Vadim KuznetsovSport correspondentAll materialsEvgeni Malkin became the NHL leader in the number of assists among players from Russia. The correspondent explains why Pittsburgh's center forward did it. The long-awaited update in the NHL book of Russian records, this time the achievement does not belong to Alexander Ovechkin. On Monday night, Evgeni Malkin caught up with Sergei Fedorov in the total number of assists in regular season matches and now shares first or second place with him in this indicator among players from Russia. When Fedorov left for the KHL in the summer of 2009, his career achievements seemed unshakable, but at first Ovechkin broke his sniper record and scoring result, and now Malkin is ahead of him. Moreover, Evgeny spent almost 300 matches less, soon he may become the first Russian to overcome the mark of 700 assists. A record from Malkin has been expected for a long time. In the early spring of 2020, that is, more than two years ago, he had 35-40 assists before Fedorov, but covid intervened. One season was not completed, the second was reduced, in addition to these troubles, Evgeny received another injury and missed half of the current regular season. The bad luck didn't end there. Gino got in great shape, but stuck in March — he did not score seven games in a row, although he and his partners had moments. The already recorded transfer to Brian Rust in the match with Columbus was subsequently selected by the judges, and when there was one step left before the record was repeated, Malkin fell ill. a hockey player from the farm club, but he returned, and he did it very effectively. His “Pittsburgh” won with a score of 11:2, and Malkin made the first hat-trick in 4 years and gave the transfer, which allowed him to catch up with Fedorov. Who, by the way, spent his best years with the Red Wings.
