Vagaries of fate: which of the Russians will be lucky in the NHL playoffs
The NHL playoffs started with three matches. Carolina beat Ottawa dry (2:0), Minnesota defeated Dallas (6:1, the Russian had a goal and two assists) thanks to Kirill Kaprizov's excellent game, and Pittsburgh lost to Philadelphia (2:3) despite Evgeni Malkin's 1+1. The layouts in these and other pairs of the first round of the Stanley Cup are in the Izvestia material.
East
Carolina (1) — Ottawa (6)
Russians: Andrey Svechnikov, Alexander Nikishin, Pyotr Kochetkov – Artyom Zubov
Four of the last five seasons, Carolina has finished the regular season in the top 2 of the East. This year, Rod Brindamore's team became the best in the conference, scoring 113 points. The Hurricanes have everything in order offensively: 296 goals and the second highest score in the entire league. It is worth mentioning Andrey Svechnikov, who, despite a difficult start, scored 70 (31+39) points in 79 matches (the best result in his career). Nikolai Ehlers joined the team perfectly with 71 (26+56) points in 82 games.
Carolina's main problem is goalkeepers. Brandon Bussy, who appeared out of nowhere, did not help much: he just did not miss his own. And 36-year-old Frederik Andersen clearly passed (87.4% of deflected shots). Pyotr Kochetkov missed almost six months due to injury, and appeared only at the very end, but immediately went to the AHL to get in shape.
Ottawa also has a difficult situation with goalkeepers: Leevi Merilainen could not confirm his status as an NHL goalkeeper and is now playing in a farm, while Linus Ullmark disappeared somewhere in the middle of the championship. 38-year-old James Rymer had to save the situation at some point. By the way, the Swede still returned and looked extremely decent at the end of the season.
In the regular season, the teams met three times: two wins against Carolina, one against Ottawa. The first game of the playoffs went in favor of the Hurricanes, with Stankoven and Hall scoring goals, and Andersen making his 6th shutout in the NHL playoffs.
Buffalo (2) — Boston (5)
Russians: no — Nikita Zadorov, Marat Khusnutdinov
Buffalo reached the playoffs for the first time in 15 years and is even considered the favorite in the series with Boston. It's hard enough to find weaknesses for the blades, except for the lack of cup experience. There are also questions about the goal line. Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen will probably start the series, but who is ready to back him up? Alex Lyon was unconvincing in the end, and he was injured. It's very reckless to believe in Colten Ellis, who only made his NHL debut this season.
But there is complete order with the goalie line at Boston. Jeremy Swayman had a great championship: in terms of advanced statistics, he is one of the best. And he was even ahead of Ilya Sorokin and Andrei Vasilevsky. Offensively, everything is based on the skill of David Pastrnyak, who suddenly retrained as an assistant and for the first time since the "covid" regular season did not score even 30 goals. But his partners were flying: Pavel Zaha, Morgan Geeky and Marat Khusnutdinov made about 20% of their shots. There is also a power boost as Tanner Jeannot, Mark Kastelik and Nikita Zadorov. One thing is clear before this series — there will definitely not be a Buffalo.
In the regular season, the teams met four times: Boston won three times, and Buffalo won one.
Tampa Bay (3) — Montreal (5)
Russians: Nikita Kucherov, Andrey Vasilevsky – Ivan Demidov
The Russian side of Tampa is stable: Nikita Kucherov had another incredible season and got into the top 3 of the league's top scorers, and Andrei Vasilevsky entered the top five goalkeepers in goaltending xG. In attack, questions may arise except for Braden Point, who was extremely far from his best form. And there are huge doubts about the defensive line, which by name does not exactly correspond to the status of a contender for the Cup. Victor Hedman had problems, he was absent either because of injury or for personal reasons. And when the Swede went out on the ice, he didn't look like last year at all.
Montreal has made a qualitative leap compared to last season, in which they got into the playoffs at the last moment and immediately flew away from Washington. Nick Suzuki and Cole Caufield had the most productive regular season championships of their careers, with the latter scoring 51 goals. Juraj Slafkowski also showed incredible progress with 73 (30+43) points. But more importantly, the influence of the Slovak on the partners: the three in which he appeared immediately became the best in the team. Juraj also had a significant influence on Ivan Demidov, with whom he played a lot at the start of the championship. The Russian scored 62 (19+43) goals and was among the top three newcomers.
They have met four times in this regular season: two wins for Montreal and two against Tampa.
Pittsburgh (7) — Philadelphia (8)
Russians: Evgeny Malkin, Egor Chinakhov – Matvey Michkov, Nikita Grebenkin
A unique situation is when the seventh and eighth teams of the conference meet in the first round. But that's the NHL's rules, tied to the results within the division.
The trio of veteran symbols of the club, Crosby, Malkin and Letang, gets another chance to compete for the Cup. And we have to thank Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas for this: he guessed right with almost all the newcomers in the summer and during the championship, and also hit the bullseye by appointing Dan Muse to the position of head coach.
The old-timers themselves had a great season. But if everyone is used to seeing the Pittsburgh captain with more points per game in statistics, then Evgeny was very surprised with 61 (19+41) points in 56 matches. And, obviously, he deserved a new contract. It has already been announced that negotiations on the agreement will begin closer to the summer. So the playoffs are another opportunity for the Magnitogorsk genius to prove that he remains an elite forward. And in the first match, Malkin did everything for his team to win. The Russian equalized the score in the second period and assisted on Brian Rust in the third. However, Pittsburgh conceded three goals and allowed Matvey Michkov's team to take the lead in the series.
