Return of the captain: Alexander Ovechkin is back in the game

During the New Year holidays, hockey matches over the ocean never stopped buzzing. Russian players also managed to distinguish themselves. For example, Washington Capitals captain Alexander Ovechkin, who returned from injury, managed to score four goals. Dmitry Voronkov is even better in Columbus. On the main events of the last few days in the NHL - in the material "Izvestia".

Ovechkin is back

Before the game with Vancouver, Washington head coach Spencer Carbery finished experimenting with combinations and returned Alexei Protas to the first line with Alexander Ovechkin and Dylan Strome. The last two games the Belarusian was replaced by Taylor Reddish, which did not benefit Ovechkin and the team as a whole. But after two weak games from the first unit, Carbery brought back the factory settings that brought the Caps wins last month and earlier in the year.

"Washington won in overtime (2-1 OT) thanks to Dubois' double, and Ovechkin went a second straight game without a goal. Surprising - considering his speedy shooting this season. Ovechkin missed over a month due to injury, but since his return he has scored four goals in his first five games. The two-game drought shouldn't be a concern after that - Washington will face Montreal and Nashville, both of whom are high-scoring teams, this weekend.

Voronkov: nine goals in seven games

When Dmitri Voronkov left for North America, it was unimaginable that he would become a key figure in Columbus. He was considered a bottom-line player at best. And even Voronkov started only in the AHL, and not very successfully. But now the Russian is one of the main stars of Columbus.

The Marchenko-Voronkov pairing is an incredible find for the Columbus head coach. Canadian Sean Monahan plays center with them. All three are Columbus' top scorers this season among forwards. And that's despite the fact that Voronkov missed almost a month due to injury.

Over the last seven games, Dmitry has scored as many as nine goals, and Columbus has joined the fight for a spot in the top eight. Voronkov's contract expires after this season, and there's no doubt the Blue Jackets will offer Dmitry a solid extension.

Rangers failure

"The Rangers have not looked like the Stanley Cup contender they were at the beginning of the season for 20 games. Now the team from New York is battling to stay out of last place in the East with Buffalo. It's hard to imagine a more humiliating position for a contender.

Artemi Panarin, as a true leader of the Rangers, went down with the rest of the team. And it can't be said that he was absolutely terrible: the Russian did pick up some points. But there was a major problem - he failed to make more than one productive action per game for a month. And then in the game against Dallas it happened - Panarin made three goal assists. But the team still lost!

Now the Russian is on a 90-point schedule for the regular season at best. For comparison: last season it was 120. And his partners are not helping in any way, rather the opposite. Lafreniere just had a 12-game stretch in which he had one assist. Trocheck's scoring output is also much worse than a year ago.

However, the Rangers are only four points away from the playoffs, and with half of the regular season still to go, the team's fans can be cautiously optimistic. However, the play of the Rangers' leaders, including goaltender Igor Shesterkin, has been unimpressive so far.

Askarov Played in San Jose

The trade from Nashville to San Jose opened up new prospects for goaltender Yaroslav Askarov. He started in the Sharks' system with the farm club, but lately he's been playing more and more often in the core. It seems he won't be returning to the AHL anytime soon.

Yaroslav now looks much more reliable than his replacement Alexander Georgiev. After being traded from Colorado, he hasn't played a single game with a shooting percentage above 90. Georgiev has only one win in five games, and his reliability rating is over 4. So when Vitek Vanecek returns, Georgiev will likely be the one to sit.

Askarov also has very good press in North America. Despite playing only seven games, the Russian is increasingly being called the league's best young goaltender. It seems that another representative of the Russian goaltending school has fully established himself in the NHL.