not much separating him from the leading McKinnon — there are still chances to win the Art Ross.

This is the fifth time in his career (and the third consecutive season) that Kucherov has scored more than 100 points in the regular season. Moreover, there could have been many more such seasons, but several times Kucherov failed to play 82 league matches: either the pandemic or his own injuries interfered.

Among the players who were not born in North America, only Peter Shtyastny (7), Leon Dreisaitl (6) and Jari Kurri (6) have more seasons with 100+ points. Speaking of Kucherov's greatness: Ovechkin had only four such seasons, while Malkin had three.

Michkov's Anniversary

Philadelphia's Russian forward Matvey Michkov scored two assists against Chicago (4-7) and reached the 50-point mark in his NHL debut season.

At first, Michkov's game had a wow effect, but over time, Matvey wilted and sometimes simply disappeared from sight. The shakes from the expressive Flyers coach John Tortorella did not always help.

"We don't need a strong team attitude — we come out charged ourselves"

Dynamo Moscow hockey player Dmitry Rashevsky talks about matches with top rivals, the upcoming KHL playoffs and a possible game with the NHL

In general, the 20-year—old striker looks good for the first season - 51 (20+31) points in 71 matches are not exactly a failure. But Michkov has little chance of winning the Calder Trophy (the prize for the best newcomer) — McLean Celebrini from San Jose and especially Montreal defender Lane Hutson look brighter this season.

Let's go for goals

Recently, Los Angeles fans have increasingly wondered whether Kings general manager Rob Blake should have acquired Andrei Kuzmenko at the deadline for a third-round pick. In seven matches for the Kings, the Russian had a sad zero in the "Points" column. Although all this time he invariably played in the first tier with the legendary Slovenian Ange Kopitar and the team's top scorer Adrian Kempe, receiving solid playing time and a place in the first special team of the majority.

But in the match against Carolina, the right-handed forward finally managed to exhale and relieve the tension. Kuzmenko scored and made an assist, helped defeat Carolina, scoring the first points in Los Angeles, and thanked the head coach of the team, John Hiller, for his patience.

Of course, after the match, the Los Angeles coach couldn't help but comment on Kuzmenko's breakthrough and the long-awaited goal of his first team in equal squads.

— You know, coaches often tell you that you've done well and you don't have to worry about missing points. But, of course, it's much better to actually score a goal and make an assist. I hope this match will be a springboard not only for him, but for the entire first team. So far, they are not scoring as much as they would like. However, we are not going to break them yet," the NHL official website quotes Hiller.

Recall that Kuzmenko has already played for Calgary and Philadelphia this season. In total, the striker has 8 goals and 16 assists.