Hardly anyone expected to see Philadelphia in the first round. The Islanders and Columbus from the Metropolitan Division looked stronger, but failed at the end of the regular season. And Rick Tocchet's team had a six-game winning streak in the final seven matches. Porter Marton, who started the NCAA season, fit perfectly into the squad. Trevor Zegras, who was traded away from Anaheim in the summer, also looked great. You can't say the same about Matvey Michkov: the Russian improved in the end and still scored 50 points, but now he's only a third—tier player.
In the regular season, the teams met four times: Pittsburgh won twice in regular time and Philadelphia won two in a shootout.
"The West"
Colorado (1) — Los Angeles (8)
Russians: Valery Nichushkin – Artemy Panarin
On paper, this series looks the most predictable. On the one hand, Colorado has Nathan McKinnon, an incredible top-9, a great defense and strong goalkeepers. On the other hand, Los Angeles scored only 22 wins in regular season time. In many ways, the Kings' entry into the playoffs is due to Artemy Panarin and the availability of an easy calendar at the end of the season. Even with such introductions, the Kings scored only 90 points.
In this regular season, the teams met three times: and Evelange turned out to be stronger all three times. And hardly anyone will be surprised if the "avalanches" take the series dry.
Dallas (2) — Minnesota (3)
Russians: Ilya Lyubushkin – Kirill Kaprizov, Vladimir Tarasenko, Yakov Trenin, Danila Yurov
This series seems to be the most even in the first round. Dallas had a great regular season. The team had a particularly good game in the majority: 28.6% of attempts made. And Wyatt Johnson became the best sniper in the league in the 5—on-4 format with 23 goals. Everything was fine with the defense: Finns Miro Heiskanen and Esa Lindell played great in the first pair. But there was also a major problem: Heiskanen will miss at least the first two matches of the series. A serious loss for the Stars. And an attack outside the top 6 doesn't look so intimidating. Although Dallas used to be famous for its depth.
Minnesota's MVP of the season is general manager Bill Guerin. Before the start of the regular season, he extended Kirill Kaprizov, making him the highest-paid player in NHL history. And already during the regular season, he traded Quinn Hughes from Vancouver, who plays an average of almost 28 minutes, the best record in the league. In the playoffs, the Wild's only hope is again for Kaprizov, who has already scored 45 goals. However, you can also believe in Matt Baldy (42 goals). Vladimir Tarasenko also had a strong season, scoring 47 (23+24) points. And in the first match of the series, Kaprizov scored 1+2, doubles from Baldy and Yuel Erikson.
The teams have met four times in this regular season, with two wins in regular time against Dallas, and two wins against Minnesota in regular time and overtime.
Vegas (4) — Utah (6)
Russians: Pavel Dorofeev, Ivan Barbashev – Mikhail Sergachev, Dmitry Simashev
"Vegas" is fashionable and could be criticized throughout the season. Mitch Marner, the team's key summer acquisition, was particularly disappointed. However, in the end, the Golden Knights management organized a knight's move — Bruce Cassidy was fired and John Tortorella was appointed to his position. This decision was also criticized, but we are looking at the result: under the new coach, the team did not lose a single match in regular time and became the first in the division.
I am particularly pleased that both Russians have had the most productive seasons in Vegas. Ivan Barbashev scored 61 (23+38) points, while Pavel Dorofeev scored 64 (37+27) points. Moreover, the 25-year-old striker scored half of his goals in the 5-on-4 format. It is noteworthy that, apparently, the disgraced Carter Hart will be the main goalkeeper. The Canadian recovered from injury just with the arrival of Tortorella and spent an amazing period under the new coach.
But everything is clear with Utah's goalkeepers: Karel Veimelka played 64 games in the regular season, conceding an average of 2.75 goals per game. Clayton Keller (88 points), Nick Schmaltz (74), Dylan Gunther (73) and Logan Cooley (43 points in 54 games) led the attack. But John-Jason Peterka, who was traded from Buffalo in the summer, was disappointed: compared to the last season, his performance for the Blades decreased by 21 points. The main star in the defense is Mikhail Sergachev. In many ways, most of the "mammoths" were based on the Russian's game.
In the regular season, the teams met three times: two wins against Utah and one against Vegas.
Edmonton (5) — Anaheim (7)
Russians: Vasily Podkolzin – Pavel Mintyukov
The Oilers, unlike the second finalist last season, reached the playoffs, but they still looked extremely unconvincing. The goalkeeper's question came up again. Even the exchange of Stuart Skinner did not help. Tristan Jarry, who was picked up from Pittsburgh, turned out to be even worse (85.7% of deflected shots).
Once again, Edmonton fans will have to pray for Connor McDavid. However, the probability that the club will seriously compete for the Stanley Cup is extremely low.
Most of Anaheim's players continue to be in the "young and promising" status, but this time they will at least get a taste of the playoffs. One of the season openings for the Ducks was Beckett Senneke, who started the regular season in the Canadian Junior League. As a result, the 20-year-old forward scored 60 (23+37) points and became the third rookie in terms of performance, passing only Ivan Demidov and Matthew Schaefer ahead.
In the end, veteran John Carlson, who was traded from Washington, fit in well, which greatly upset Alexander Ovechkin. The defender even scored a hat-trick in the game against San Jose, scoring two of the three goals in the majority. It was with this aspect of the game that Anaheim had big problems.
The teams met three times in the regular season: two wins for Edmonton and one for the Ducks.
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