New York Rangers end streak against » Pittsburgh Penguins in the regular season with a big win. The heroes of the confrontation were Igor Shesterkin, Artemy Panarin and Vladimir Tarasenko.
The last calendar week has been a very busy one for the Rangers and Penguins hockey players — the two former opponents in the first round of the Stanley Cup 2022 playoffs had to meet each other as many as three times out of four. Today, at the legendary arena «Madison Square Garden» in New York, their confrontation in the regular season has come to an end. By the last face-to-face meeting in the championship, the Penguins approached in the best shape, having won two out of three matches against the Blueshirts. But the advantage of the Rangers was the home court and a much more comfortable psychological position, because the burden of responsibility for getting into the playoffs does not press on the team of Gerard Gallan — this task has already been formally solved, which cannot be said about Pittsburgh.
Many expected a real extravaganza from both teams. The NHL press service even launched a special announcement material for the Rangers-Penguins meeting, inviting journalists to choose their battle hero, who must be watched more closely than everyone else. NHL website columnist Sean P Roark, for example, preferred Pittsburgh's star Evgeni Malkin: «The camera will be on him throughout the game, that's a no-brainer.» And here's another NHL writer, Tracy Myers, pointed to Rangers leader Artemy Panarin: «There are a lot of great options, but I choose him. I would just watch and enjoy how he beats the defenders, and also listen to how Panarin communicates with his friends Vladimir Tarasenko and Patrick Kane on the bench».
Both options worked in one way or another. For Evgeni Malkin, however, not in the way he planned. A week ago, Gino effectively dealt with the “Rangers” and personally punished Panarin for his optional removal, and today the famous Russian scorer himself was caught in a sloppy game. Late in the first period, with Pittsburgh already 0-1 down, Malkin got a 2-2 suspension for pushing Cops defenseman Braden Schneider on board. Panarin realized the numerical advantage with great pleasure. » mozallowfullscreen=»mozallowfullscreen» allowfullscreen=»allowFullScreen» frameborder=»0″>
Khlebushek later celebrated another goal. And exactly as everyone has been waiting for this over the past month. Patrick Kane, who moved from Chicago to the Rangers, finally assisted his old friend and opened a new page in the glorious history of the excellent Kane-Panarin connection.
The article on the NHL website also called for attention to Igor Shesterkin. In favor of the Rangers goaltender, noted journalist Tom Gulitti spoke out: «It will be interesting to see what he will do when Crosby and Malkin have the puck or during the majority of Pittsburgh, how he will read the opponent's intentions and whether he will shoot at someone else's goal» .
And there was something to see. Shesterkin found the key against Malkin, Crosby and all Penguins players in general. 34 shots on target by the Rangers were made by guests from Pennsylvania, but not a single one of them flew past the eyes and paws of the owner of Vezina 2022. Loud and drawling «Shesterkin! Shesterkin!» and «Igor! Igor!» sounded with enviable regularity throughout Madison Square Garden. All this in honor of one of the best goalkeeper in the world, who today held his tenth «dry» match in his career in the NHL. There were plenty of great saves that declassed Pittsburgh's forwards. But the highlight was an episode from the third period, when Six repelled a shot by Mikael Granlund in the style of a scorpion. It was this moment that literally blew up all social networks and the media.
“Today we played great. words about his magnificent contribution to a major victory.
And the victory turned out to be truly beautiful — 6:0. Another Russian hero had a hand in her, whom they unfairly forgot to mention in the above material on the NHL website. Vladimir Tarasenko has already perfectly adapted to the new conditions after a high-profile exchange from St. Louis and regularly scores points. Today, Vlady scored a goal and an assist, extending his hitting streak to three games in a row. The transfer of the Russian to the top three with Panarin and Zibanejad clearly benefited everyone.
“We have a good relationship. We communicate, play for each other, and it works. Even while we are sitting on the bench, we analyze our shifts on the tablet This is necessary in order to better understand each other on the court and achieve success, «said Tarasenko.
To confirm the words of Vladimir, his goal followed in the debut of the second period, when the Rangers perfectly implemented a three-on-one exit.
br>Following the pogrom in New York, the Rangers strengthened their positions in the East and in the Capital Division. “Pittsburgh” will have a tough fight for getting into the playoffs.