Over the past few years, we have become accustomed to seeing the best in the ranking National Hockey League (NHL) scorers like Connor McDavid, Nathan MacKinnon and Leon Draisaitl. But this season they are still at neutral speed and are far from the leading group. For example, McDavid, winner of the Art Ross Trophy for the last three regular seasons, is generally located outside the top 80.
Of the main scorers in the modern NHL, only Nikita Kucherov holds the mark. The Russian star of the Tampa Bay Lightning has 22 points (10+22) in 13 games and first place in the rating.
But another Russian is coming on Kucherov’s heels — Artemy Panarin. Perhaps the most stable forward of the current championship.
Moreover, stability is expressed both in Panarin’s results and in his play. Artemy practically does not get into the “minus” in terms of usefulness, he is very active and effective in attack, and also does not shy away from working in defense and forecheck. It is difficult to say with certainty whether this is the result of the influence of Peter Laviolette’s working methods on the Russian or his individual attitude to the matter. But the nature of such brilliant performances by Khlebushka is not so important.
In North America they like to focus on numbers. Hence the huge scattering of various records for every taste. Using the example of Alexander Ovechkin, many have long been convinced of this. In New York, records surround Panarin's name. Last season, the Russian, for example, scored 300 points faster than anyone in the history of the club with the Rangers. In the new NHL season, Artemy is rushing towards a new record, which is already more than 50 years old.
Since the start of the championship, the Rangers have played 12 matches, and in each of them Panarin scored at least one effective action. Like, for example, today: in a game against the Red Wings, Khlebushek scored an assist and a goal and helped the team win with a score of 5:3 (considering that the Blueshirts were leading 5:0 after two periods). In terms of scoring streak since the start of the season, Panarin now ranks clear second in the rich history of the franchise.
There is only the main record ahead, which belongs to Rod Gilbert. He started the 1972/73 season with 14 scoring matches in a row. If Panarin repeats and then beats this achievement, he will at the same time become the best among all Russian hockey players in the history of the NHL. According to a similar indicator, Panarin is also in clear second place, ahead of Evgeni Malkin in the 2014/15 season and Nikita Kucherov in 2017/18, and is second only to Dmitry Kvartalnov — the current coach of Dynamo Minsk in the 1972/73 season was noted for his effective actions in first 14 games in a row with the Boston Bruins.
Tonight is a great example of how good Panarin is. He takes the puck and attacks. When he moves with the puck and goes offensively, he becomes very dangerous. “He has the skill set of an elite player,” Rangers head coach admires Artemy.
It’s also amazing how many points the Russian scores. 20 points in just 12 first matches of the championship — few in the history of the club from New York have achieved this. Such statistics could be boasted, for example, by Jaromir Jagr in the 1986/87 season, as well as by Frank Boucher (1929/30) and Bill Cook (1929/30). To reach the symbolic mark of 20 points per game, only the great Pavel Bure (2001/02), as well as Carey Wilson (1988/90), Walt Poddubny (1986/87) and Rod Gilbert (1972/73) needed less.
If Artemy continues to follow his schedule, he will finally break the coveted hundred points in the season. Surprisingly, in his entire NHL career, Panarin has never reached this mark, although he was regularly somewhere very close to it. Now the Russian is on 137 points! This figure, of course, looks incredible. Especially considering that a more record-breaking and historical 128 points named after Nikita Kucherov have never been given to anyone and probably never will be. But the Rangers star must overcome his psychological barrier.