Three plus three: Dorofeev and Marchenko give out supermatch, Ovechkin took a break

Sunday's match between Columbus and Minnesota (7-4) was memorable for the performances of Russian stars. Kirill Marchenko scored a hat-trick and became the first star, Kaprizov has 2+1 on 11 shots (a personal best in the league). The author of the first hat-trick of the 2025/26 season was the forward of Vegas Pavel Dorofeev, who had a notable fight in the match with Los Angeles (5:6B). Alexander Ovechkin is still without goals, and his Washington started the season unevenly.

The duel of Kaprizov and Marchenko

Last season, Kirill Marchenko absolutely deservedly received the status of an NHL star, scoring 74 (31+43) points in 79 games. The most difficult thing is to confirm this status at a distance. And the Russian forward started doing it already in the second match of the regular season.

It took only four periods for Marchenko to rock up in the new championship. He scored his first goal against Minnesota in the seventh second of the second period. As soon as the Wild players left some free space in the center of the zone, the forward immediately uncovered his powerful wrist shot. The goal turned out to be completely Russian, because Voronkov and Provorov assisted Marchenko.

Much attention is also focused on the Russian winger of Minnesota, Kirill Kaprizov, who will become the highest-paid player in the history of the NHL next season. In the first game, the Wild leader made three assists. In the second, he also started with an assist on Matthew Baldy in the majority. Two minutes later, Kaprizov distinguished himself. Vladimir Tarasenko also participated in this goal — this is his first productive action for Minnesota after the summer trade from Detroit.

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At the end of the period, Marchenko came back into the game. It is worth noting the incredible beauty of the assist from Voronkov. Dmitry has already scored 3 (1+2) points this season. So far, the striker is justifying his contract for 4.2 million per year, which he signed in the offseason.

Marchenko did not stop at two goals. In the third period, the forward hit Filip Gustavsson with a powerful touchdown shot from the left faceoff circle. This goal was the winning goal for Columbus. But the success of the Russian players did not end there either: four minutes before the end, Kaprizov successfully substituted the stick after Mark Rossi's throw. After signing a new contract, the winger has 6 (2+4) points in two matches — a great result!

Of the Russians, only Yakov Trenin left the ice without effective actions. He has 13 minutes on the court today and two shots on target. Kaprizov, Marchenko, Voronkov, Tarasenko and Provorov scored ten points in total.

The first goal

Alexander Ovechkin's Washington and Ilya Sorokin's Islanders started the new season with defeats. Before the face-to-face meeting, the question was: who would react better to failure in the first match? And the answer to it came already in the starting period.

The statistics of the first 20 minutes speak most eloquently — 9-3 on shots on target and 2-0 on goals in favor of the Capitals. But the main thing that happened in the first period was Ovechkin's effective action. The assist on Martin Fehervari was the Russian forward's debut this season. In the previous meeting with Boston, Alexander scored no points.

That was the end of Ovi's scoring success. In 17 minutes on the court, the forward managed to land one shot on target and was noticeable only in the majority. In addition to Fehervari, Alexey Protas also scored in the first period. The Belarusian forward took advantage of a blunder by the Islanders players when leaving the zone. Already in the first matches, the striker proves that his successful performance last season was not an accident.

In the second period, Protas continued to delight Capitals fans with his performance: first, he made an assist on Ryan Leonard's goal, and then he scored after Tony Deangelo's mistake. The former SKA defender gave a minus sign to two Russian players at once: Maxim Shabanov and Alexander Romanov.

It turned out to be a difficult match for Ilya Sorokin. And this is the fault of the defensive players, who repeatedly threw work at the Russian goalkeeper.

Among the defenders of the Islanders, only the first number of the last draft, Matthew Schaeffer, was positively noted. However, he proved himself more as an attacking player: 14 (!) shots towards Logan Thompson's goal, of which eight reached the target. Such pressure did not go unnoticed — in the third period, Schaeffer scored the first goal of his career, reducing his team's gap to two goals.

But Romanov's game didn't go well: he spent the least time on the ice among the Isles defenders and earned the worst score (-3). Shabanov is unlikely to be able to bring this game to the asset either. He has almost 13 minutes on the court and "minus 2". At the same time, the striker created several good moments for his partners, but the implementation failed.

Dorofeev's office

Marchenko is not the only Russian who scored a hat-trick this week. In the opening match of the regular season, Vegas fans were pleased with Pavel Dorofeev, one of the most underrated Russians in the NHL.

The native of Nizhny Tagil has been performing overseas for the sixth season (and the fifth full-fledged one), and he has gained a foothold in the 2023/24 regular season. Its indicators are growing from year to year. Last season Pavel scored a record 52 (35+17) points, becoming the fifth scorer and the best sniper of the team. Dorofeev's scoring sense has been noted since kindergarten. The Metallurg graduate stood out with a luxurious throw, which was even more widely revealed in North America. Los Angeles goalkeeper Anton Forsberg felt the full power of Pavel's wrist in the episode with the first goal.

The second and third goals came to Dorofeev in the majority. Both times he was assisted by Aikel and Stone. The head coach of Vegas, Bruce Cassidy, transfers Pavel to the leading special team, relying on his throw. The Russian does not let you down. Everyone knows where Ovechkin and Gretzky's offices are on the ice, and it's time to open Dorofeev's office at the Golden Knights. The forward shipped two goals to Los Angeles from about the same position, hiding on the edge of the throw-in circle.

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Dorofeev's hat-trick helped the Kings catch up, and in the third period Ivan Barbashev took over: first he assisted Aikel, then scored a goal after a magnificent combination. Jack and Ivan don't have to worry about their future in the organization.: they signed long contracts. But Dorofeev's agreement expires after this season.

The Russian has a modest cap hit of 1.835 million. He outplayed his money in the last regular season, and now he continues to show that it was not for nothing that they believed in him at the 2019 draft. Pavel is the most successful prospect of Vegas in the short history of the new franchise. From a player who did not qualify for Traktor, he grew into a top NHL sniper in the Knights system.

There is no reason why Vegas will delay negotiations and save money on the Russian's new contract. The salary cap is rising, and the Golden Knights have already closed deals on the main stars, Aikel and Marner. It's time to focus on communicating with Dorofeev. His contract will grow significantly. And the further the club postpones negotiations, the more arguments Pavel and his agent will get — if, of course, the striker continues to tear up the league, as in the first match of the season.