New York Rangers are officially the first participant second round of the current NHL playoffs. There is hardly anyone who doubted the success of the Blueshirts in the series against the Washington Capitals. Its outcome was a matter of time. As it turned out, we had to wait quite a bit.
It only took the Rangers four matches to send the capital team on vacation, which with great difficulty and not without some luck made its way to the playoffs. Peter Laviolette's team is the only team in the entire league that achieved the so-called «sweep» in the first round. And it is symbolic that the eminent specialist achieved this in a series against his former club, with whom he did not reach the playoffs last season.
One of the main heroes of the entire confrontation was Artemy Panarin. The Russian Rangers forward had the best season of his career and was deservedly recognized as the team's MVP in the regular season, but how Khlebushek would perform in the playoffs was an open question. Not for long. Panarin became the real executioner of “Washington”. It was Artemy's goal in the first game that brought the Blueshirts victory and laid the foundation for the team that was necessary to advance to the next round. And it was Panarin’s goal that was decisive in the fourth and final meeting of the series.
A completely acceptable answer to all the haters who mercilessly criticized the Russian for his not the most brilliant performances in the Stanley Cup. This year Artemy is determined — he intends to become a champion.
In any case, Alexander Ovechkin will be called the anti-hero of the confrontation. The captain and permanent leader of Washington is regularly under the microscope, and all discussions are conducted only around his figure. The results, statistics, the play of the rest of the Caps hockey players and the work of the coaching staff of the capital team do not represent even a third of the interest and attention that is directed to Ovi.
However, Alexander himself provided reasons for not the most positive conversations about Ovechkin’s game. After an impressive acceleration at the finish line of the regular season, the legendary Russian goalscorer was expected to continue the banquet. But the Rangers were well prepared for the series and skillfully neutralized the main sniper of the 21st century.
Ovi's dry statistics for all four matches of the series, which can say a lot: 4 matches, 5 shots on target in total, 2 games without shots on target and 0 points scored. In the last game of the series, Alexander spent about 15 minutes on the court. The lack of effective actions is absolute nonsense for Ovechkin. Never before in his rich career has the eminent Russian played the playoffs without scoring points. The worst result was in the 2012/13 season, when the Capitals leader scored 2 points (1 goal and 1 assist) in seven matches. In that tournament, Washington lost to the same Rangers and was eliminated in the first round (3-4). Now Ovi has set a personal anti-record for performance, although he emphasized that he had no health problems during the series.
Caps head coach Spencer Carbery noted at the post-match press conference that one of the reasons for the team captain’s unsuccessful performance was the actions of the Rangers players against the Russian:
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"It was a tough check every time Ovi received puck. He had no more than half a second to play. At the same time, an incredible job was done. Ovechkin consistently scored every game night, the second half of the regular season — especially the last two weeks — felt like a life-or-death struggle for our entire team. This took a lot of physical and moral strength from Ovi.”
Now Alexander will have enough time to gain this same strength for new victories and historical records. The next season should be truly special for the Russian. The Rangers continue on their way. Igor Shesterkin and Artemi Panarin can now watch the series between the Carolina Hurricanes and the New York Islanders with interest in anticipation of their next opponent.